Please support vote by mail

It is vital to our democracy that every American citizen 18 or older is able to vote in this critical election. One part of allowing people to safely exercise this democratic right and responsibility during a pandemic is to allow and support voting by mail.

Mail-in voting eliminates any chance for the voter to contract COVID-19 or to pass it on to others, including poll workers, many of whom are typically senior citizens.

Citizens voting by mail can, moreover, avoid the very long lines that some constituents have already faced during the primaries, which have resulted from limited polling locations in certain areas due to a COVID-related shortage of poll workers or other factors.

Five states (Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah) already vote almost entirely by mail. In the other states, people have voted absentee for years without fear of their vote not being counted or without government claims of fraud. Ballot security checks for mail-in voting are the same or very similar to those of absentee ballots, which are OK per our president.

If you choose to vote by mail, please request your ballot soon and return the completed ballot well before the deadline.

And whether you will be voting by mail or in person, smile and thank the postal employees you encounter for their service to our democracy.

Cliff Darnall

Schaumburg