What’s Going to Happen to the Election?
Things are crazy enough as is with partisan politics taking a central role in state and county decisions as to whether or not to reopen, but throwing a presidential election into the mix just complicates things further.
Before we get to that, though, we need to finish with primary season. While Joe Biden is now the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, there are still primaries yet to occur, and many of them have down ballot races that are important to citizens. Discussions of voting by mail have gained traction as people worry about the virus exposure that comes along with in-person voting. Even those have run into issues though.
In Extract’s home state of Wisconsin, a State Supreme Court ruling caused controversy and confusion as deadlines for mailing in ballots was changed the day before the primary election. In Connecticut’s upcoming August primary, all voters are being sent an absentee ballot application, but for COVID concerns, only voters with pre-existing conditions will be approved.
Delaying primaries has given states time to figure out what their plan will be, but it seems we’re no closer to understanding what the pandemic landscape will look like in November, and not much closer to determining what an appropriate method of voting will be in each state.
Five states already allow for all of their residents to vote by mail, and many others are considering it or looking at loosening the restrictions on mail-in voting. Regardless of what changes are made, those who are allowed to vote absentee are expected to lean more heavily on that option than they have in the past, and local election officials should be prepared for an increase in these types of ballots. The drastic uptick in mail-in ballots will require states to increase their sorting and counting capacity.
While the use of mail-in ballots has been a partisan issue itself, with President Trump in particular taking exception to expanding mail-in voting, the primaries are going to be a good trial run of the system. It’s a good time to address any issues that may arise with what’s likely to be a smaller electorate, but any problems that do occur could lead to increased skepticism of the system for the general election.
What’s clear is that regardless of changes to the way elections are held, there will be a substantive increase in absentee ballots for the general election and states need to be prepared. We can look to the primaries for guidance, but states will need to make their own decisions sooner rather than later to ensure they’re adequately organized for November.
