ELECTION FEVER is heating up this August as the two major political parties hold their respective national conventions for the next two weeks to formally nominate the next presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The members of each party will also work together to adopt the official platform which will be our guides as voters in choosing the direction they plan the steer the country to and how to get there.
We may watch the live-streaming of the Democratic National Convention scheduled for August 17-20, 2020 from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (www.demconvention.com), while the Republican National Convention will kick off on August 24-27, 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina (www.2020gopconvention.com).
These political conventions are happening amid the coronavirus pandemic and the worst economic recession we are now living in since the Great Depression. As voters, we will have the opportunity to discern conscientiously who among the candidates share our core values and aspirations, and how these values and aspirations are reflected in their statements of their principles, goals, and strategies to help solve our economic hardships, as well as the moral, social and cultural division that has been threatening our Union
As we Americans look forward to this very important and consequential civic exercise of casting our votes for the 2020 presidential election on November 3, most of us are daunted by the threat of COVID-19, which has now infected close to 22 million people around the world, with a death toll of 777,150 people and counting.
Most developed nations have successfully defeated the virus and have slowly and safely started to open their countries again, but the spread of the virus in the United States continues to be in the uptick under the Trump presidency. The number of confirmed cases has gone up to almost 5.5 million, killing more than 171,340 people.
Despite the pandemic and with the urgency of the times, we are empowered to continue exercising our constitutionally protected right to vote through what many generations of Americans have been doing since the 1760s during the time of the Civil War — voting by mail. Spearheaded by the Republican Party led by President Abraham Lincoln, they wanted Union soldiers to be able to exercise their right to vote from the battlefield.
For many years thereafter, these mailed-in ballots have been helpful for people who could not go to the polling place on election day. Mail-in-voting has increased voter turnout, especially in places where people can be challenged to go to the polls because of the weather, their work schedule, or other health, logistical and personal reasons. Even President Donald Trump and his family have been casting their votes through mail-in voting.
We are now on the battlefield, at war with COVID-19, and We, the People, will want to make sure we cast our votes and have them counted in this democracy to chart our future.
However, as the cash-strapped 108-year-old USPS anticipates the surge in mail-in ballots, Trump has repeatedly refused to sign any legislation with a bailout provision for the essential service.
“‘The Postal Service is a joke,’ said the President in May. His administration nixed a bipartisan attempt to provide $13 billion to the Postal Service in March and previously recommended measures to privatize parts of the service,” Fortune reported.
In June, Trump appointed a new Postmaster General for the USPS — Louis DeJoy, a Trump ally and Republican donor —who implemented drastic cost-cutting measures that cripple operations and slow down the delivery of mail. No overtime. No new hiring. The removal of mail sorting machines, the very machines that are responsible for sorting ballots. USPS mailboxes in our neighborhoods, where we conveniently drop off our ballots, are seen and confirmed to be hauled away in trucks in many states.
On Friday, August 14, USPS warned 46 states that it can’t guarantee delayed mail-in ballots will be counted!
“Lawmakers from both parties and postal union leaders have sounded alarms over disruptive changes instituted by DeJoy this summer,” CNN reported. “Democrats claim he is intentionally undermining postal service operations to sabotage mail-in voting in the November election — a charge he denies.”
The Inspector General is now investigating Trump’s new USPS appointed chief DeJoy.
“DeJoy still owns at least a $30 million equity stake in his former company — a USPS contractor — and that he recently bought stock options for Amazon, a USPS competitor.
These holdings likely create a major conflict of interest,” ethics experts told CNN.
How ironic and blatantly hypocritical is it that at the same time he was attacking mail-in voting, Trump’s own absentee ballot to vote in Florida’s primary election on Tuesday, August 18, was en route to Mar-a-Lago. How can this president allow and even promote mail-in-voting in Florida, while demonizing and stopping voting by mail in other states, especially those that tend to vote Democratic?
In response to this national emergency, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced on Sunday, August 16, that “she would call the House back from its annual summer recess for a vote this week on legislation to block changes at the Postal Service that voting advocates warn could disenfranchise Americans casting ballots by mail during the pandemic,” the New York Times reported.
Former President Barack Obama posted a message on Twitter on Friday, August 14, saying, “Everyone depends on the USPS. Seniors for their Social Security, veterans for their prescriptions, small businesses trying to keep their doors open. They can’t be collateral damage for an administration more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing a virus.”
“If you’re in a state where you have the option to vote early, do that now. The more votes in early, the less likely you’re going to see a last minute crunch, both at polling places and in states where mail-in ballots are permitted. Then tell everyone you know,” he added.
Meanwhile, many Americans find help by going to the website https://represent.us/how-to-vote-2020/, which posted a state-by-state interactive guide to help Americans vote safely.
“Get prepared to #VoteSafe by seeing if you qualify to vote by mail in your state and requesting your ballot early to avoid flooding election officials. Then, share this page with your friends and family to help them #VoteSafe,” the site reads.
The website has laid out important deadlines for each state, but reminds us of the rule of thumb: “The earlier you request and return your ballot, the better.”
MEANWHILE, this advice has been shared on social media to make sure we vote and that our votes are received and counted:
1. Request a mail-in ballot.
2. Do not mail it.
3. Google your supervisor of elections to see where you can drop off your mail-in ballot.
It’s usually NOT THE POLLING PLACE. All states allow this!
Here is what you’re accomplishing by doing this:
1. Your ballot gets in on time no matter what happens to the USPS.
2. You don’t have to worry about standing in long lines and risking infection. You’re just stopping by to drop it off.
3. You still voted! Hooray!
Also, when you drop it off, find out how to track it online to make sure it is verified.
California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado have systems that can track your ballot just like tracking a package from Amazon.
All CA vote centers (which are open for weeks to a month before election day) have ballot drop-off boxes too! Many government buildings have them as well, so there’s no need to wait until election day when it’s crowded to drop them off. The list of drop-off sites is always posted on each county’s voter info website.
NEWSFLASH: USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced on Tuesday, August 18, that all changes being made to the Postal Service will now be suspended until after the November 3 elections. However, he also needs to return all the mailboxes hauled back to the neighborhoods so the people, especially the seniors, can conveniently drop off their ballots. The sorting machines should also be returned to speed up mail delivery process, and overtime pay as well as new hiring should be authorized to support surge in mailed in ballots so our votes will all be counted.
“At least 20 Democratic attorneys general across the country are launching a multi-pronged legal effort to push back on the recent changes that disrupted mail delivery across the country and triggered accusations that Trump and his appointees are trying to undermine mail-in voting,” CNN reported.
VOTE! SEND YOUR BALLOTS EARLY, AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE COUNTED. Our livelihoods and the future of this nation that we love depend on this process.
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Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
