There is no evidence of significant fraud when people vote by mail.

Applications for a mail-in ballot have been sent out (not the ballot). To apply for a ballot, give your name, address, phone number and driver’s license number. Then you sign the application. When the ballots are sent out, they each have a different number with the voter’s name and address. Signatures are matched to those on file when the ballot is returned.

The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 19, 2020. The ballot must be delivered to the County Board of Elections by Tuesday, Nov. 3 to be counted.

There are many federal laws against voter suppression and substantial penalties for anyone who votes illegally.

In Pennsylvania the fine for voting twice is up to $15,000 with a prison sentence of up to seven years, or both.

I am seriously worried about the efforts to make it hard for people to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic.

Louis DeJoy, the Postmaster General, has a $75 million investment in XPO Logistics, a company in competition with the U.S. Post Office. He has taken 30 mail sorting machines out of service in Pennsylvania according to Sen. Bob Casey.

This has slowed down the mail especially for seniors and veterans who depend on the mail for their prescriptions (170 million prescriptions filled by mail in 2019). DeJoy is now being investigated for illegally making his employees contribute to GOP candidates then reimbursing them with bonuses.

This mail slowdown will affect the vote as undelivered mail piles up in post offices.

Please be sure to mail your ballot in as soon as you get it so it can be counted.