America is in a tail-spin. Half the nation is freaking out about in-person voting and the concern of contracting COVID while the others are more concerned with going to mail-in ballots and the risk of enhanced voter fraud. Ironically, demonstrators have marched in person to protest in-person voting. Let that sink in a moment. The debate on making it so that every American citizen can vote by mail is fraught with panic, misinformation, and contradicting data from supposed experts and professionals. A recent study, reported by NPR, concludes that voting in person is a "low-risk activity." So, who is right, and who is spreading propaganda and fear?
The Democrats are aggressively pushing for mail-in ballots, so it might be a bit of a surprise to hear former First Lady Michelle Obama encourage going to the polls:
"We've got to vote early, in person if we can. We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast, too, because we've got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to."
In-Person Voting Riskier Than... What?
Mrs. Obama said this during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 17. The pandemic fear, however, is gripping the nation, and those wearing masks while driving alone in their vehicles are demanding the "safety" of voting from home. However, many polling locations offer barriers between the workers and voters, encourage social distancing, and manically sterilize everything. Is this much different from going to the grocery store? It's likely much safer than shopping at Walmart, where the crowds remind one more of the Christmas shopping season than a national health emergency requiring everyone to don their hazmat suits before leaving their homes.
The August issue of the American Journal of Public Health published a study regarding the spread of Coronavirus and in-person voting during Wisconsin's April 7 election. The study – titled No Detectable Surge in SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Attributable to the April 7, 2020 Wisconsin Election – found that with more than 400,000 electors, there was not a surge in virus cases.
It reported that hospitalizations in the state for COVID "steadily declined throughout April," which had 101 cases on its highest day, April 3, just four days before the election. That number dropped to a low of 14 on April 18. Of the 71 people that did test positive for Coronavirus who were confirmed to either be a poll worker or an in-person voter, the results showed that they could have contracted the virus from numerous other sources, not necessarily while voting. Even if they had gotten the disease from a polling place, the risk of in-person voting was the same as a "fatality risk of driving an automobile approximately 140 miles."
Anthony Fauci Approves
The study concluded that "Taken together, it appears that voting in Wisconsin on April 7 was a low-risk activity." If that isn't enough to relieve some anxiety, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House's leading advisor on COVID, did not discourage in-person voting during an interview with National Geographic:
"I think if carefully done, according to the guidelines, there's no reason that I can see why that not be the case. For example, when you look at going to a grocery store now in many regions and counties and cities that are doing it correctly, they have "X" s every six or more feet. And it says, Don't leave this spot until the person in front of you left their spot. And you can do that, if you go and wear a mask, if you observe the physical distancing, and don't have a crowded situation, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do that. I mean, obviously if you're a person who is compromised physically or otherwise, you don't want to take the chance. There's the situation of mail-in voting that has been done for years in many places. So there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to vote in person or otherwise."
Some localities are even trying to add more polling places to help accommodate social distancing. Drive-thru locations, such as banks, are being considered instead of school gyms where crowds of people could be in close contact (not unlike grocery shopping). Even though Postmaster General Louis DeJoy insists the postal service will be able to keep up with the demand of mail-in voting, there are barely two months left before the presidential election. That is not enough time to convert entirely to vote-by-mail.
The left accuses President Donald Trump of trying to prohibit mail-in voting because he thinks he will not win unless people go to the polls. Meanwhile, the right accuses the Democrats of trying to push their agenda with a voting system vulnerable to massive fraud.
Liberty Nation's Sarah Cowgill sums up the situation rather nicely:
"The president wants to curb mail-in ballots to reduce voter fraud. Democrats cite pandemic times for pandemic measures. The reality is the USPS cannot handle an inundation of mail. Americans simply do not mail as many letters or bills or send "wish you were here" postcards since social media and the Internet have the world going paperless. Rural and small-town post offices have been closed, mail carrier positions eliminated, and budgets slashed drastically the last ten years or more."
If it is indeed vital that every American citizen have the opportunity to vote – and it is – then telling people that it is too risky to vote in person conceals an agenda. The only thing about which voters should be curious, then, is the nature of that agenda.
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
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