Absentee vs. Mail-in Ballot, Explained

To the Editor:

I will pull up short of charging Mr. Hamilton of deliberate fabrication but I will accuse him of deliberately attempting to confuse the issue with conflating the difference between absentee ballots and the currently debated practice of mass mailing out ballots to putative registered voters. (“The Faith We Place in Other Elections,” by Lee Hamilton, Herald Opinion Page, Sept. 17, 2020)

The “distinguished scholar” surely knows the difference but in the interest of clarity, I will describe the difference. If I want to vote through the absentee system, I am obligated to m...