Savannah Woolf
The United States’ 2020 Presidential Election had record voter turnout. More Americans voted in this election than any other in more than 100 years. Before Election Day, more than 100 million votes were cast. In comparison, 43 million early votes were cast in 2016. Many of 2020’s votes were mail-in ballots, 65 million in total. While these numbers may suggest otherwise, voting, especially via absentee ballot, can be very difficult to do.
My brother, 22, lives in Iowa, a swing state, and is somewhat politically active. During the Democratic primaries he caucused for Bernie Sanders, and as a volunteer he went door-to-door canvassing for Joe Biden. He planned to vote early via mail-in ballot as he was out of state, and would be until past the election.
Iowa offers online and mail-in registration until ten days before the election. They also have no-excuse early voting, but only in person. That means that a person can apply for early voting without having to provide an excuse unless it’s via mail. My brother had a valid excuse, and it was also coupled with concerns about the coronavirus. He sent in his first request mid-September and was told a ballot was on the way.
My brother waited two weeks and grew concerned, so called his county auditor to make sure all was well. They confirmed that his information was correct, and a ballot was re-sent. A week later, still nothing had come in. Upon inquiry, he found out the first two ballots had come back saying that the address was invalid. He’d confirmed his information after the first ballot hadn’t come in and reconfirmed with the auditor that the invalid address concern was incorrect. He sent for a third ballot and was told it was lost in the mail. Mid-October he sent for a fourth, and he was told its location was unknown. He waited a week and a half and then finally sent for a fifth, a week from the deadline. It never came in, and he didn’t bother to ask why.
My brother was not the only one who experienced this problem. Many people throughout the country dealt with similar problems. A good amount of eligible voters weren’t able to vote. Our turnout numbers were high, but if not for inefficient and pointed measures that suppressed voters, they could’ve been much higher.
Resources:
Blanchard, Jon. Instant messenger interview. 14 Nov. 2020.
Desilver, Drew. “Most mail and provisional ballots got counted in past U.S. elections – but many did not.” Pew Research Center, 10 Nov. 2020,
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/10/most-mail-and-provisional-ballots-got-counted-in-past-u-s-elections-but-many-did-not/. Accessed 14 Nov. 2020.
Miao, Hannah. “2020 election sees record high turnout with at least 159.8 million votes projected.” CNBC, NBCUniversal News Group, 4 Nov. 2020,
www.cnbc.com/2020/11/04/2020-election-sees-record-high-turnout-with-at-least-159point8-million-votes-projected.html. Accessed 14 Nov. 2020.
Rao, Ankita, et al. “Which US states make it hardest to vote?” The Guardian, Guardian Media Group, 21 Jan. 2020,
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/nov/07/which-us-states-hardest-vote-supression-election. Accessed 14 Nov. 2020.
Walsh, Kelsey. “Early voting hits historic numbers in 2020.” ABC News, 2 Nov. 2020, abcnews.go.com/Politics/2020-early-voting-data-continues-hit-record-numbers/story?id=73701061. Accessed 14 Nov. 2020.