At least 65,000 absentee and mail-in ballots have been thrown out in primary elections this year for arriving past deadlines, new analysis conducted by National Public Radio (NPR) reveals.

In 17 state primary elections this year, tens of thousands of absentee and mail-in ballots have not been counted after getting to election officials too late, NPR reports:

An NPR analysis has found that in the primary elections held so far this year, at least 65,000 absentee or mail-in ballots have been rejected because they arrived past the deadline, often through no fault of the voter. [Emphasis added]

While the numbers are relatively small — around 1% in most states — they could prove crucial in a close election, especially one in which many more voters are expected to cast absentee and mail-in ballots to avoid going to the polls during a pandemic. [Emphasis added]

Virginia saw the highest number of absentee and mail-in ballots thrown out in their primaries, according to NPR’s analysis, with about 5.6 percent getting thrown out for arriving late.

In Arkansas and Oklahoma, about three percent of all absentee and mail-in ballots were thrown out for arriving late, as well as:

Less than one percent of all absentee and mail-in ballots were thrown out for arriving late in primaries in Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, Michigan, South Dakota, South Carolina, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Mississippi.

Mail-in voting, as Breitbart News has reported, has long been rife with inaccuracies, mishaps, and fraud. Since the 2012 presidential election, for instance, nearly 30 million mail-in ballots have gone missing.

Recent data has not shown a compelling public health justification for mail-in voting. In Wisconsin’s April election, only 52 of more than 400,000 voters and poll workers were confirmed to have contracted the Chinese coronavirus. None of those cases were fatal. This equals an infection rate below two-hundredths of one percent.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.