On Tuesday’s Election Day edition of ABC’s The View, their Republican bashing and doomsaying about the fate of the country were interrupted by Sunny Hostin’s possibly admitting that she committed voter fraud earlier that morning on behalf of her college-aged son.
Amid co-host Whoopi Goldberg opining about how “it is going to be what it is going to be,” Hostin disrupted things by picking up her phone to read a text message. “It's my son. Who, by the way, wanted to make sure that his absentee ballot was [turned in],” she explained.
She then admitted that she “had trouble actually voting for him absentee ballot today.”
What “concerned” her about the process was that they were collecting them in an orange bag and not a locked box. Here’s how she recounted the story:
HOSTIN: I had trouble actually voting for him absentee ballot today and that made me very concerned. It’s the first time.
JOY BEHAR: Why? What Happened?
HOSTIN: I was told to put it in the orange bag on the floor and the orange bag to me looked like a Target bag or something. And I said, “Isn't there a formal election box that says absentee ballots or something like that?” And then she said, “let me check.” And then found it.
BEHAR: Wow.
HOSTIN: So, that concerned me. So, he wanted to make sure that he voted.
According to New York States election laws, Hostin does have the ability to drop off her son’s ballot on his behalf. “If you cannot pick up your ballot, you have the right to designate someone to pick it up for you. Only that person designated on your application may pick up and deliver your ballot,” New York’s election website says.
In recent mentions of her son, Hostin noted that he was away at college, attending Harvard University in Massachusetts. And in Tuesday’s episode, she disclosed that she lives in Westchester County, New York.
So, the questions become: where/when was her son’s ballot delivered before being filled out? Was he at home and/or did he fill the ballot out himself? And in a description of the casting process, another New York election website notes that a “Security Envelope” must be signed and dated by the voter. So, who signed the security envelope? If he had it at school why not just mail it? If he was home, why didn't he turn it in himself?
Here’s “how to cast an absentee ballot” in New York:
1. Once your receive the ballot, mark the ballot according to your choices for each office following the instructions on the ballot
2. Once you have completed marking your ballot fold it up and place it in the Security Envelope. (This envelope will have a place for your signature.)
3. Sign and date the outside of the Security Envelope.
4. Seal the Security Envelope.
5. All absentee ballots include a pre-paid Return Envelope. Place the Security Envelope in the Return Envelope. (This envelope will have the return address of your county Board of Elections on the outside and should have a logo that reads, “Official Election Mail”.)The [sic] Return Envelope does not require any additional postage.
6. Seal the Return Envelope.
If she filled out the ballot and/or signed the envelop as his proxy, that could be illegal and could possibly be considered voter fraud.
The other concerning thing about how New York’s absentee ballots work is that they’re automatically sent every cycle after the first application is approved. “You will then automatically receive an absentee ballot for every election until your registration is canceled,” the election site says.
This possible admittance of voter fraud was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from CarShield and Charmin. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
November 8, 2022
11:16:31 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Listen, it is going to be what it is going to be, people are tense, people are nervous, you know, and people are coming out in droves. And yeah, there's negative, there's positive on both sides. It just happens, you can't help it people just -- put that phone down, girl! God bless you!
SUNNY HOSTIN: It's my son.
[Laughter]
Who, by the way, wanted to make sure that his absentee ballot was -- that I did that and I had trouble actually voting for him absentee ballot today and that made me very concerned. It’s the first time.
JOY BEHAR: Why? What Happened?
HOSTIN: I was told to put it in the orange bag on the floor and the orange bag to me looked like a Target bag or something. And I said, “Isn't there a formal election box that says absentee ballots or something like that?” And then she said, “let me check.” And then found it.
BEHAR: Wow.
HOSTIN: So, that concerned me. So, he wanted to make sure that he voted.
GOLDBERG: It should concern you. Lot of the things that we've heard all year about how people are being blocked. But the beautiful thing is, it doesn't seem to be stopping people. Because people are coming out in droves!
[Applause]
HOSTIN: Exactly. Exactly.
GOLDBERG: They’re coming out in droves to vote. And that's what we want to know.
