Member-only story
Why You Can’t Afford to Not Vote in the Upcoming Election
Rarely has the outcome of a presidential election had so much hanging in the balance
The 2020 American presidential election is less than two months away. With the country besieged by the Covid-19 pandemic and polarizing ideologies, the stakes have rarely been higher as the country is quite literally at a crossroads. Regardless of political affiliation, whoever wins will quite literally determine what path the United States will go down for the foreseeable future, making one wonder how any eligible voter could possibly sit out the voting.
Although the numbers vary by source, there is a general consensus that only about 50–60% of eligible voters cast their vote in presidential elections. In addition to apathy, voter suppression and accessibility (time off/transportation/etc) can all contribute to staying away from the ballot boxes.
Fortunately, concerns about Corona-Virus have sparked an increase in accessible voting outside of polling stations on November 3rd. A fifth of the eligible American population will automatically have mail-in ballots sent to them in advance, while another nearly three-fifths live in areas where absentee voting will be allowed by all and simply require a request for such a ballot.
