{"id":5193,"date":"2020-08-21T16:17:36","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T21:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/?p=5193"},"modified":"2020-08-21T16:28:27","modified_gmt":"2020-08-21T21:28:27","slug":"voting-in-2020-takes-personal-and-public-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/voting-in-2020-takes-personal-and-public-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Voting in 2020 takes personal and public planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Tessa Comnick, Hunger Advocacy Fellow<\/em><\/p>\n

Like many people, I have spent the last several months living out of my house. While that may not seem like a significant statement\u2014I mean, houses are where we live<\/em>\u2014living out of my house has taken on new meaning. It\u2019s now where I socialize (virtually), where I work, where I sleep, where I eat… and soon it will be where I vote in the 2020 election.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I have actually voted by mail for the past several years, coming from a state with no-excuse absentee ballots (that means you don\u2019t need a reason why you cannot physically be present at a polling place to use a mail-in ballot). When I decided to work at my local polling place one year, this habit ended up being very fortuitous. I voted from the comfort of my own home so that I wouldn\u2019t have to think about it during my long (but rewarding) fifteen-hour-day as a volunteer. As that day dragged on, I even thought: \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t everyone vote by mail?\u201d<\/p>\n

But there are reasons<\/a> everyone doesn\u2019t vote by mail. It\u2019s different for me than it is for others. I have no disabilities that keep me from being able to send in a paper ballot, requiring a voting machine to confidently and privately vote. I have a home address, one that didn\u2019t change even when I was at school or completing fellowships. I don\u2019t come from a socially marginalized and\/or oppressed group that has learned not to trust certain systems because they have continually failed me. The question that flew through my head never took into account experiences that weren\u2019t exclusively mine.<\/p>\n

We as a country cannot operate in a one-size-fits-all paradigm, especially with something as crucial as our right to vote. We need to prepare ourselves for a 2020 election that enfranchises everyone\u2019s vote. Mail in voting should be expanded during the current global pandemic crisis, but it should not be the only option.<\/p>\n