Pandemic postcard #19: Keep calm and get ready to vote

It's three months before the general election, and things are getting wacky. Just this past week, the would-be king canceled his coronation party and wonder-tweeted about whether the election ought to be delayed. I honestly have no idea what we're in for these next 93 days--and indeed, what might transpire between now and January 20, when a peaceful transfer of power should occur. Given what's already gone down in 2020, anything could happen. 

Yet I know the Constitution provides guardrails in these matters. I believe that the better angels President Lincoln summoned are still looking out for us, and that other events this week--federal troops standing down and past presidents from both parties eulogizing the great patriot John Lewis--show that cooler heads will prevail as this tense national drama unspools. 

Meanwhile, it's still primary election season in Washington state. We vote by mail, so I am able to complete my ballot in a leisurely, considered way. Yesterday, while getting dinner ready, I listened to a debate in the lieutenant governor's race--one of the most interesting contests we have this year. The current office holder, Cyrus Habib, is leaving politics to become a Jesuit priest, so it's an open seat. Our likely-to-be-re-elected governor Jay Inslee may well wind up in the next Cabinet, so Habib's successor might get a swift promotion. I'll read up on this key race and several others this weekend, and I'll make my picks by Sunday night. On Monday, I'll drop my completed ballot in the mail--or probably one of the special collection drop boxes my county provides to make voting even easier.   

Five states now do all their voting by mail, and every state allows it in what's usually called absentee voting, though some states make it more difficult than others. This year, alternatives to in-person Election Day voting have become essential due to the dangers of COVID-19 and attacks on voting rights, yet this has also turned vote-by-mail and absentee voting into political flash points. I get it; for decades, I loved the ritual of going to the polling place on Election Day and casting my ballot. My daughter reports that she'll vote in person this fall; she likes the tradition, too. 

However you choose to vote this fall, it's important to have a plan for how you'll get it done--and for planning to do it as soon as you can. In addition to voting by mail or absentee voting, many states have in-person early voting, where you can go to your polling place at your convenience a week or two before the first Tuesday in November. Early voting cuts down on long lines, so it's an especially good option this year. 

Or say you're voting by mail but you wonder whether the United States Postal Service might somehow bend to political shenanigans--or maybe you simply don't have a stamp. In many states, you can drop off your ballot in person. Here in the only U.S. county named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we have nearly 70 ballot drop boxes that are available 24/7 for several weeks before Election Day. So easy. Our ballot return envelopes are postage paid, too, eliminating yet another hurdle for people who choose to put their ballots in the USPS' care. (By the way, Washington state's top elections official is a Republican--and I will likely vote for her again.)

I suspect that most of my readers are registered to vote, rarely miss an election, and don't need this information. But if you're curious about voting by mail, early voting, or absentee voting, now is the time to do some research, learn about your options, get ready to vote--and maybe have a Plan B. I've included a couple of tools below for super-easy registration and an absentee ballot request via Vote.org. Your state and county elections offices are your best source for in-person early voting information. And of course, those who seek to subvert this election are going to be messing with us at every opportunity. Don't believe everything you hear, read, or see. Don't believe most of it. Do your own research; use multiple sources and fact-checking sites. This is my favorite.

It's easy to feel a boy-who-cried-wolf vibe when people invariably say that an election is "the most important of our lives." Don't we hear that every four years? But 2020 is not simply another year. Most of us sense that a functioning, fair democracy is clearly at risk. The decision atop the ballot is one that might save our country, and the down-ballot races are opportunities to make progress toward the nation we want to be. 

It's been more than a century since more than two-thirds of voting-age America turned out for a presidential election, and barely half of us showed up in 2016. We can do better, America--in so many ways--and this year, we must, and we will.