Before the pandemic, voting was simple. Citizens who wanted to vote would register beforehand, and then find out where their local voting location was. After that, they would wait until voting day and then arrive to fill out their balot. Simply put, in previous years it boiled down to the essence of going to the voting stations to submit a vote. However, this year, many things have changed due to social distancing and mask-wearing regulations. Due to safety concerns, voting by mail was made accessible to all, and people are allowed to vote from the safety of their car. Something that has remained the same is early voting, which is when people vote earlier than the allotted time by mailing in their ballot. Voting has been one of the more frequently mentioned stories in the news as of late, with mentions of mail in voting, extending the deadline, and even drive-through voting .
Of course each state has different regulations on voting, but I was personally interested to see how voting in New York had been affected. Because of this, I went with my parents when they decided to vote on November first. Personally, I cannot vote because I am not yet 18, but I wanted to see how the stations were set up and what it was like. A few weeks prior to going to vote, my family received a notice in the mail listing various voting locations and the days that were set aside to vote. On November first, we drove to the nearest voting station, which happened to be a high school, and some things that I noticed were long, socially distanced lines wrapping around several blocks, a large amount of people opting to use absentee ballots, and everyone diligently wearing masks, at least at that specific voting station.
Voting is seen as a civic duty, and many people were urged to vote in order to express their political wants and opinions. Millions of people cast their votes in ways they had not presidential election. In many places, it is still not too late to register for voting. Voting may seem different now, but it is still fundamentally the same. If we vote, we can show our political opinions and influence the government. This is what defines a democracy, which is a government run by the people.
