As the 2020 fall election edges close and the pandemic still ravages our country, a big question mark looms over whether traditional methods of voting will be a safe option at that time. 

By the end of May, the USA will have lost 100,00 citizens to COVID 19 according to a May 27th report by David Welna of NPR.  

With a national election less than six months away, people are questioning if the voting process can continue as it always has. Given the highly contagious  nature of the virus, in-person voting seems irresponsible.

“Living in New York is terrifying right now,” said math teacher Fiona Bisseseur , “It’s different when you aren’t living in highly populated areas but the last thing I want is to get too cocky just for an election and start a whole new wave of this virus.”

Thinking of being in a public place surrounded by people makes many people want to run in fear and others don’t seem to mind. 

According to an April 30th report  on NPR,  a poll by the Pew Research Center found that 75% of Americans were in favor of using a mail-in ballot for the 2020 Presidential election in November. 

Five states in the US have vote by mail options already: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, and Utah. Those states report both a low fraud rate with bigger voter turnout at a fraction of the cost of a traditional election.

The move to mail-in ballots is not without opposition. People fear corruption, and others suspect the system to be biased. Many states don’t have up to date information about their citizens making it more complicated to send ballots to the right people/addresses.

Voter turnout only increases temporarily, slowing down again quickly. It’s expensive to implement this new system nation-wide having to get the resources to update their information on everyone accurately. 

According to a May 27th report by NPR news, President Donald Trump claimed on Twitter  that widespread mail-in voting in California would be “substantially fraudulent,” sparking a debate over the security and efficacy of absentee ballots.

This is a new and complicated issue and Ameircans are entitled to their own opinions about what the government should do. In the end, the government will have to make an educated decision which either way will upset many citizens.