An Election Like No Other

摘要

It's 2020, and everything is broken. The novel coronavirus is ravaging the globe-especially in the U.S., where more than 180,000 lives have already been lost. The U.S. economy has cratered, and unemployment has soared. The killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer in May set off the largest wave of American protests since the 1960s. Clashes between protesters and right-wing groups have since led to deaths in Kenosha, Wis., and Portland, Ore. The U.S. government fell short in its handling of the pandemic from the start, with President Trump alternately saying it was under control and deflecting blame onto states. Testing rolled out haltingly; states scrambled for ventilators and protective equipment; and the president declined to wear a mask while promoting dubious science. Now, with only 4% of the world's population, the U.S. accounts for almost a quarter of confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths. Barring a miracle, millions of voters will be going to the polls in November with a deadly virus still on the loose. Voting by mail seems like a safer option. But Trump is undermining it with the baseless claim that mail-in ballots will lead to "massive fraud" and a "rigged" result.