Voting by Mail

Surina Ramoutar, Staff Writer

With the 2020 presidential election approaching rapidly, people have been rushing to the polls to fill out their ballots. The United States has a long and unfortunate history of election fraud and sometimes voting by mail has been blamed for this, but the accuracy of this statement has been in question. Some Americans choose to vote by mail, and since the outbreak of Coronavirus, the CDC has urged people to stay home as frequently as possible. Mail-in voting allows the electorate to expand without forcing people to stand in line with strangers with a chance of transmitting a deadly virus. But the past few months have complicated the idea that voting in person is risky—and that voting by mail is entirely risk-free. Although many claim that voting by mail increases the chance of fraud, this has simply not been proven, and according to cnet.com, “Election officials and the FBI say it’s almost impossible to pull off fraud via mail-in ballots. Spreading disinformation about voting-by-mail is much easier.”

However, other flaws come with voting this way. Many steps go into mail-in votes, which may cause some complications. If not done so correctly, the vote can be completely voided and with millions more Americans voting by mail this year, there is expected to be more rejected ballots. According to “The Atlantic,” “In the 2020 primaries, more than 550,000 mail-in and absentee ballots were disqualified, a much higher number than four years ago.” This problem is especially severe in swing states that could change the outcome of the election. So while fraud through mail-in votes has not been explicitly verified, voting through mail creates other complications.

In addition to this, President Donald Trump has expressed a strong anti-vote-by-mail rhetoric because of the claim that mail voting is “fraudulent” and an attempt for opposing parties to “rig the presidential election.” This has caused some Republicans to be hesitant to vote by mail and request absentee ballots. A rise in fear will not do any good for the election because voter turnout could drop if Americans are reluctant over voting by mail. 

Although mail-in ballots can create some uncertainties, it is an effective way to expand the electorate and give people the opportunity to vote without creating a risk to coronavirus.