The presidential election is nearing, and while Americans should be focused on choosing their candidate, they are stuck battling voter suppression.
The U.S. Postal Service has been seen removing letter collection boxes from streets and changing its operating hours at locations across the country. While these occurrences are not explicitly linked to political motives, heightened sensitivity around mail-in ballots this election year makes these sights particularly jarring.
The USPS is currently starved of its funding. The 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act requires the organization to prefund up to 75 years’ worth of pensions. Increased competition and other factors contribute to the USPS’s debt, which reached $8.8 billion in 2019. All of the money made from deliveries and other services goes back into the company, but the sales aren’t enough.
Louis DeJoy, postmaster general and recent donor to the Republican Party, cut various expenses, slowing down the entire mailing system. President Donald Trump wants to keep it that way.
Trump has vocalized a desire to try and profit off of the postal service, but that is not the purpose of a government institution. He would rather raise USPS prices for package delivery than provide relief funding. Trump should have abandoned his business ventures once he stepped into office.
The president — who himself has voted by mail — has openly admitted he wanted to make it more difficult to vote by mail, and that’s why he doesn’t fully support funding the USPS. This is textbook voter suppression, and an obvious attempt at trying to undermine the accuracy of the election. It cannot be seen any other way.
Voting by mail is a vital option that millions utilized during the 2016 election. This year we are faced with the daunting task of voting during a pandemic, so the availability of this option is all the more important.
Citizens should not be forced to compromise their health by entering a densely-populated polling location. Proper sanitization and social distancing techniques will have to be in place, which could delay the process even longer.
Many college students face barriers and bureaucratic red tape when it comes to voting, whether it be in person or by mail. Trying to find proof of residency, applying for an absentee ballot and learning about the various ways to become a registered voter is difficult and time-consuming.
Absentee voting already deters young people from voting simply through all the nuances that come with it. What the Trump administration is doing only exacerbates the problem. It’s not that young voters aren’t politically inclined to vote, but that the system favors older, retired citizens.
It is no secret that voter turnout among young people in America is not high. A higher percentage of individuals 65 years or older vote compared to those under 30. This makes sense: retirees have more time to go to the polls and potentially stand in an eight-hour line. Busy students and working-class citizens do not always have time to spend hours away from school or work.
The older vote makes up the majority of ballots. This is why seats in government are consistently filled by Baby Boomers. Those who are nearing the end of their lives are not voting for their future, they are voting for their present — and that isn’t an accurate representation of what the majority of the population desires.
If mail-in voting is compromised in any way, the election could be swayed to produce inaccurate results. While there are protections in place ensure the privacy of mail, the time it takes to receive a ballot varies with each person. It is difficult to know when you will receive your absentee ballot, and you can only hope that it will come on time.
A service many Americans continually rely on, the USPS is a government entity created to serve the country. It must deliver mail to every location in the country, and it was never intended to make profit.
Many people utilize the service to receive social security checks and other important documents via mail. If such sensitive information can be delivered in a timely manner in day-to-day life, then a voter’s ballot should receive the same treatment.
Voting by mail should be a normalized option. Whether there is a pandemic or not, there must be more effective options than standing in line at a polling location. Several states have already converted to voting primarily by mail, and more states should consider that as an option.
This era in our country proves more than ever that there’s a need for more innovation in the way Americans vote. Nearly every aspect of life in the United States has been modernized: nearly everything — from tax returns to the census — can be done via mail or internet.
Yet, voting remains stagnant in its archaic form. The most reliable way to get one’s ballot counted remains to trek to a designated polling station and accept an unpredictable wait time that could last hours.
To truly protect the efficacy of democracy, both voters and elected officials must view mail-in ballots as a necessary step forward.
