False Minnesota mail-in ballot claims spread online

Published on August 14, 2024 at 21:29
4 min read
By Natalie WADE, AFP USA

As Minnesota held its primary election, social media posts claimed the US state indicates a voter's party affiliation on the outside of envelopes containing absentee and mail-in ballots. This is false; the symbol in question indicates whether the recipient is already registered to vote and Minnesotans are not asked to declare for a political party as part of the election process.

"Did you know that in Minnesota they mark your party affiliation on the outside of the envelope for your mail-in ballot? Now why would they do that? To tip off corrupt men and women delivering or receiving the mail to discard those Republican ballots? Let's ask Tim-pon!" says text in a screenshot shared August 10, 2024 on Facebook.

The claim comes from a now-deleted X post from conservative commentator Rogan O'Handley. It included photographs of both the Minnesota "State Partisan Primary Ballot" and the envelope it arrived in, on which a small "R" is visible.

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken August 12, 2024

Similar posts spread elsewhere on Facebook, Instagram and X.

Vice President Kamala Harris on August 6 named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate following President Joe Biden's decision to end his reelection campaign.

Since then, Walz has been the subject of numerous false claims. The latest posts surfaced online days before the August 13 state primaries, which included the Republican and Democratic US Senate races.

But the claims, which prompted baseless allegations of officials discarding Republican ballots, are false.

"An 'R' marking on an absentee ballot envelope such as the one in the picture indicates that the voter was sent registered absentee ballot materials," Cassondra Knudson, deputy communications director for the Minnesota secretary of state's office, told AFP on August 12.

Screenshot of a Facebook post, with elements highlighted by AFP on August 13, 2024

The labels indicate whether the person requesting the ballot is registered (R) or not registered (NR).

"This notation tells the election workers what materials to supply the individual with," Knudson said. "Non-registered materials are different because those voters are required to complete a voter registration application and their witness needs to view and document ID and proof of residence."

The Minnesota secretary of state's website provides examples of ballot envelopes, none of which appear to indicate party affiliation.

Minnesota has open primaries, meaning registered voters may participate in any party's primary. The state does not have political party registration (archived here).

The photo shared online illustrates this, as the ballot allows voters to select candidates from either the Republican Party or the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

Screenshot of a Facebook post, with elements highlighted by AFP on August 13, 2024

Fraud is rare

Several posts spreading the claim share a video in which a woman says mail-in ballots in the state of Washington are designed to help authorities throw out Republican votes -- a narrative AFP has debunked.

For years, unfounded claims that voting by mail leads to voter fraud have gained traction online, leading to threats, harassment, and intimidation aimed at state election officials and local poll workers. AFP has debunked numerous allegations of wrongdoing by election officials and mail carriers in past US elections.

Experts say the risk of voter fraud is minuscule.

"When it does happen, it more commonly happens with mail-in ballots," said Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California-Los Angeles (archived here), in an August 13, 2024 email. "But it is still quite rare and is almost always limited to small, local elections."

The Brennan Center for Justice and the Voting Rights Project have also found that while absentee ballots are slightly more vulnerable to fraud than in-person voting, actual wrongdoing remains negligible (archived here and here).

"There are many safeguards in place to assure fair vote counts," Hasen said.

Minnesota has several security measures for elections, such as requiring two judges from different political parties to conduct sensitive tasks in polling places (archived here). Additionally, state law stipulates that anyone "who marks the ballot of any voter, except as authorized by law and as directed by the voter, or who informs anyone other than the voter how the ballot was marked, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor" (archived here).

Voters can track the status of an absentee or mail-in ballot on the Minnesota secretary of state's website.

More of AFP's reporting on misinformation about US politics is available here.