As we approach the 2020 election season, it’s clear that the coronavirus will prove to be a significant barrier to commonplace election practices. Many people are worried about casting ballots in person due to waiting in long lines, touching machines and inevitable contact with other people. As the U.S. Postal Service prepares for the largest influx of mail-in ballots in American history, they’re facing budget cuts, a lack of resources and harsh criticism from President Trump. Trump has publicly doubted the Postal Service’s ability to process ballots without inserting political bias, and openly encouraged Americans to vote in person or send in a ballot in the mail as well as voting in a polling place in order to test its validity — something that is legally considered voter fraud. Many Republicans have gone against Trump’s urging to vote in public, knowing that their elderly voter base is unlikely to go vote in person and having them wary of mailing in a ballot might lose their vote completely. Facebook and other social media platforms are trying to counter misleading claims by putting pop-ups on their platforms encouraging users to check their registration status and providing information on how to vote early or through the mail.
With so many voters getting ready for November, a separate problem lies in the Postal Service’s lack of funding. The Postal Service doesn’t use any taxpayer money to operate and has been losing a significant amount of money (several billion dollars of loss a year, according to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy). DeJoy was recently called before Congress to testify to the organization’s ability to process ballots for the election, where his bias was questioned as he’s a registered Republican and frequent Trump donor. DeJoy assured the committee that no political bias would interfere with the election, but that a lack of funding would make it difficult for quick results. Congress approved a $25 billion dollar package to pay for mail-sorting machines, employee salaries and other necessities. Laws in different states can also determine how difficult it is to receive a mail-in ballot and a large number of ballots are tossed out every election cycle because of messy signatures or other factors.
4 comments:
Looking at the bar graph, it is clear that the postal service has been facing issues for quite some time now and that the economic “closures” brought upon by Covid have only exacerbated the instabilities the postal service is facing. I think it’s ironic that President Trump believes that the Postal Service wouldn't be able to process the ballots in an unbiased manner when the Postmaster General is one of his donors. One would think that, especially in light of an election, that this would prompt urgent reform to accommodate those who fear for their health and want to protect the health of others, but instead, it is facing push-back; the $25B stimulus might not even go into effect in time. This might be an overreach and slightly assumptive, but more than a fear of voter fraud, I think those in power are afraid of what it could mean for them if voting became more accessible, especially with option of mail-in ballots; if everyone who could vote did vote, the people in power right now would not be in power, so those who have a hold on it now want to do everything they can to keep it.
I agree that there may be a bit more to President Trump’s assertions against the reliability of mail-in voting. Amidst the many clear social justice issues that have been stressed due to Covid, it does seem logical for the government to make exceptions with the purpose of especially ensuring the safety of high-risk groups, even if election results take a bit longer to be produced, to allow for more Americans to safely cast their ballots. As stated in NPR’s article, “Ignoring FBI And Fellow Republicans, Trump Continues Assault On Mail-In Voting,” Trump’s “reasons for opposing [mail-in voting] continue to change.” Trump has not only issued statements claiming that “any expansion of mail ballots would lead to widespread fraud,” but has even made claims that “the Postal Service [can’t] handle the increase in mail… [which he] seems to have backtracked on…” (Parks). I think it’s a bit interesting to observe Trump’s continued remarks on this voting option, as they do seem to go against the priorities of many fellow Republicans, who feel refusing to urge mail-in voting “puts them at a disadvantage” in the upcoming elections.
https://www.npr.org/2020/08/28/906676695/ignoring-fbi-and-fellow-republicans-trump-continues-assault-on-mail-in-voting
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