COVID-19: An implicit, yet powerful determinant of the 2020 Presidential Election

COVID-19. Racial equity. Dramatic Climate Change. Healthcare policy. Economic stability.

All of these extremely important policies drastically influence the 2020 Presidential election. The elected Chief Executive will determine the United States’ direction in handling all of these important issues. The sheer magnitude of importance of each of these issues etches this election in our political history as one of the most important events in the past few decades.

One of the most important points of discussion amongst the United States populous and, especially, the presidential candidates is the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This pathogen impacts the election in two ways: accessibility of voters through digital redlining and candidates’ platforms for controlling the highly contagious disease.

In recent history, geographical redlining has been omnipresent across the nation with an emphasis on impacting impoverished regions in urban areas. This practice constitutes the systematic denial of various federal services by governmental agencies. In the context of the 2020 election, this implicit prohibition includes preventing low-income populations from receiving broadband, cellular, or any measure of digital connectivity.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic heightens the importance of digital accessibility because spread of information through word-of-mouth is very unlikely, especially when many states have issued quarantining orders to mitigate the spread of infection. In turn, however, the digitally redlined populations will be unable to effectively educate themselves about the Presidential election. In fact, some may not even be informed about the logistics behind the election in their region (dates/times for voting, location of polling centers, COVID-19 prevention policies etc).

The COVID-19 pandemic also serves to be one of the cornerstones of discussion in this presidential election. Given that the incidences of morbidity and mortality increase on a daily basis, each candidate must present their method for controlling the spread of disease through their platforms. Many voters’ decisions will be highly influenced by the validity and feasibility of the COVID-19 prevention plan, especially with metrics of effective prevention related to COVID-19 in the past (reduction of mortality rate, incidence, and hospital critical care capacity for severe COVID-19 cases) and promises of a vaccine in the near future.

Given that this election is so monumental, it’s important that all populations have the opportunity to be informed about the candidates’ policies on the main issues as well as the opportunity to vote! Digital redlining prohibits these opportunities for fringe populations living in poverty or federally-targeted populations, which can skew results because the voting population will no longer be representative of the American population. In a world where digital redlining continues to persist widely throughout the United States during the pandemic, the United States should work towards ensuring that the COVID-19 pandemic only plays a discussion-based role in the election, not a prohibitory role.