“Vote-by-mail is just as safe and secure as voting in person during early voting or on election day.”
—Collier Elections Supervisor Melissa Blazier
By J.C. Bruce
Are mail-in ballots safe?
Of course, they are. Even the president of the United States votes by mail.
In fact, there’s only one person in America, as far as I know, who gives voice to the phony idea that voting by mail may not be secure and that allowing just any voters to do so constitutes an emergency demanding federal intervention.
And that’s the president.
What’s with Donald J. Trump—I mean, besides the fact he’s the guy who tried to overthrow the 2020 election that he lost bigly?
We know the answer to that, too. He’s terrified that his awful economic and foreign policies—tariffs and wars—that are driving up the cost of everything will sink his party’s chances in the midterm election.
What’s a president to do?
Try to suppress the vote, of course. After all, it almost worked on Jan. 6, 2021, when he stirred up a mob to storm the Capitol. He wants to rig this year’s election by lying about voter fraud, which is virtually nonexistent. He wants to make it harder for Democrats and independents to cast their ballots.
Attacking the credibility of mail-in voting is a core element of that strategy.
Small problem. Nobody with any sense believes him, including the overwhelming majority of public officials of both parties overseeing elections all over the country.
Why?
Because it is their job to ensure that elections are free from fraud and interference. Including interference from the Executive Branch of the federal government, which has no say in elections because they are run by the states.
In Florida, elections are administered by local Supervisors of Elections who, themselves, must stand for election from time to time. There are 67 of them, one for each county.
One such elected official is Melissa Blazier of Collier County, who also serves as a director of the professional organization to which Florida elections officials belong: Florida Supervisors of Elections.
Blazier was interviewed Monday on The Dave Elliot Show and was asked: “How many fraudulent vote-by-mail ballots have you counted in your tenure?”
Her answer:
“In 20 years, I don’t think any. None … zero. Vote-by-mail is just as safe and secure as voting in person during early voting or on election day.”
Blazier noted that before anyone is issued a mail-in ballot, they have to submit extensive “personal identifying information“ before even being sent a ballot, and once the ballot is received, that data is reverified and a real-life human being checks the signature.
In other words, as safe as humanly possible.
And that comes from someone who actually knows what she’s talking about, not the White House.
Dave Elliott, btw, is the best-known talk-radio host in Southwest Florida, and he recently launched his own internet program. I’m honored to be one of his guests from time to time, and the two of us are plotting our own podcast. Stay tuned for more on that. You can hear Melissa Blazier’s full conversation with Dave (as well as my own comments) by clicking the link below and forwarding the audio recording to about the 44th minute mark.
Key Election Dates:
Deadline for counties to send overseas vote-by-mail ballots: September 19, 2026
Deadline for counties to send vote-by-mail ballots to domestic voters: September 24, 2026 – October 1, 2026
Deadline to register to vote: October 5, 2026
Deadline to request that ballot be mailed: October 22, 2026
Early voting period (mandatory period): October 24 – 31, 2026
(Contact Supervisor of Elections for optional days of early voting)Election Day: November 3, 2026
Thanks for your support
Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.
Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.
If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.
Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.
Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.
Thanks.
J.C. Bruce
And yet, Melissa Blazier of Collier County stills claims she is a Republican and will probably vote for the morons that the Orange idiot will endorse ....like most Republicans. I guess Republicans, enjoy being lied to and don't know the definition of insanity.
He gets knocked down a few pegs and the SCOTUS empowers him again. He has the worst taste and I’m sure that ballroom will look better torn down than when he finishes it. He just keeps wasting money. We are suffering.