Voting by mail is more important than ever in these presidential elections in the United States in 2020. The pandemic caused by the coronavirus will make more citizens than ever opt for this type of vote whose validity, on the other hand, has come to be put into doubt for the president, Donald Trump.The large amount of mail vote expected this year may also cause that the results cannot be known on the same election night, but that it is necessary to wait even several days to know who will be president of the United States Who can vote by mail in the United States? Not in all states there is the possibility to take advantage of the vote by mail freely, without having to present a justification, but this year more people than ever will be able to do so. Around 78% of the electorate can or have been able to vote by mail in 2020, while the remaining 22% are in states whose authorities require a justification. Among these states are, for example, Texas, New York or South Carolina. 34 states that allow free mail voting whenever it is requested, including those of Florida, Pennsylvania or Ohio, among the most populous. And finally, there are nine states that directly send ballots to voters without the need to request them. As a curiosity, Donald Trump himself has asked for vote-by-mail in the state of Florida. How to verify the vote by mailTo be valid , the votes sent by mail must be verified by the electoral officials, who check if the person sending the vote had registered in a different place of the state and, of course, that it is a real person, verifying data such as the date of birth or the social security number.In most states, voters must sign the return ballot envelope, so the signature can be compared to the one made in the pre-vote registration. Remember that in the United States citizens must register as voters in each presidential election before they can actually vote. If the officials find problems or inconsistencies, these are communicated to the voter to clarify the problem. The ballots can then be sent to prosecutors for investigation.Accusations of FraudDonald Trump has repeated on several occasions in recent times that voting by mail will lead to high fraud in these elections, although he has not provided evidence to support these elections. affirmations. However, there has never been evidence that in the past there has been any type of fraud in this type of vote, according to experts, it is true that there may be greater vulnerability in voting by mail in front of the staff, but always in cases On the other hand, there are some states in which Republicans have traditionally dominated voting by mail and in which citizens who acknowledge supporting the Democratic Party are registering to vote this year. This is the case, for example, in North Carolina. But it is a fact that has more to do with the particularity of an electoral appointment conditioned by the pandemic more than with any type of fraud.How long has there been voting by mail in the United States? The possibility of voting by mail in the United States Unidos dates back to the 19th century, dating back to 1864, in the midst of the Civil War, a time when many young voters were far from the places where they were supposed to vote. How many mail-in votes are expected?According to some estimates, more than 80 million votes by mail could be cast in the elections of this year 2020. This figure would be much higher than the 33 million votes by mail that were cast in the last elections, those of 2016, when he won. Donald Trump: This means that the election results will likely not be known on the same night of November 3. The spotlights point to the United States Postal Service, which holds budget cuts responsible for possible delays. Most states accept mail-in ballots received at polling places up to the day of the election. But some, like California, limit the number of votes to be sent on the same election day, even if they end up arriving several weeks later. These delays could be the cause of the votes that can be counted on the same night of the 3rd. In November, no candidate has secured a sufficient number to be nominated, so we have to wait for the total count to proclaim the winner.
