Trump is flat-out wrong. Mail-in voting is safer, not vulnerable to fraud, like he says | Opinion

After the dismal reviews of his political rally in Tulsa this weekend, President Trump is back tweeting falsehoods about voting by mail and how it could “fraudulently” rob him of his re-election. Because the president’s words still influence people, it is critical to lay bare the falsity of his claims about mail-in voting as the voting rights of millions around the country, including many Floridians, are at stake.

As a former Republican member of the Florida Legislature, whose parents fled political oppression, I am appalled that my community would tolerate such an attack on our voting rights.

Starting with the 2004 presidential election until the 2014 midterms, I was part of the Miami-Dade County Republican legal team in every election except 2010, and I led that team in support of John McCain in 2008. Since leaving office in 2010, I have practiced ethics and elections law all over the state. I have investigated, and even taken legal action in, several cases involving vote-by-mail ballots.

Based on my 16 years of experience, I can assure voters that there is no merit to Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in mail ballots.

Those who agree with the president, no doubt, will raise some anecdotal story or rumor of fraud regarding what used to be known as “absentee ballots.” But as someone with firsthand knowledge, I have seen how we have actually strengthened oversight in recent years to remove even the slightest possibility of fraud.

As part of the Republican legal team, we commenced each election cycle with the hypothetical presumption that the Democrats would attempt to commit fraud with the mail ballots. Based on that false supposition, we investigated numerous allegations and never found any credible signs of voter fraud in mail ballots. This was confirmed by our team’s physical presence before the county Canvassing Board that scrutinized the ballot signatures.

More important, my work as an election attorney in private practice confirmed that in the few cases where fraud was of concern, it was almost entirely in local and primary elections and focused in nursing homes, ALF’s and senior-living facilities. These were money-making operations where: Profiteers could have access to multiple ballots in one location; candidates were so similar that voters didn’t care about giving away their votes; and a mere handful of votes could decide the election.

Recent technological advances have made electoral systems safer than ever when it comes to protecting against mail-in ballot fraud.

Florida, particularly Miami-Dade County, has changed how mail ballots are handled and provided additional mechanisms to prevent fraud. Accordingly, in the past 10 years, the elections department has easily identified several attempts at corrupting the elections process and stopped them before any harm could be done.

In that decade, there have been no cases in Florida where vote-by-mail fraud has been alleged, let alone, proven or overturned the results of an election.

Conversely, we have now seen cases where the desire to thwart possible fraud has led to the rejection of votes that were legally cast by many of our weakest citizens, discarded because of technicalities such as signing their names in the wrong place. This is a form of voter disenfranchisement that must be rejected by all of us who are committed to upholding the fundamental pillars of our democracy.

This is why Trump’s rhetoric is so dangerous.

Mail-in voting lets Americans who, despite being unable to leave their homes, still perform their civic duty. Now, more than ever, when health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic require physical distancing, we must rely on this method of voting as never before. The president, who recently voted by mail in this year’s Presidential Preference Primary, wants to cast doubt on our voting systems. It’s an obvious attempt to cause chaos and depress turnout —and do so in a way to turn the electoral tide in his direction, believing his base of support lies predominantly in rural areas less affected by the spread of COVID-19.

Conversely, the urban areas where Trump is unpopular have been harder hit because of their density. If he can depress turnout in large cities, he increases his chance of winning.

This is completely contrary to our American way of life. As technology has advanced, so, too, should our method of voting. Those who argue that voting should be something done only by those who can go out on one day, in a 12-hour period, obviously are advocating for the disenfranchisement of voters.

The assault on the right to vote must be stopped dead in its tracks. The false narrative of fraud must be rebuffed with all the air in our lungs. This desire to prevent people from voting by mail is an assault on democracy and an attempt to stage an electoral coup that must be put down immediately.

As a lifelong Republican, I can no longer stand on the sidelines.

Juan-Carlos “J.C.” Planas represented parts of Miami-Dade County in the Florida House of Representatives from 2002 to 2010; he is an associate professor at St. Thomas University School of Law, where he teaches both election law, and state and local government Law.