By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 4, 2020 | Note that today is exactly three months until the national election on November 3. 
It was gratifying to find several national Republican figures quickly speaking out once President Trump mentioned postponing the national elections.
Key figures one after the other immediately responded, all negatively. That included Senators Mitch McConnell (nice surprise), Lindsay Graham, Thom Tillis, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Thune, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Adam Kinzinger, among others.
Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa minced no words, saying, “All I can say is that, it doesn’t matter what one individual in this country says. We still are a country based on the rule of law. And we must follow the law until either the Constitution is changed or until the law is changed.”
The president’s suggestion made the United States sound like some Latin American nation trying to keep a dictator in power. It was shocking.
Our nation has been through difficult times before prior to elections. But our country has never wavered in holding an election. Think of some of those times.
- During our civil war, when our nation’s capital was threatened with invasion by the Confederates. But the vote in 1864 went on, a big win for Abraham Lincoln;
- After the serious Spanish Flu aftermath in 1920, a time also devastating;
- Even during the Great Depression, no one thought of postponing the election. And as it happened, the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his speedy actions help put our country back on its feet; and
- During World War II in 1944, and in 1940, just before a war.
Perhaps the 2020 election can turn the economy and the current pandemic around so that our nation will return more to normal functioning.
The 59th presidential election date is set in this way: It is “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November,” which this year is “the first Tuesday after November 1,” or November 4.
Walking through a drug store on August 2, what did I spy? Why, of course, Halloween cards are now being on display. And that orange-and-black day is nearly three months away! Maybe there are some people who rush to buy the best Halloween cards when they are fresh. As a long time observant of Halloween (my birthday), it seems a bit too early for me. But watch out: the Christmas merchandise will be on display soon!
Getting an absentee ballot in the mail, it got me to thinking: would I be helping the poll workers in the August 11 runoff, if I instead cast an early ballot, after surrendering my absentee? That was the poll workers could more easily and automatically count my vote, and not have to verify my signature, etc.
We asked this of Kristy Royston of the Gwinnett Elections Office, and was surprised at the answer.
“No, it would mean more paperwork if you wanted to vote in person early and would surrender your absentee ballot. It would require you to fill out several forms. Not only that, but our information on you shows that you got the absentee form for the run-off, so you can’t vote until you go through that surrender procedure. Just cast the absentee vote and either put it in the booth at the early voting area, or mail it in.”
Now you know. These procedures also apply for the fall election, too.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Follow Us