According to PA, there is a bigger difference between absentee and mail in...mail in requires no reason it just gets requested...absentee requires one to list their reason.
- Mail-in ballot – Any qualified voter may apply for a mail-in ballot. You may simply request this ballot without a reason.
- Absentee ballot – If you plan to be out of the municipality on election day or if you have a disability or illness that prevents you from going to your polling place on election day, you can request this ballot type, which still requires you to list a reason for your ballot.
All eligible PA voters can choose to vote by mail ballot. Learn more about voting by mail ballot.
www.vote.pa.gov
The ballots are handled exactly the same. IT is a difference without a distinction.
1. An incoming absentee or mailin ballot is checked for the QRcode, address and name on the envelope. If there is no signature, it is rejected, although based on county rules they may contact the voter to cure the envelope.
2. So, let's assume that means that tens of thousands of absentee/mailin ballots were cast by someone other than the voter it was addressed to.
How did that happen?
I have posted a number of times what the process is.
In person ballots are counted first. The voter database is updated to show the voter has cast a vote. By the time that has completed, the cutoff of accepting additional ballots is set. Ballots that have been received by the post office will be accepted but must have already been mailed. The postmark would prove when the post office got the ballots.
If someone wanted to submit fraudulent absentee/Mailin ballots, how would they do it? Where did they get the ballots? How did they know which voters had not or would not vote? The margin for error is huge and yet duplicate ballots didn't happen.