Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the US will go ahead with the 2020 presidential election. In his interview with the New York Times, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, said his company will educate its users on the mail-in voting system.
With the push for the mail-in voting system, some internet users have already started arguing that it can lead to fraud. Facebook is planning a “round of education” to support its users for the post-election period.
Facebook to educate its users over mail-in voting during the presidential election
It will help raise awareness that there’s nothing wrong with taking days or weeks to come up with the final result. Obviously, the large numbers of mail-in ballots will slow down the vote-counting process. That being said, voting by mail is not new in the US as nearly 25% of votes cast in the 2016 Presidential election were through mail-in ballots.
According to Zuckerberg, his company might also come up with new rules regarding the early claim of victory. More importantly, Facebook’s election coverage will rely on wire services to avoid potential fake news. Since the 2020 presidential election is scheduled for November 3, there are less than 100 days to go for the US to vote for a new president.
Mail-in ballot will certainly delay the result announcement
While the mail-in ballot is much safer than going to the polling place, it will undoubtedly delay the result announcement. Companies like Facebook and Twitter need to make stricter rules for political advertising and avoiding the spread of fake news.
During the 2016 election, Facebook has faced severe criticism over its handling of misinformation. The past experiences should allow them to better fight the spread of fake news. While the majority chose to go for mail-in voting, President Trump’s tweets claim mail-in voting will be “inaccurate” and “fraudulent.”
After President Trump’s post regarding the mail-in voting, both Facebook and Twitter claimed the information doesn’t violate their policies. Without fact-checking information like this, these companies could help in harming the election process.
A few states, including California, Utah, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, are already planning to go for all mail-in voting. Depending on several factors, not all the states can go for the mail-in voting system.
We should know that social media platforms are not the right choice for news consumption. However, not many care to look for the source to verify the authenticity of the news.