Will COVID-19 change the way elections are ran in the future?

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - An associate professor of government and international affairs at Augustana University said because of the pandemic, candidates had to change the way they campaigned and reached out to voters. Emily Wanless said what she’s learned from research is that making people feel like their vote matters is the most important driver to get them out to the polls.

During the pandemic, more people voted absentee than ever before, which means the candidates had to try and reach voters earlier. Wanless said absentee voting has been a trend that’s been trying to gain traction across the United States. Because of the record number of absentee ballots across the nation, she said it’s going to be hard to deny this won’t stick around.

The question states will have to answer now is ‘How do we make sure this is a fair process?’ Efficiency is important, but it’s even more important everyone has the ability to vote absentee and understands it. States have an opportunity now after this general election to do an internal reflection of what worked and what didn’t work and learn from it.

Copyright 2020 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.