This report may not wax apolitical but, at the very least, it earnestly attempts to be non-partisan. After all, a presidential election will take place in fewer than 100 days, and statistics show that the number of registered voters is rising in America. (Approximately 139 million of-age U.S. citizens voted in the ’16 election.)

No matter which party we lean toward politically, everyone will need the opportunity to cast votes if they choose to do their civic duties and attempt to affect change. For the purposes of this article, how we will vote is almost as important as for whom. Without a vaccine available for COVID-19, can U.S. citizens safely vote at traditional, walk-up polling stations in the Pandemic Age of physical and social distancing? Many people feel that American citizens over the age of 18 should not have to choose between their health and casting a ballot. Officials in a handful of Western states have declared that in-person voting is unsafe, so those five states are implementing all-mail elections in 2020.

There’s little debate that the trend toward universal VBM has been growing for decades, but most state governments are ill-equipped for a massive surge. During Wisconsin’s presidential primary and judicial general election this past April, a pandemic-concerned public—nearly half of the state’s poll workers are over 60—requested eight times more absentee ballots than in the previous election.