Without proof, Donald Trump and the Republican Party claim that the use of mail-in ballots leads to widespread fraud. My experience with mail-in voting doesn’t match Trump’s claims at all. This is how I voted in this year’s Maine state primary election.

The first step was to request an absentee ballot. I requested a ballot using the State of Maine Online Absentee Ballot Request Service: tinyurl.com/yh2ms99. After filling out my name and address and attesting that I was the named person, I submitted the form. After receiving my confirmation number, I waited.

The Secretary of State’s Division of Elections forwarded my request to the town clerk for verification and processing. The town clerk first sent me an email confirming my voter registration and followed up with a ballot package. Inside the mailing were blank ballots and a return envelope with my name and address affixed. One of the three ballots was for candidates running from the political party I’m enrolled in. I was ready to vote.

My wife’s ballot arrived the same way. We sat down, voted, placed the ballots in our individual envelopes and signed and sealed them. We chose to take the envelopes to the town office ourselves instead of mailing them.

The process was easy for us and verifiable by the town clerk. Election officials take their jobs very seriously. I firmly believe that my ballot will be counted.

When Donald Trump says mail-in voting is fraudulent, he is trying to keep you from voting. Don’t let him.

Peter Konieczko

Scarborough

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