5 controversial voting laws in the US, from Minnesota's vouching system to noncitizen voting

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, October 29, 2026

3. Unlimited 'ballot harvesting'

Combined with high rates of mail-in voting, "ballot harvesting" has drawn sharp criticism from those who worry it leaves elections vulnerable to coercion, chain-of-custody issues and organized collection. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia allow voters to designate anyone to return a completed ballot on their behalf; of these, only 13 restrict the number of ballots one person can return.

In 2020, House Administration Committee Republicans issued a report expressing concern at the dangers of ballot harvesting, which it described as “potentially the greatest threat to ballot integrity in this country.” It highlighted its effects on the 2018 midterm elections, noting how North Carolina’s election board refused to certify a congressional race that year and ordered a new election after an investigation found that an operative for Republican candidate Mark Harris was illegally collecting absentee ballots from voters.

The report also emphasized ballot harvesting in California, which limited ballot collection to family members and people living in the same household prior to 2016. Since then, the all-mail-in ballot state has effectively legalized unlimited ballot harvesting, allowing individuals to return the ballots of others with no limits on the number of ballots collected or their relationship to the voter.

Citing election night leads in 2018 that vanished in final vote margins, the 2020 report claimed that unlimited ballot harvesting led to the defeat of seven Republican candidates in the state that year. It also described paid and organized collectors as "ballot brokers" who target certain areas and pressure voters, calling them "the new Tammany Hall ward bosses, controlling the votes of their harvested area."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice sued California over roughly 20,000 registered voters it described as "likely noncitizens" and charged dozens of foreign nationals in California and elsewhere with illegal registration or voting.