Voting has become a contentious issue, and with good reason.  How you vote makes a big difference in the election results.  Voting by mail hugely favors Democrats and voting in person hugely favors Republicans. This was the case in the Presidential election of 2020 and in the recent 2021 elections in Virginia and New Jersey. 

I don’t always favor Republicans or vote for them, but I do favor voting in person.  The Democrats are waging an all-out propaganda campaign against in-person voting, while the Republicans are waging an equally vigorous campaign for in-person voting. 

The Democrats claim that no one has ever shown any significant fraudulent mail-in voting, but it is hard to prove a negative.  Certainly someone voting by mail is much more open to influences around them than someone alone in a voting booth.  Certainly there is much greater physical security over ballots cast at a polling place than ballots cast from home, however they are eventually delivered. 

Although it makes it easier to exclude legitimate voters, I favor having to show ID in order to vote, ideally government-issued picture ID.  A poll worker would check the ID and find and check off the voters name on the list eligible voters.  This seems much more secure than checking signatures on mail-in ballots.  Democrats could have poll watchers to make sure that blacks and the elderly were treated fairly.  State and local governments would have to make sure that there were enough polling places so that there were not long waits to vote. 

I think that in-person voting makes voting more important in people’s minds and makes them think more seriously about the election. 

Of course, many autocratic, undemocratic rulers hold in-person elections and tout the high percentage of participation.  But everyone knows that these elections are fraudulent or the result of physical coercion.  We can avoid doing this in the US. 

I would be more confident of election results if everyone voted in person, except for people who qualify of legitimate absentee ballots.