Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is defending mail-in ballots and vote-counting machines, in the face of efforts by President Donald Trump to bar both practices nationwide.
Bellows said the President, on his own, can't dictate how states conduct elections. She said restricting absentee voting would impact seniors, people with disabilities, and the people who administer Maine elections.
"Absentee voting actually makes it easier to conduct elections," Bellows said, "because it reduces long lines at polls on election days and it spreads out the work for local election clerks."
President Trump claimed Monday that the United States is the only country that allows voting by mail. That is not true, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. It says 12 nations allow all voters to cast ballots by mail; 22 others permit some voters to mail-in ballots.
When it comes to voting machines, Bellows said the tabulators used in Maine elections "are like modern day abacuses. They're never connected to the internet," meaning they can't be hacked. Bellows also notes that recounts done by hand, always prove the accuracy of the machine counts.
The President also claimed that mail-in voting favors Democrats. Secretary of State Bellows said more Democrats did vote absentee during the pandemic but that discrepancy has faded.
