For my Pennsylvania friends — will you vote by mail in Pennsylvania’s primary election on June 2nd? Pennsylvania’s primary election was originally scheduled for today, April 28, 2020, but the Pennsylvania State Senate has postponed it until June 2, 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I signed up yesterday to have a ballot mailed to me — go to https://votespa.com if you wish to vote by mail, too. May 18, 2020, is the last day to update your voter registration. You have until May 26, 2020, to request a mail-in ballot. It wasn’t difficult to sign up but was definitely more involved than I had expected.
Besides filling out the expected name, address, and county, I also had to supply my driver’s license number (or PA photo ID number if you don’t have a driver’s license), phone number, and a detailed reason on why I wanted to vote by mail. You can choose between saying you’ll be out of the area, or that you’re ill or physically unable to get out and vote, in which case you’re also asked for your doctor’s name, address, and phone number, and a brief description of your illness or medical condition. I have a hard time believing they’ll be following up on most of that information, but If there is any suspicion of someone trying to rig the election or election fraud, there should be enough information to build a case.
I’ve been somewhat alarmed at a few of the posts I’ve seen showing up on Facebook recently that are demanding that people refuse voting by mail. Maybe I’m a little naive, but I’m satisfied, at least from what I know so far, that precautions are adequate to prevent mail-in ballots from being lost or abused or manipulated to influence the election. What I fear more is the suppression of the vote by trying to force voters out of their homes before they’re comfortable doing so. The posts I’ve seen so far have been almost exclusively from Trump supporters and from people who, in some cases, are known for their support of far-right conspiracy theories.
In my opinion, we ought to be doing everything we can to get the vote out so it’s truly representative of all Pennsylvanians.
What do you think?
