OPINION: 2020 is a perfect storm for voter suppression

Hunter Mull, a sophomore studying journalism and political science, argues that President Trump and some facets of the Republican Party are practicing voter suppression to win the presidential election and that this is a greater threat than voter fraud.

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.

While a popularized argument of the 2020 general election is that mail-in voting will create increased opportunity for voter fraud, it is important to note that several reputable sources have debunked the rumor that this year's election will have an increased number of fraudulent votes. Instead of voter fraud, this election is now increasing the opportunity for voter suppression.

Under the 26th Amendment, there are no circumstances in which people would have their right to vote suppressed or hindered. 

Mail-in voting is something that has been around long before the coronavirus pandemic, but with the pandemic still running rampant in the United States, there has been an exponential increase in mail-in votes for the 2020 general election. Multiple states have previously instituted laws regarding absentee and mail-in voting, and this year exceptions have been made so that people may exercise their right to vote while still following CDC coronavirus guidelines. 

One of the most worrisome problems in the past week that has been found by citizens all over the country is that hundreds of ballots were never delivered to the registered voters who requested them. Several of these people who requested these mail-in ballots chose to do so to protect themselves and others, and now they may be forced to vote in-person. 

People are realizing they have yet to receive their ballots too late, as it is now past the deadline to request a mail-in ballot in many states. 

There have been many attempts over the past weeks to suppress votes or to stop them altogether. In mid-October, the California Republican Party admitted to establishing more than 50 fake ballot drop-boxes in order to prevent votes from being counted. The California Republican Party then stated they would not comply with the cease-and-desist order issued to them by state officials. 

This is something outlandish that is seldom heard of during an election. There is no real reason given to explain why the members of the group would do this, but it is illegal. The leader of the California Republican Party, Hector Barajas, said that their unofficial harvesting of ballots would continue. 

Across the nation, there have been countless different efforts to disqualify ballots from being counted. There are many plans to nitpick ballots to make it so that those ballots cannot be counted toward the Nov. 3 election. Many people say that President Trump is making an attempt to win his reelection through voter suppression, and even though it might backfire on him, it is still an issue that should not even be happening. 

All of 2020 has certainly been a whirlwind for a majority of the United States, with the coronavirus pandemic and the weeks of Black Lives Matter protests upon other issues faced as a country. All of these events rolled into a presidential election year has created a perfect storm. There are not only political issues that people are thinking of in this election, but there are human rights issues that are high on everyone’s list this year.