Tuesday 3rd November 2020 will be the day for the 59th quadrennial presidential election. But this time elections would give a tough time to the candidates and their campaigns. As this pandemic affected the world, U.S. elections can face a disastrous conflict due to less in-person and more mail-in-ballot voting. Pandemic has changed the U.S. economy and the election campaign as well.
The election candidates’ picture is clear. Donald Trump, the Republican and Joe Biden, the Democratic are candidates for the presidential election. What is far less clear is how, exactly, voters will be able to exercise their right in a way that is free, fair, accessible, secure, and safe in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A delay in the scheduled election will not postpone President Trump’s land sliding victory if it is going to happen.”, said Sajid Tarar who is a well-known republican Muslim leader and founder of ‘Muslims for America’. “The economy is strong as the stock market is at the highest point in the history, illegal immigration is blocked, countries like China and India, who were ripping us, are going to pay fair trade tariffs and don’t forget the major medical reforms which president Trump has implemented, now America is being given back to its people.”, said Tarar.
There is a question among people whether President Trump can delay the election, the answer is yes but he does not have the authority to do that alone.
The campaign challenges have become one of the most discussed issues of the 2020 elections. Media is overwhelmed by the news collection related to Covid-19. Biden is campaigning from home using digital podcast techniques while President Trump organizes daily briefings seemingly talk about coronavirus in White House to use them for his own political benefits replacing the election rallies.
The pandemic has changed the very base of the election campaign in the US. Using political tactics Trump’s rival Biden has criticized President Trump in a recent interview with CNN, by calling him an “absolute fool” and “falsely masculine” for not wearing masks. Trump refuses to wear a mask in public. He said when asked by reporters “I wore one in this back area, but I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.” Both are trying to stay relevant to the pandemic situation and coming up with different plans to end the pandemic soon.
The situation is uncertain as the US death toll is more than 100,000 and the reported cases are more than 1.6 million. There are doubts about whether the election will be held on schedule as decided or will it be only mail-in voting..
The pandemic challenges and associated blame game will be the center of attention in this year’s election. President Trump and his team have been named the virus as China-virus, Wuhan-virus
“There’s a difficulty now in scheduled and traditional voting as in-person voting can cause people to confront the virus. The democratic party is standing with the safety and wellbeing of people regardless of pollical consequences if there are any.”, said Tahir Javed, a democrat leader and one of the major donors of Democratic party. “Joe Biden is a true picture of American values, ethics, and character while President Trump is spreading nothing but hate and we can’t afford another four years of it”, said Tahir.
The pandemic challenges and associated blame game will be the center of attention in this year’s election. President Trump and his team have been named the virus as China-virus, Wuhan-virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has condemned this practice as it is disgraceful for any community to associate them with the virus.
The former Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee Senator John Cornyn said in an interview “I think China is to blame because the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that, these viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people, and that’s why China’s been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the swine flu, and now the coronavirus. So, I think they have a fundamental problem, and I don’t object to geographically identifying where it’s coming from.”
Virus related conspiracies are spreading rapidly including 5G technology that is linked with the spread of the virus. The spread of fake news direct targets the voters and politicians to achieve their goal. They would use every opportunity to use pandemic for their own interests.
Many states like Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming have postponed their primaries or adopted the idea of by-mail balloting with extended dates. This can also affect the results of the election. Wisconsin’s efforts to delay their primary was rejected by state Republican. They had to have voted on the 7th of April. Fear of virus didn’t stop people to vote as there were long queues wearing masks, waiting to cast their vote.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed with bipartisan support and allocated $400 million in grants to help states “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.”
In my opinion, people are helpless in this time of crisis and silently watching the show. Time will tell for whom election would go in the favor Trump, Biden, or the people of America. Ensuring a free and fair election this November will not be simple or cheap. But as the recent elections in South Korea demonstrated, with careful planning and adequate investments, it is possible to pull off elections in the middle of a pandemic. If there is an opportunity in every crisis, perhaps this pandemic provides an opportunity for the US to invest in improvements to make the election process more accessible and inclusive – and ensure they’re resilient in the face of future disruptions.
The writer is a technology expert who is working with US government based in Washington DC