Voting During COVID-19

Voting by-mail and the VoteSafe Act of 2020.

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Photo by Steve Houghton-Burnett on Unsplash

Introduction

COVID-19 has significantly impacted how we go about our everyday lives. A major concern in the United States has been how the virus will affect state and local elections, especially with the upcoming presidential election this fall. Many states such as New York have delayed their Primary election dates by two months in order to keep their populace safe from the coronavirus. However, other states like Wisconsin, have not been so lucky. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked a court order in Wisconsin that would have extended the absentee voting period. This forced many to have to vote in-person. A consequence of this was unsafe conditions due to reduced polling locations, long lines, and long wait times.

A solution put forth by Sen. Kamala Harris [D-CA] to combat this is to expand the accessibility of mail-in ballots for all voters. Another step that Sen. Harris says can be done is to increase funding for polling locations. This would allow states to increase polling locations which would curb overcrowding, make sure machines can be adequately disinfected, and that the staff at polling locations have enough PPE to stay safe.

Mail-In Ballots

What Are Mail-In Ballots?

Currently, only 5 out of the 50 states (Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah¹, and Hawaii) have a mail-in ballot system called “All-Mail” voting. This system of voting allows states to mail ballots to eligible voters without a request or application needed. The voter fills out their ballot and they mail it back. This way, if one is not able to vote in person at the polls for any reason, they can go ahead and mail in their vote. Now, all states allow some form of mail-in voting, usually called “Absentee Voting.” How this differs from All-Mail voting is that a voter must request an Absentee ballot and if they qualify, they are sent a ballot, in most cases, by mail². Absentee voting also may require ‘an excuse’ as to why that voter will not be able to vote in-person on election day. Currently, in 34 states³ (including the 5 listed above) and the District of Columbia, they have implemented ‘no excuse’ absentee voting, where the voter does not have to provide a reason as to why they will not…

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