As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, Democrats have become increasingly concerned to push through with the elections. In fact, former secretary of state Hilary Clinton suggested that Congress should consider “make voting by mail the norm.”

In her Twitter post, Clinton wrote: “Congress needs to act to make voting by mail the norm going forward, with the specifics outlined by election expert Marc Elias below to make it accessible for all.”

According to President Donald Trump, the ongoing pandemic might still stretch out until July or August of 2020. If proven true, such predictions might come in the way with the upcoming 2020 elections. While the administration is busy trying to mitigate the spread of the virus, Democrats are still trying to find ways to push through with the November elections despite all the health hazards.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs also made the same suggestion to allow all-mail voting for 2020. However, the Republican party remains doubtful of the effectiveness and integrity of the votes. While several states have already allowed voting by mail, the GOP reminded everyone that the state of California’s voting system might be vulnerable to corruption and fraud. According to the state’s system, votes sent by mail could be delivered through unverified third parties in a process called “ballot harvesting.”

The policy had made Republicans more hesitant to give their ballots to others in fear that it might become susceptible to fraud. However, such processes became beneficial for the Democrats, especially during Clinton’s campaign. In fact, during the 2016 California primary, everyone thought that it would be a close fight between her and democratic socialist Bernie Sanders. However, as the mail votes came in, the former secretary of state did not just secure the win but even established a several-point lead.

To understand how the vote by mail system works, each state has their own policies. For example, some states discourage voting by mail which includes, Arkansas, Alabama, Delaware, Indiana, Connecticut, Kentucky Mississippi, Missouri, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, South Carolina, West Virginia, Texas, and Tennessee. As the media outlet, Intelligencer wrote, it would still depend on each state whether it would reconsider their existing policies on voting by mail, especially amidst the looming threats of a pandemic. These changes will also have to go through legislation or pass through executive action.

On the other hand, states like Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming allow voting by mail. However, the voter would have to request a mail ballot to do so.

On the other hand, some states encourage voting by mail if the resident has a permanent registration; these states include Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, and New Jersey. These states, including the District of Columbia, allow permanent voters to send in their votes through the mail with the premise that they will keep on voting regularly.

Finally, the states of Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington all greatly encouraged voting by mail.