Amazon Can’t Save Us From the Mail-In Ballot Mess
Some people have wondered if private companies can help avert an election disaster. They can’t.
As the coronavirus continues to make basic activities like going to school or visiting a restaurant riskier than ever, there’s been a surge in pressure to find ways to safely manage the 2020 election. The United States Postal Service was launched into the national spotlight last week when President Trump indicated he would block stimulus funding for the post office in order to prevent universal mail-in voting. Meanwhile, a private solution to delivering ballots is gaining traction online: If the post office is unable to (or prevented from) handling all of the mail-in ballots in the 2020 election, could shipping companies like FedEx, UPS, or even Amazon step up to fill in the gap?
The idea was most prominently suggested by radio host David Rothkopf, while a similar satirical take by comedian Andy Borowitz suggesting Amazon would offer same-day shipping of ballots spread widely and was taken seriously enough online to merit its own Snopes debunking.
