Apparently you missed the gist of the article. It was about lack of signature verifications not who controls what.
But that's a lie. They verify EVERY signature and the author doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. Not only that, you have to sign your name the exact same way they mailed you the ballot. If for instance, they use your middle name, you have to sign the envelope using your first, middle and last name. One year, my mother-in-law forgot that and they called her in to correct it.