Recently, President Trump urged Republicans to “...become masters of ballot harvesting.” He told an audience at CPAC they need to start harvesting ballots (legally) to counter the harvesting by Democrats. Perhaps I am hung up on semantics, but I think ballot harvesting is awful and usually illegal.
A harvester is usually an anonymous political operative, or someone paid by a political operative, who rounds up ballots and places them in voter drop boxes or mailboxes -- sometimes after altering them. In other cases he gives the ballots to a political organization, where they are “reviewed” prior to distribution to drop boxes by “mules.” Harvesters and mules are often paid “by the piece,” which means they have a big incentive to obtain ballots in any way possible.
A harvester might knock on your door while you are watching “90 Day Fiancé,” and offer to “help” you mail your ballot. But he also might pluck the ballot (or ballot application) directly from your mailbox before you get home from work. Perhaps, someone working at the city trash dump will pull unused ballots from garbage. The price paid for these harvested ballots could be very high if the election is closely contested, and if there are only a few days left to change the outcome.
Some harvesters don’t even bother dealing with real people. They register “phantoms” (made-up people) at fake addresses, such as gas stations, parking lots, and commercial buildings. Then they apply for ballots in the name of the phantoms, and vote those ballots when they arrive.
How to Harvest Ballots – An Expert’s Guide
Jon Levine, writing for the New York Post, interviewed a “top Democratic operative” who asserted that voter fraud with mail-in ballots is no myth. “And he knows this because he’s been doing it, on a grand scale, for decades” (emphasis added). Levine described the interview, which took place on August 29, 2020.
This “consultant” claimed that he worked for various campaigns and “led teams of fraudsters and mentored at least 20 operatives in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania -- a critical 2020 swing state.”
The harvester said he and his colleagues would often steam open envelopes and insert new or altered ballots into them. Care would be taken to disperse the harvested ballots into several mail boxes to avoid suspicion.
The anonymous harvester told Levine that some postal workers get in on the scam. Ballots (or ballot applications) can be taken by mail carriers before they are even delivered because a postal worker knows exactly who has moved out, who is on vacation, or who has died.
Here are some other tidbits from the harvesting expert:
Of course, some state administrators welcome harvesting activities, and will oppose efforts to curtail them. In those states, Republicans should try to expose the operations -- especially where illegal methods are suspected.
Why shouldn’t the GOP do its own ballot harvesting? Apart from being unethical, the GOP will never be as successful at harvesting as Democrats. Here are the reasons:
Clearly, ballot harvesting is not one of President Trump’s better ideas.
Joe Fried is an Ohio-based CPA who has performed and reviewed hundreds of certified financial audits. He is the author of the new book, Debunked? An auditor reviews the 2020 election -- and the lessons learned (Republic Book Publishers, 2022).