Voting by mail has increasingly become a more popular option for Americans to cast their ballot; However, he has been attacked with unfounded accusations of fraud and distrust.

And in recent days they have fall under literal fire of the alleged perpetrators.

But despite these threats, election officials and law enforcement have worked rigorously to ensure that those ballots are not only delivered and counted on time, but also free of any type of fraud.

As of Tuesday, more than 25.6 million Americans have returned their mail-in ballots and more than 65 million Americans, including military personnel overseas, have requested an absentee ballot, according to data from University of Florida Election Laboratory.

At the end of the 2020 election, more than 65 million votes were cast by mail, however, experts noted that due to the pandemic, more voters chose this method.

In the last two elections, former President Donald Trump has question on voting by mail, arguing that mail-in ballots are not secure enough.

There has been no evidence to support his claims, which have been refuted by multiple courts, election offices, audits and other security checks in several elections.

Several studies have shown that mail-in voting fraud is rare, and in those few cases, the perpetrator was punished and the votes were never counted.

One such case took place in North Carolina in the 2018 midterm elections, when Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative working for Republican House candidate Mark Harris, “defrauded voters by collecting empty ballots and then fill in the rest to favor the campaign’s candidate,” according to a report from MIT Election Laboratory.

As a result of the incident, new elections were held and Dowless was found guilty of fraud in 2020.

“Even many scholars who argue that fraud is generally rare agree that fraud with (mail) voting appears to be more frequent than with in-person voting,” researchers at MIT’s Election Laboratory said in a report.

This year is no different when it comes to ensuring those votes are delivered and counted on time and accurately.

The first line of security is in the electoral office.

Forty-two states require voters who vote by mail to request an absentee ballot, and those approval processes are extensive, according to the Brennan Center for Justicea nonprofit public policy institute.

“Poll workers compare the request to the voter’s registration record to ensure that each ballot is sent to the correct voter and that only one ballot is sent to each voter,” the nonprofit wrote in a report.

The remaining eight states and the District of Columbia send mail ballots to all registered voters and allow them the option of mailing in the ballot or voting in person.

“Frequent mailings help keep voter registration records up to date so that ballots are sent to eligible voters at their current address,” the Brennan Center said.

When voters cast their ballot and mail it in, there are more controls.

Ballots are sent in envelopes with unique tracking codes and barcodes that allow officials to track them. Several states also allow voters to track their ballots.

The U.S. Postal Service is required by law to prioritize the delivery of election-related mail and has undertaken “extraordinary measures” to make deliveries. That includes additional deliveries and pickups, special pickups, specialized sorting plans at processing facilities to speed delivery to election boards, and local ballot handling and transportation, according to the agency.

The USPS said 99.9% of ballots were delivered within one week in 2020 and 98.3% within three days.

The USPS law enforcement division examines mail fraud, including whether a letter or package has been tampered with, and investigates any suspicious cases.

Additionally, many states offer voters the option of dropping off their absentee ballot in person at an elections office, at an approved drop box, or at an early voting site.

All mail-in ballots require at least one signature, and some, like Pennsylvania, require one on the envelope as well. Most state election offices, 31, use a signature verification system in which poll workers inspect the signature across multiple records.

“Some officials receive training that law enforcement uses to detect forgeries. If poll workers are unsure whether signatures match, several states require that ballots be sent to a bipartisan team for a second review,” the Brennan Center said. .

The Brennan Center noted that the teams are made up of an equal number of Republican and Democratic workers.

If an error is detected, election officials in 24 states must notify the voter of the error and allow them to rectify it before Election Day.

Pennsylvania does not have a state requirement to correct erroneous mail-in ballots; However, a 2022 court decision allowed county elections departments the ability to correct those errors.