Looking back on the 2020 election, regardless of what you think about the outcome, we have plenty to learn from a primary and general election during a pandemic. Yes, record turnout is certainly an achievement, especially with COVID raging nationwide, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some fixes. Straight Arrow News contributor John Fortier outlines the big features of voting that states should work to improve.
Even after years of improvement, voter lists don’t include all eligible voters, and they are not as clean and up to date as they should be.
We should improve the process for voters to register, especially at DMVs, to ensure that eligible voters get registered in the normal flow of their visit to the DMV, that they can update their information and that we can take voters off of lists where they no longer live.
We have some tools to compare registration lists with other states, but more sharing of data across states would improve the quality of lists.
Another area is the polling place. The polling place is not dead, so improve the experience at the polling place.
There has been a long-term trend to more voting by mail and an even more dramatic increase in the last election.
But voting at polling places, either before or on election day, is not dead. Polling places provide privacy and other voter protections and are convenient for many voters. All states, but especially those that are not moving to extensive voting by mail, have an interest in improving the voting experience for in-person voters.
Another area is to counting Votes Accurately, Transparently and Quickly.
Votes are counted more slowly than they were twenty five years ago.
The slowing is related to the number of votes cast by mail cast, but even more importantly, by the policies around voting by mail.
Three key reforms are:
- An earlier processing of mail ballots
- Requiring that ballots be submitted by election day, not mailed by that date.
- Ensuring transparency in the counting process
These reforms will not wipe away all doubts about election results, but they will contribute to voter confidence in the election outcome.
