Poling suggests that recent news has shaken voter confidence in the nation’s ability to hold a fair election in just 10 weeks.

As we are with so many other issues, the nation is evenly divided on the question of whether all votes will be accurately counted, according to a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. And, as with so many issues, there is a sharp partisan divide on the question, with two-thirds of Democrats believing that the vote will be counted accurately, while less than a quarter of Republicans agreeing.

It’s not hard to tell what’s going on. The global coronavirus pandemic is forcing election officials in many states to dramatically increase the use of absentee ballots to make polling places less crowded and safer. At the same time, President Trump has been attacking the credibility of vote-by-mail elections, falsely claiming that they are easily subject to fraud.

And on top of that, mail delivery has been slowed by cost-saving reforms in the U.S. Postal Service, which is headed by Louis DeJoy, a major campaign donor to Trump and Republican senators. Democrats have charged that this reflects a strategy of voter suppression by a president who is behind in the polls

Fortunately, these doubts do not appear to be discouraging Maine voters from participating. They quickly set a record for requesting absentee ballots as soon as the online portal became available, and Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is expecting record turnout for the November election with a presidential, U.S. Senate and congressional races atop a ballot that will also include all 186 members of the Legislature and local offices.

And Dunlap is confident that Maine’s 502 municipal election districts will be ready to accurately count the votes while making sure that everyone that wants to participate can do so safely.

Since this will be an election like none other in history, it’s important that voters start thinking about how they plan to vote now. Everyone should have a plan and not leave it to the last minute. Don’t assume that what has worked in the past will work the same way this year.

For most people, the best plan is to use an absentee ballot, avoiding the polls on Election Day.

Registered voters can request a ballot now, either at their municipal office or on the Secretary of State’s website.

Ballots won’t be sent out until Oct. 3, and need to be received by local election authorities by the time the polls close on Nov. 3, Election Day.

The easiest way for most people will be dropping a ballot in the mail, but that may not be the best option for many voters if mail delays persist. The U.S. Postal Service has warned Maine and 45 other states that slower service could result in ballots not making it in time to be counted. People intending to vote by mail should request their ballot now and return it as quickly as possible.

But a mail-in ballot is not the only option for people who want to vote early. A voter can go to a municipal office, request a ballot, fill it out on-site and drop it off. Many cities and towns will have drop boxes where voters can deposit absentee ballots that they filled out at home. Federal money is available to towns and cities that want to set up drop boxes for completed ballots.

There is even good news for the people who need to vote in person at the polls on Election Day. The July 14 primary provided valuable information to election officials, which will make things easier in November. Most importantly, Dunlap says there was no spike in COVID-19 cases attributable to people gathering at polling places, indicating that the social distancing and heightened hygiene protocols work if you follow them.

As for the integrity of the vote count, the decentralized election system that Maine uses should give voters confidence. We don’t run one statewide election, we run 502 local ones, and accurate results are guaranteed by dedicated local clerks and wardens. Even when there is an error, like the 11,000 ballots that were entered in the wrong column in the July primary results, there is enough of a paper trail to find the problem and fix it.

Maine voters have a lot to consider this year, but we don’t need to be worried about the integrity of the election. If we can plan ahead, we can be confident that our votes will be counted.

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