Florida law holds that absentee ballots are for Florida residents who cannot make it to the polls on election day. Yet over the years, absentee ballots have been filed by people who no longer live in Florida. The process is based on the honor system, down to how people register in the first place. There is no requirement to prove residency when registering to vote. Once registered, voters can ask for an absentee ballot by mail, telephone or in person.
State law precludes one person from picking up more than two absentee ballots for family members.
But there is little to stop fraud by having one person register to vote at multiple addresses, or register under multiple assumed names at the same address, and request absentee ballots by providing matching information, including the registered voter's Social Security number. Hans von Spakovsky, a Georgia elections official and adviser to the national Voting Integrity Project, an anti-voter fraud organization based in Arlington, Va., described Florida's voting laws as looser than most other states. But, he said, he had seen no indications of fraud in this election. What I have seen is a PR battle being waged. The information you receive online from The Macon Telegraph is protected by the copyright laws of the United States.