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Fact check: What's true and what's false about voting by mail in 2020

The USA TODAY Fact Check team is committed to verifying claims and fighting misinformation. Here's a list of recent fact-checks related to voting — and in particular, voting by mail, which has grown in importance due to the coronavirus pandemic.

How to vote by mail

Fact check: Postal Service will deliver ballots with insufficient or unpaid postage

The required postage rate for mail-in ballots varies by state and municipality. Some ballots include prepaid postage, and don't require stamps. Others require postage, in which case the amount will be indicated on the ballot. But even if postage is underpaid or not paid at all, the Postal Service will still deliver ballots, per a spokeswoman.

Fact check: Ballot envelopes with prepaid postage are already first-class mail

In states where postage is prepaid, ballots are already marked first-class and ready to go. Adding a stamp to a prepaid ballot will not change the way the Postal Service handles it, an agency spokeswoman confirmed.

Fact check: You can vote only once, no matter how many ballot applications you receive

Though it is common for multiple ballot request applications to be sent out ahead of the election, requesting more than one vote-by-mail ballot and submitting more than one ballot is illegal.

Fact check: Party ID is noted on Florida mail-in envelopes only for primary voting

Envelopes indicating party affiliation are only used in some closed primary elections, which are essentially separate elections based on party preference. Such distinctions do not appear on envelopes used for the general election.

Boxes for illegal and legal vote-by-mail ballots are shown as the the Miami-Dade County canvassing board meets to verify signatures on vote-by-mail ballots for the Aug. 18 primary election at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Fla. on July 30, 2020.
Boxes for illegal and legal vote-by-mail ballots are shown as the the Miami-Dade County canvassing board meets to verify signatures on vote-by-mail ballots for the Aug. 18 primary election at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Fla. on July 30, 2020.

Is voting by mail safe?

Fact check: All mailed ballots — called 'absentee' and not — require voter verification

All mailed ballots must be verified to be counted — whether or not they are absentee or mail-in ballots. The only difference between the terms is the process. Voters have to request absentee ballots, while voters states with universal mail-in systems do not require registered voters to request ballots, they just send them.

Fact check: Online post questioning voting by mail is missing context

The Postal Service advises that customers use money orders instead of sending cash by mail. But to conclude that this makes voting by mail unsafe is misleading. There are a number of precautions in place to ensure the security of voting by mail, including the tracking of ballots.

Fact check: New Jersey ballot fraud case doesn't signal 'national trouble' with vote by mail

It’s true that charges of corruption have been made in a local New Jersey election conducted by mail. But assertions about how that case shows a systematic problem with voting by mail are not supported by evidence. Several states have voted entirely by mail for as many as 20 years with fraud cases being an extreme rarity, and states have protections in place to ward against election fraud.

Fact check: Mailing ballots to dead people not leading to voter fraud, experts and studies say

It is true that dead voters may still be receiving ballots, however, those ballots may be marked as "deceased" to update voter lists. A voter's signature is required to match on the ballot in order for it to count. Experts have said these cases are possible, but rare. The claim that these cases lead to voter fraud is unproven.

Related: Election 2020: When early voting and mail voting for president begins in every state

Dropping application for mail-in ballot into a mail box in Omaha, Nebraska, on Aug. 18, 2020.
Dropping application for mail-in ballot into a mail box in Omaha, Nebraska, on Aug. 18, 2020.

What about rumors about the Postal Service?

Fact check: Voters should request ballots 2 weeks early, but mail isn't intentionally slow

It’s true that the U.S. Postal Service says voters should request their ballots at least 15 days prior to Election Day, though some states have different deadlines. But it is false to say mail is intentionally being slowed, despite reports that a new Postal Service system might inherently cause delays.

Fact check: USPS collection box locks are used as security measures during large events

The Postal Service isn't using collection box locks to suppress mail-in voting. The Postal Service has a long-documented history of temporarily using such locks to address security threats. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has testified before Congress that election mail will be delivered safely and on time.

Fact check: Wisconsin mailbox photo is not tied to 'voter suppression'

A photo of a mailbox being removed in Wisconsin is not proof of anything nefarious. The mailboxes shown could have been removed – after a public notice – because of a lack of use (following a long-established process), or they could have been replaced with new boxes because of their condition.

Related: 'A politically motivated attack': Federal judge says he'll block USPS changes after mail delays

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: What's true and what's false about voting by mail?