Novel Idea: Let people make their own decision on how to vote

Heath Hadley

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photo credit: Heath Hadley

Tree in the middle \\ People should be able to choose if they use mail in voting or not.

As an asteroid flies toward Earth, having a chance to hit on the day before election day, and two powerful storms batter the Gulf Coast while the world is still fighting a pandemic, the topic on every American’s mind is obviously the issue of the presidential election. The debate is between in person or mail-in voting, quite similar to another debate the country had recently.

Voting in person or with mail should be a choice. People should not be forced to do one or the other. Both come with pros and cons, but allowing citizens to choose between the two methods is the best choice. The best option will be different among different people. 

For example, just a few weeks ago everyone was arguing over remote, in person, or a variety of mixed learning in schools. Total remote learning would put poorer communities at a disadvantage. Total in person learning would make the Center for Disease Control’s guidelines impossible. The best choice was to let everyone make their own choice. It is the same for this issue; in person voting could cause an outbreak, mail in voting could be tampered with or get lost. It should be the people’s choice to do what they feel safest doing. 

Voting in person or with mail should be a choice.

— Heath Hadley, junior

On the other hand, voting in person would assure the vote would be perfectly valid and not tampered with, and only voting with mail could make sure the country could flatten the curve. Not. If someone could tamper with enough letters to change the vote, they are definitely powerful enough to tamper with the in-person voting too. Both ways will be heavily watched and secured. Plus, only doing mail in would not flatten the curve because people are still too dumb to realize wearing a mask won’t kill them. The Governor issued an executive order requiring all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases, so masks can’t b deadly.

Just let people choose; just like who they will choose who to vote for, they should choose how to vote. Securing and funding the mailing system would help too, and calm some of the mail worries over the validity of the vote. Then you could do all mail in voting. 

State officials and opinionated social media posters should let people choose their way of voting, not only will it relieve anxiety, but it will give people a little, much needed, control over this year. The alternative is to force people to put their lives or their country’s future on the line; either risk their families health by getting infected, or risk their vote, their voice on what the future of America should be, getting lost in the mail.No one can stop a rogue asteroid from hitting a mail truck, or dual hurricanes taking out the internet; that’s on NASA and the Coast Guard, but it is still possible to vote, and help direct the course for America’s next few years, nd the rest of 2020.