By Lamin Njie
Americans have started voting for their candidate of choice for president in what analysts say is one of the most important elections in the history of the country.
Americans would on November 3 be handed the choice of either re-endorsing President Donald Trump or hire a fresh hand in Joe Biden. The battle is already hotting up between the two men, who are both in their 70s.
But this year’s presidential elections would be held in a somewhat different format compared with previous elections. As one of the countries that have been hit hardest by coronavirus, the country is improvising through mail-in voting in a bid to slow the spread of a virus that has killed over 200,000 people and over seven million getting infected In the country.
What is mail-in voting?
States across America have taken up mail-in voting – and it involves a voter casting his vote and sending it through mail. State electoral authorities are responsible for sending the ballots to the voters and the voters send it back to them after completing casting their vote.
Option not popular in some quarters
While vote-by-mail has long been practiced in US dating back to the country’s civil war when soldiers were allowed to vote absentee, one of the candidates in the November election – President Donald Trump – has expressed his reservations about it. Trump insists ‘universal’ mail-in voting would leave the process at the mercy of fraud.
But people especially those on the Joe Biden side of the political aisle say mail-in voting is as reliable as other forms of voting.
“All forms of voting,including vote by mail is reliable and safe. It is just typical Trump, who knows that he is going to lose the elections, and just trying to create distractions,” American Joe Biden supporter Musa Jeng who lives in Atlanta and is planning to vote on Election Day (November 3) told The Fatu Network.
Adam from Arlington, Virginia has already voted early for his candidate of choice – Joe Biden – and in a video shared with The Fatu Network, he said he has no concerns about mail-in voting.
“I think it will be fine. President is trying to sabotage it as much as possible but I don’t have any concerns about it (mail-in voting),” Adam said.
According to information gathered by CNN, nine states in America and the District of Columbia will conduct their elections primarily by mail by automatically sending ballots to registered voters.
Another 36 states will allow any voter to request a ballot to vote by mail, according to CNN, while the outlet has also shared that voters need to provide an acceptable excuse to vote by mail in the remaining five states of Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
