By Alli Cross
Kevin Banda – assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Texas Tech University and interim director of the Master of Public Administration Program. (Texas Tech)
Although the 2020 election sparked many to go out and vote, people with concerns of contracting COVID-19 opted for a mail-in ballot leaving some voicing their concerns with the alternative method.
According to an NPR analysis, more than 550,000 ballots were rejected in the primaries because of mistakes on voters’ ballots.
On a local level, mid-sized towns like Lubbock actively tried to prevent the spread of COVID-19 this election season for those who didn’t want to vote by mail.
The outcome resulted in many Lubbock voters placing their ballots earlier than usual. According to Lubbock County Elections Office data, about 52% of registered voters participated in early voting.
One early voter, Bobby McNabb, 75, said he and his wife were comfortable with how Lubbock safely conducted the election process.
“We wore a mask, as the directions said,” McNabb said, “We did what they told us to do. We weren’t worried about it.”
Voters like Hannah Isom, a junior journalism student at Texas Tech, said they felt like they had to vote in person for their ballot to count. Isom said she believed the mail-in ballots were handled poorly.
“It was very mishandled from what I understand,” Isom said. “(USPS) didn’t get ballots to people in time. I know a lot of my friends have had to go to the elections office and just figure it out there.”
While Lubbock voters may have felt mail-in voting was not reliable, others thought mail-in voting was conducted just fine.
Kevin Banda, an assistant professor in the Texas Tech Political Science Department, said he thought states like Texas and Florida were very effective in counting ballots.
Absentee ballots enclosed in mailing envelopes. Photo by Tiffany Tertipes on Unsplash.
“Other states are not doing as well, largely because they don’t have the experience or resources to do so,” Banda said. “I think on the whole, states are doing about as well as they realistically could.”
Banda went on to say many state legislatures went out of their way to make sure early and mail-in votes were not counted until election day. He said this was an intentional way to slow down the vote-counting process.
Whether in person or by mail, Isom said this election has been one of the most significant elections for the U.S. She said it is important to vote, even in the midst of a pandemic.
“You should still make the effort to go out and vote,” Isom said, “even if it means you stand in the corner until you can do it safely.”
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