Elections in the US: what voting by mail looks like and how it is processed

11/06/2020 11:43

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 11/06/2020 11:43

The definition of the elections in the United States is based on the votes by mail, which in 2020 arrived in record numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the long delay in determining who won between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is due to the

that each State has in the way of accounting

these votes.

In the United States,

has been a permitted form of voting for more than a century.

The postal vote may also coincide with the so -

called

(

), ie people that the election day be "absent" (can not go to vote) and therefore ask permission to vote by mail.

This alternative exists because in the United States, election day is always

(the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November), and many workers do not get to vote because they have to work.

Ballot papers to vote by mail.

Photo: AP

While most states allow mail ballot processing or counting to begin before Election Day, there are some states where it is established that counting can only

Election

.

Processing and counting

Votes by mail have two instances:

and then it is

.

The processing involves checking that

(that the privacy seal is not violated and that it has the signature and the corresponding data), but the count itself is a later instance. 

Among the States that establish

that both the processing and the recount begin just after the

, one of the places that remains in dispute between both candidates and that could end up defining the winner.

Analysts already warned that in Pennsylvania

, given that in 2020 the state began to allow all voters to vote by mail.

Also note that some states allow mail-in ballots to arrive several days after Election Day.

This is the case in California, where the envelope is only required to be stamped on November 3, but it

and be considered valid. 

How to access voting by mail

To vote by mail, the ballot must arrive at the voter's address.

And it depends on the state, sometimes those ballots must be requested with or without a justification.

In other cases, the ballot arrives unclaimed.

According to

, this year as of August 17, seven states, including Texas, New York and South Carolina, required 

to vote absentee.

Thirty-four states, including Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio, allowed absentee voting for all residents citing the coronavirus.

And Washington, DC, and nine states, including Utah, California and Nevada, send the ballots

.

Voting by mail is also an alternative for those over 65, or for voters who are not within their constituency at the time the election is held.

Americans living abroad, whether civilians, or in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Marine, can also request an absentee ballot form by mail.

Check first

Those who wanted to apply to this type of mechanism had to visit the electoral page of their State and see the

.

There the order was made for a regulatory envelope that arrived with the forms that were required to cast the vote.

There was a period during which the regulatory envelope had to be mailed.

There was also the possibility of

registering as a voter in absentia

, with which the necessary envelopes for each election are automatically received.

Election officials scan a mail-in ballot in Nevada.

Photo: AFP

This year, some states like North Carolina started sending ballots in early September.

Follow the instructions

Once the envelope and the ballot had been received, the instructions had to be followed carefully, such as whether to use a pen of a certain color, or if the vote had to be entered in an envelope and then in a second larger envelope. do not forget to sign, etc ...

All these requirements were observed by the electoral authorities, and the vote

if an irregularity is found.

It was also observed if the person was registered to vote, if their address coincided with the State where they are voting, personal data such as date of birth, document number (social security, in the US), and finally that the voter's signature match the one you registered.

Deadlines

The voter should also be sure to follow their state's deadlines for requesting and returning their absentee ballot.

One of the fears, this year, is that the votes will not arrive on time (within the scheduled date) due to the great demand that will weigh on the postal service.

Each state had 

for voting by mail or absentee.

There was a deadline to request the vote by mail, another to send it and another for it to arrive.

The vote could be sent through the postal service or entered in specially assigned polls / mailboxes in the neighborhoods to deposit the envelopes.

Legislator Sharice Davids casts her vote in a polling station in Kansas.

Photo: AP

For example, according to the

site

, in the state of Alabama, voting by mail could be requested up to five days before Election Day.

That vote could be sent up to one day before the election and had to reach the electoral authorities before noon on November 3.

But in other cases, such as remote Alaska, the vote could be sent on the day of the election and received by the electoral authorities until

November 3.

Another case is that of Florida, where the request to vote by mail or absentee could be requested up to 10 days before the election, and must arrive at the polling station

the day of voting.

Finally, if you received a mail-in ballot but chose to do so in person, you generally had to return that ballot to the appropriate polling place on Election Day.

But, as in everything else, each state has its own rules.

Perhaps the only consistent piece of data in the voting-by-mail system in the United States is that this year it broke several records.

ap

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