COVID-19 has affected nearly everything in our lives, and the upcoming election is no exception. According to cnet.com, 80 million Americans are expected to vote by mail in order to avoid in-person polling places because of the pandemic. However, deadlines in some states may not provide adequate time for a mail-in ballot to be delivered to the voter, and then returned to the election office on time. An audit by the Postal Service discovered that during the Primary Elections, one million ballots were sent in late (usps.org). This statistic could be extrapolated during the presidential election.
Previously, all key presidential swing states, except North Carolina, had provisions that would invalidate ballots that arrive after election day, as stated by the Washington Post. However, there have been recent rule changes that may result in an increased number of counted votes from the swing states. Npr.org states that, “voters in a number of swing states this November will have more leeway in getting their mail ballots back in time to count, should rule changes… hold up to legal challenges. But the changes could delay the reporting of election results and possibly set up court fights down the line.” In Pennsylvania, ballots will be counted if they are postmarked by election day, November 3rd, and are received within three days. North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Michigan also have more flexibility with the deadline, but every state has slightly different regulations.
Some people are skeptical of these new rule changes because they believe it could lead to fraud. Election administration expert Eddie Perez stated that, “[these rule changes] are going to be attempted to be used for political advantage. There’s going to be a lot of political jockeying around what the earliest returns look like in these battleground states” (npr.org). The USPS has also cut back on some services, slowing down mail processing. These reductions include the removal of 671 of high capacity letter sorting machines, removing numerous collection boxes in Western states, cutting back on hours, and limiting overtime (cnet.com). Louis DeJoy, the postmaster general, told Congress that these changes would be put on hold during election time, but some cities still report reduced services (cnet.com).
The 2020 election, like most other things in 2020, will be full of unknowns. Although predictions about results and the voting processes can be made, we cannot know for certain exactly how the election will be affected by COVID-19 until it happens.
