COVID-America goes postal!

Tonight, Americans go to the polls, care of the United States Postal Service. The right will vote for another four years of President Trump, while the left of right will vote for other old white guy. Will this unique, pandemic postal vote prove fatal for the Orange one? We are hours away from finding out. 

While election day is nearly upon us, COVID-19 has been surreptitiously sweeping through Red and Blues States in a most unbiased manner. The big question is, can the average Joe and Joanna in Main Street, U.S. vote fairly, without exposing themselves to the dangers of an indiscriminate killer. 

November 3rd will see America’s fate, decided by a record number of votes cast by mail. Ballots have been distributed by a number of states to everyone eligible to vote. This Herculean task, labelled the ‘Postal Experiment’, is proving popular with voters, with almost 2/3rds saying they’d vote using them.

Predictably, President Donald’s not buying it, referring to the postal vote as a ‘whole big scam’. It’s obviously become apparent that policies aren’t the only thing that divides the Republicans and Democrats, with an expert from Brigham Young declaring postal voting an ‘issue that’s become really, really partisan’. 

So, how will the ‘Postal Experiment’ be remembered beyond this ‘right-off’ year, that everyone wants to see the back of come December 31st? Will turnout increase? Will postal voting tip the balance? Does it, as Donald’s indicated, leave itself open to rigging? Questions, questions… 

Research suggests that postal voting increases turnout, with a disproportionate increase in certain demographics that have traditionally faced greater barriers when voting in person. The black community, the young, the poor and the less well-educated seem more confident, hidden by anonymity and the threat of intimidation. 

Of course, postal voting overcomes the number one reason people cite, not to vote. You guessed it, LONG QUEUES! This occurs more often in disadvantaged communities, which usually lean towards the Democrats. Some people of colour, trying to vote early, waited 10 hours to cast their ballots, due to technical glitches and the large turnout. 

So, is postal vote rigging really a thing? Or is it the conspiracy theories of an Orange Man-Child who knows he’s on his way out? Well, for a start postal rigging or fraud is very rare, thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Postal Service Police Force. They’ve set up a whole range of security hoops that fraudsters have to jump through like identity verification and ballot tracking, to name but two.

When it comes right down to it, voting in person and voting by post do have their differences. Mainly voting in a booth isn’t subject to the fluctuations, inconsistencies and unforeseen delays of the U.S. Mail. Voting in person does seem to give the Republicans an advantage. More than twice as many Trump voters will turn out in person on November 3 and probably give me another four years of Donald to write about.