Lessons to learn from the US elections

THE eventful US presidential election is (almost) over and I think Malaysia can learn some lessons from it. The process offers some good practices for holding elections during a pandemic, despite the spike in reported infections in the United States.

A major factor that prevented an even wider spread of Covid-19 is the large percentage of mail-in votes – almost 50%. Although Malaysia allows postal votes, the privilege is limited to only a small select group, such as election officials and police and army personnel, so extending this option to every voter would be useful in the current situation and can increase the number of people who vote. There are claims of susceptibility to fraud but statistics have shown otherwise, provided secure processes are in place.