Voting by mail has gradually become an increasingly popular option among Americans, but it has been attacked by baseless accusations of fraud and mistrust.

And in recent days they have take literal fire of the alleged perpetrators.

But despite these threats, election officials and law enforcement worked rigorously to ensure that these ballots were not only delivered and counted on time, but also free from any type of fraud.

As of Tuesday, more than 25.6 million Americans have returned an absentee ballot and more than 65 million Americans, including overseas military personnel, have requested an absentee ballot, according to data from Election Laboratory at the University of Florida.

By the end of the 2020 election, more than 65 million votes had been cast by mail. However, experts noted that due to the pandemic, more voters chose this method.

In the last two elections, former President Donald Trump cast doubt on mail-in voting, saying mail-in ballots are not secure enough.

There is no evidence to support his claims, which have been refuted by multiple courts, election offices, audits and other security checks in multiple elections.

Several studies have shown that mail-in voting fraud is rare, and in those rare cases the offender was punished and the votes were never counted.

One such case occurred in North Carolina during the 2018 midterm elections when Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative working for Republican House candidate Mark Harris, “defrauded voters by harvesting ballots “unfilled ballots, then filling in the remainder to favor the campaign’s candidate,” according to a report from MIT Election Lab.

Following this incident, new elections were held and Dowless was convicted of fraud in 2020.

“Even many researchers who say fraud is generally rare agree that fraud with (vote by mail) voting appears to be more common than in-person voting,” researchers at the MIT Election Lab said in a report.

This year is no different when it comes to ensuring those votes are delivered and counted on time and accurately.

The first line of security is at the electoral office.

Forty-two states require voters who vote by mail to request absentee ballots, and these approval processes are thorough, according to the Brennan Center for Justicea nonprofit public policy institute.

“Election officials check the application against the voter’s registration record to ensure that each ballot is sent to the correct voter and that only one ballot is sent to each voter,” the organization wrote non-profit in a report.

The remaining eight states and the District of Columbia mail ballots to all registered voters and give them the option of submitting their ballot or voting in person.

“Frequent mailings help keep voter registration records current so that ballots are sent to eligible voters at their current address,” the Brennan Center said.

When voters cast their ballots and mail them, there are more checks.

Ballots are sent in envelopes with unique tracking codes and barcodes that allow officials to track them. Several states also allow voters to track their ballot.

The U.S. Postal Service is required by law to prioritize the delivery of election-related mail and has undertaken “extraordinary measures” to route deliveries. This includes additional deliveries and collections, special pickups, specialized sorting plans at processing facilities to expedite delivery to boards of elections, and local handling and transportation of ballots, according to the agency.

The USPS said 99.9% of ballots were delivered within one week in 2020 and 98.3% were delivered within three days.

The USPS Law Enforcement Division examines mail fraud, including whether a letter or package has been tampered with, and investigates any suspicious cases.

Additionally, many states offer voters the option of hand-delivering their absentee ballot at an election office, approved drop box, or early voting site.

All mail-in ballots require at least one signature, with some, like Pennsylvania, also requiring one on the envelope. The majority of state election offices, 31, use a signature verification system in which election officials inspect the signature across multiple records.

“Some officials receive training that law enforcement uses to detect counterfeits. If election officials are unsure whether signatures match, several states require ballots to be sent to a bipartisan team for a second review,” the Brennan Center said.

The Brennan Center emphasized that the teams are made up of an equal number of Republican and Democratic workers.

If an error is detected, election officials in 24 states are required to notify the voter of the error and allow them to correct it before Election Day.

Pennsylvania does not have a statewide requirement to correct erroneous ballots. However, a 2022 court ruling allowed county election departments to correct these errors.