Most of us living in the United States can vote by mail. There will be no need to stand in line for hours. There will be no fear of COVID-19 because you can receive your ballot by mail, and then drive to a drop off location. A friend can do the same for you. If you want to use the USPS, then make sure that your ballot is time stamped before 7:00 P.M. on November 3, 2020.

However, one of the underlying fears, beyond the coronavirus, is voter suppression. In Georgia, where I have lived for more than 50 years, voter suppression in the last Georgia election (2018) likely led to Stacey Abrams losing to Brian Kemp. Kemp, who was Georgia’s secretary of state, was accused of conflict of interest by overseeing an election in which he was a candidate. There were accusations that Brian Kemp, as secretary of state made if very difficult for some people to vote, including blacks, poor people, and students. According to an article in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, precinct closures around Georgia made it very difficult for a lot of people to vote. The journal article estimated that between 55 and 85,000 voters were affected. Stacey Abrams lost the election by 55,000 votes.

Even today, some counties in Georgia have either moved or closed polling stations. This makes it very difficult for people to vote, especially if people simply can’t take hours off of work to cast a vote. In some cases, people who had only to travel a mile or so to vote, now have to travel more than 10 miles. Because of this, Black voters were 20% more likely to miss elections because of long distances.

Voting by Mail is Essential Business

In the upcoming election, it is imperative that we as the citizenry pay attention, and learn as much as we can about the voting options open to us.

Voting by mail will overrule those officials who have a vested interest in making it difficult to vote. But, it doesn’t have to be that way, and it is possibly very easy for us to fight back against the “suppressionists.”

The Washington Post’s Kate Rabinowitz and Brittany Renee Mayes published an article stating that more than 75% of Americans can vote by mail. I was surprised by this statistic. But by no means was I disappointed. Figure 1 is a map from the Washington Post article. If you look at the table across the top, there are 234 million voters, only 52 million need an excuse beyond COVID-19 fears to vote by mail. That means that more than 180 million people can vote by mail. No wonder Trump is trying to undermine people’s confidence in voting by mail. He has also done an end around the USPS by naming a corrupt buddy as head of the Postal Service, and refusing to provide additional funds that the post office says it needs for the November election.

So, I can vote by mail, Now What?

You need to take responsibility if you want to vote by mail. Actually, it’s no different than voting in person. But because of Covid-19, many of us will choose to vote by mail.

Here in Georgia, which has a history of voter suppression, it’s not that difficult. To request a mail in ballot, you simply request an absentee voting by mail form.

The application is straight forward. Fill out your name, address, phone number, and email address, and then sign and date the form. You can help people you know that have some difficulty in doing this by filling out the form for them, signing it, and sending it in by mail.

I completed forms for myself and my wife today. Tomorrow, we’ll drop them off at the Cobb County Board of Elections. It’s located about 4 miles from our home.

Please do the same. This way you will know where to bring your ballot after you receive it in the mail. Do this is as soon as you can.

Early voting will begin in a month or so, but you can bring your completed ballot to the Board of Elections anytime. And in some communities, you will find drop boxes (much like a mail box) where you can deposit your ballot.

Taking this initiative is crucial to preserve the democracy that we cherish.