The 2020 Presidential election has become a topic of discourse among the Dickinson community, especially in conjunction with the current protests and COVID-19 pandemic.

In the last and previous weeks, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Republican incumbent Donald Trump have taken over the mainstream media to advance their campaigns for the Presidency.

William Critchfield ’21, President of the Dickinson College Democrats, reflected on the four-day virtual Democratic National Convention, favoring the Democratic campaign of Biden and his running mate, Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, over the Republican campaign of incumbents President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. 

“The Democratic National Convention demonstrated the ability of our political system to adapt and thrive in the face of incredible difficulty,” said Critchfield. He also addressed the ongoing pandemic when explaining his decision to support the Democratic party this election. 

“The failure of the current administration to meet the crisis of COVID-19 reinforces my decision to support Joe Biden,” said Critchfield.

The President of the Dickinson College Republicans did not respond to our question  at the time of publication.

Saul Torres-Nieto ’24 said “Biden delivered a speech directed at the soul of our nation, which called to the day-to-day base efforts of the American people.” 

According to the Associated Press, voters and lawmakers recently voiced concern in August after the United States Postal Services informed states across the country it could not guarantee all ballots for the November election would arrive with enough time to be counted. Curbside mail collection boxes and mail sorting machines were also being removed, although the Associated Press has since reported that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has agreed to their removal until after the election.

With this in mind, Joe Biden has expressed, “Voting by mail is safe and secure. And do not take my word for it: Take it from the President, who just requested his mail-in ballot for the Florida primary.” 

On the same topic, President Donald Trump has stated, “With Universal mail-in voting, the 2020 Election will be the most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history.”

Associate Professor of Italian James McMenamin said universal mail-in voting would be beneficial. 

“I think that mail-in voting is perfectly acceptable. Many states have used this voting method and it would provide citizens with a safe way to vote during a pandemic,” said Professor McMenamin.