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In this tweet the president of the USA said

For our Country to be sending 80 million UNSOLICITED BALLOTS is very unfair and a roadmap to disaster. Even recent small and easier to control elections which did this are a catastrophic disaster. Fraudulent & missing Ballots like never seen before. 20% and 30% off. STOP!

Are there "80 million UNSOLICITED BALLOTS" being sent? Or, is this a "false news" hoax?

Ought I to ask a separate question to ask about the claim that "Fraudulent & missing Ballots like never seen before. 20% and 30%", or can that also be covered in this question?

Mawg says reinstate Monica
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    What is an "unsolicited ballot"? A scrap of paper with a name and ***X*** on it? Or multiple photocopies of a genuine ballot paper? – Weather Vane Aug 25 '20 at 18:58
  • Please reference a notable claim. – Daniel R Hicks Aug 25 '20 at 19:06
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    @DanielRHicks presidential tweets are inherently notable, regardless of credibility. – Ben Barden Aug 25 '20 at 19:11
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    @WeatherVane an unsolicited ballot would be a mail-in ballot that was not specifically requested by the recipient. – Ben Barden Aug 25 '20 at 19:13
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    In which direction are the "unsolicited ballots" being sent? Are there fake ballot papers being sent to voters, or fakes being sent back by phantom voters? I am registered in my own country for postal votes. The papers are identifiable with a reference barcode to make it easy to weed out duplicates. It might be thought that this contravenes the 'secret ballot' principle, but even ballot papers in voting halls have an ID that is recorded. Presumably POTUS is (as ever) only concerned about fakes. – Weather Vane Aug 25 '20 at 19:13
  • @Weather, I could refer you to the dictionary, but I imagine that you understand both the words "unsolicited" and "ballot". FWIW, I would imagine, that the quote refers to invitations to register for mail in voting - but what I imagine in neither here nor there. Let''s stick with the dictionary definition. – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 25 '20 at 19:16
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    Please don't be rude, but post a clear question. Are you **imagining** what POTUS is saying, or do *you* understand? Since you have posted the question, what you imagine is very relevant. – Weather Vane Aug 25 '20 at 19:16
  • @Daniel, I am unsure if that is tongue in cheek or not. If the current president of the USA stating something is not a "notable claim", then what would you consider to be so? – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 25 '20 at 19:17
  • @Ben, yes, I would agree with that definition. If others can likewise agree, can we address the factuality of the president's claim? – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 25 '20 at 19:19
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    @WeatherVane it is not incumbent upon the question asker to define what the original claimant means. We have a clear notable claim to work with, clearly identified. They've posed a challenge/question to that claim. Their role here is done. – Ben Barden Aug 25 '20 at 19:21
  • @watehr please accept my apologies. I did not mean to be rude (upvote your comment). I just don't see any ambiguity ion the text, and am skeptical of it. No offence, but do you honestly not understand what "unsolicited ballot" means? – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 25 '20 at 19:21
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    @MawgsaysreinstateMonica I will say, though, that I don't think he's claiming what you seem to be suggesting that he's claiming. He's saying that if it were to be done, it would be unfair and a roadmap to disaster. There's no actual claim there that it has been done or that it is being done. – Ben Barden Aug 25 '20 at 19:23
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    Ah thanks, so he means an unsolicited ballot ***paper*** sent to voters, not an unsolicited vote. – Weather Vane Aug 25 '20 at 19:23
  • "`There's no actual claim there that it has been done or that it is being done`" .... a pity that English doesn't have much beyond a vestige of a conditional tense. it stands "`For our Country to be sending 80 million UNSOLICITED BALLOTS`" sounds like statement of fact. Perhaps it ought ot have been phrased "`***if*** the USA ***were** to send 80 million UNSOLICITED BALLOTS" ? – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 25 '20 at 19:26
  • @Weather yes, that is my understanding, but YKmMV :-) – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 25 '20 at 19:26
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    @BenBarden I agree it *is* ambiguous. "Fraudulent & missing Ballots" are surely not unsolicited papers sent to voters, but either faked on return, or vanish on arrival at the polling depot. Is it just **noise**? – Weather Vane Aug 25 '20 at 19:32
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    @MawgsaysreinstateMonica yeah, that's pretty much what the "For our country to be" construction means - perhaps with a strong implication that it's being done or is likely to be done, but no assertion of same. Given that, I don't think this is a notable claim, because the thing you're responding to was only implied, never stated. – Ben Barden Aug 25 '20 at 20:13
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    I'd vtc as "needs clarity", because "unsolicited ballot" is not any common term I know. I have only one guess what an "unsolicited ballot" is, and that's any ballots sent through the USPS that would not normally be sent (because of a push for more mail-in to curb COVID infections). If that's what is meant, then we're closing as a current event. Even if that's not meant, it's still probably a current event. –  Aug 25 '20 at 20:23
  • ... because Trump clearly to me is talking about what *might* happen, not what has happened. –  Aug 25 '20 at 20:30
  • @DanielRHicks Is there a reason you rolled back the edit? The other question rollback makes sense, since I apparently mistakenly applied the wrong tag. –  Aug 26 '20 at 02:01
  • @fredsbend - How is the question not about Donald Trump, if the reason the tweet is "notable" is because it was written by Donald Trump? – Daniel R Hicks Aug 26 '20 at 02:34
  • A ballpark estimate is that only about 30 million unsolicited ballots will be sent out: only six states are entirely vote-by-mail in the upcoming election. – Mark Aug 26 '20 at 02:52
  • @DanielRHicks Trump made the claim, but the claim is not about Donald Trump. The claim is about voting and the postal service. –  Aug 26 '20 at 04:23
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    @fredsbend - If that tweet were from anyone else it would not be "notable". It's definitely all about Trump. – Daniel R Hicks Aug 26 '20 at 12:06
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    @DanielRHicks That's trivially not true. The notability requirement is about widespread belief. If some widely known radio pundit tweeted this, it would be notable. The tag excerpt says "Claims made about Donald Trump. Do not use this tag for questions about claims made by Trump." Further, this has been explicit policy for [person-name] tags for 4 years: [\[donald-trump\], you're fired!](https://skeptics.meta.stackexchange.com/q/3757/11643) –  Aug 26 '20 at 14:17
  • I removed the trump tag, it's now just USA & politics -does the question get re-openned? – Mawg says reinstate Monica Aug 27 '20 at 05:55
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    "For our Country to be sending 80 million UNSOLICITED BALLOTS is very unfair". He's speaking hypothetically, knowing how his fans will assume it's fact, but he did not make the claim. – Jerome Viveiros Aug 27 '20 at 13:55

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