Should the 2020 US Presidential Election Be Held Via Mail-in Voting?

Should the 2020 US Presidential Election Be Held Via Mail-In Voting?

By Dongwon Yoo

This year’s United States presidential election. It is not a normal election. It is probably one of the most important Elections in the world. Normally, people would gather in a huge hall supporting and cheering for the candidate they support. However, this year is far from normal. In fact, many officials had never experienced this kind of situation. But the time is ticking and the election voting date is coming closer. To avoid the spread of COVID-19, more states began to introduce ‘mail-in voting’. This system is not new; it has been used for over a decade, but it was mainly for soldiers outside the USA and for elders who can’t get to the polling place. Now, some people might say that this system would work perfectly and would reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. I, however, believe mail-in voting would cause problems and would not deliver the result people want from it.

If the election takes place with mail-in voting, risks of having fraud votes can increase highly. Unlike voting in a polling place, people have to mail their votes. While the votes are being sent back to the ballot count location, it’s possible for a person with ill intentions to interfere with ballots and change votes as they see fit. This kind of action could change the whole result. Even if the officials find out that the results are a fraud, they would have no choice but to put on an election again which could cause more inconvenience. 

Second, mail-in voting was used for a small number of people. Mail-in voting was in place for people who could not go to a polling place. In 2016, 33 million postal ballots were cast. This may seem like a huge number. However, the population of the United States of America is 382million. As this system was only used by a small number of people, it will not be able to process a large number of votes. This could lead to a delay in the result of the vote, which could frustrate many Americans.

 Third, even during this period, it is still possible to vote in a polling place. Take South Korea for example, the legislative election held in the middle of the crisis was a success for the South Koreans. Although COVID-19 prospered in Korea at that time, people followed the guidelines and successfully voted without having another wave of COVID-19. If people take the guidelines seriously and follow them without disobeying, the USA would also be able to hold the election in the polling place.

  Because  an election is a foundation to start a new era of democracy, wherever you live, an election must take place. To make it  happen, people’s participation is needed. There are many ongoing arguments to ensure that people will vote. However, the question is how will they deliver their votes without causing any more harm? This question will have to be solved  to have successful voting this year.