Recently, President Trump urged Republicans to “...become masters of ballot harvesting.” He told an audience at CPAC they need to start harvesting ballots (legally) to counter the harvesting by Democrats. Perhaps I am hung up on semantics, but I think ballot harvesting is awful and usually illegal. A harvester is usually an anonymous political operative, or someone paid by a political operative, who rounds up ballots and places them in voter drop boxes or mailboxes -- sometimes after altering them. In other cases he gives the ballots to a political organization, where they are “reviewed” prior to distribution to drop boxes by “mules.” Harvesters and mules are often paid “by the piece,” which means they have a big incentive to obtain ballots in any way possible.
A harvester might knock on your door while you are watching “90 Day Fiancé,” and offer to “help” you mail your ballot. But he also might pluck the ballot (or ballot application) directly from your mailbox before you get home from work. Perhaps, someone working at the city trash dump will pull unused ballots from garbage. The price paid for these harvested ballots could be very high if the election is closely contested, and if there are only a few days left to change the outcome.
Some harvesters don’t even bother dealing with real people. They register “phantoms” (made-up people) at fake addresses, such as gas stations, parking lots, and commercial buildings. Then they apply for ballots in the name of the phantoms, and vote those ballots when they arrive.
How to Harvest Ballots – An Expert’s Guide...............To Read More....
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