A batch of absentee ballots intended for South Carolina voters were spotted in Baltimore, according to reports Wednesday.
Roughly 20 Charleston County absentee ballots were found in Maryland, according to a report Wednesday from The Post and Courier. South Carolina Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire told The Post and Courier that the vendor the state uses to print absentee ballots may not be able to handle the uptick in mail-in-voting that will come as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. South Carolina is set to hold its Republican primary elections on June 9. (RELATED: New Voter Fraud Scandal In Michigan Involves A Democrat)
“We’re not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling that they can handle this,” Whitmire said. “We are actively seeking sustainable solutions.”
The state is now considering cutting ties with the vendor, according to Emily Opilo of The Baltimore Sun, who also reported that an “entire county” in South Carolina did not receive ballots in the state’s Democratic presidential primary, which took place in February.
So here’s a crazy tidbit: Maryland election officials found a bunch of ballots from South Carolina mixed in with their shipments to Baltimore. They use the same vendor. I just talked to an elections official in SC, and he says they’re ready to dump the company.
— Emily Opilo (@emilyopilo) May 20, 2020
SC’s statewide primary is June 9. As of this week, an unknown number of Charleston’s ballots were here in Baltimore. An SC official says they were losing confidence in the mail vendor even before this happened. An entire county didn’t get presidential ballots in Feb.
— Emily Opilo (@emilyopilo) May 20, 2020
The ballot mixup comes as Democrats and Republicans in Washington D.C. battle over funding for mail-in-voting ahead of November’s presidential election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed $3.6 billion in funding for mail-in voting, which is likely to be rejected by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, who argue that mail-in-voting increases the likelihood of voter fraud. The Trump War Room tweeted Thursday that the South Carolina mixup is an example of how mail-in-voting weakens “the integrity of our elections.”
About 20 South Carolina absentee ballots were found in Maryland this week.
Democrats’ push for all mail voting is a plan to weaken the integrity of our elections. https://t.co/9lDkjB6S5T
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 & get the APP (@TrumpWarRoom) May 21, 2020
A majority of U.S. voters believe that mail-in-voting will lead to increased voter fraud, according to a poll conducted by the Republican National Committee (RNC) earlier this month. The poll found that 62% of voters believe fraud occurs in U.S. elections, while 57% of voters are concerned about the integrity of elections dominated by mail-in-voting.
The conservative Government Accountability Institute (GAI) studied voter rolls in 21 states, and concluded in a 2017 report that as many as 45,000 duplicate votes may have been cast in the 2016 election, while left-wing organizations such as The Brennan Center for Justice have concluded that the rate of voter fraud may be as small as 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent.
“Look what just happened in SC, where Dems sued to force a rushed transition to mail with no safeguards,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel tweeted Thursday. “Their ballots magically appeared in Baltimore. How secure!”
The media argues @realDonaldTrump has “no evidence” of mail-in ballot problems.
Oh really?
Look what just happened in SC, where Dems sued to force a rushed transition to mail with no safeguards.
Their ballots magically appeared in Baltimore. How secure!https://t.co/DaCfteP97Y
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) May 21, 2020