They're taxpayers and my dad is a Navy veteran. Why don't they deserve to have their vote counted?

I never understood the concept of mail-in voting until both of my parents were no longer able to drive. I'd always been under the impression that voting by mail was just for military members who are stationed overseas or in places in which they aren't registered to vote. If you don't fall into that category, why can't you vote in-person?

Here's why:

My parents both turned 61 this year. They live in Wisconsin. My mom has had Multiple Sclerosis since I was 7-years-old; while she can walk short distances with a walker, she's always had a wheelchair at her disposal.

Pat, pushing my mom down the strip in Vegas after our wedding in 2009. At the time, my dad was still mobile.
Pat, pushing my mom down the strip in Vegas after our wedding in 2009. At the time, my dad was still mobile.
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Now, fast-forward to 2020 - my dad has since been diagnosed with diabetes and he's recovering from cancer. He also had heart failure this past September and had surgery for it. Neither of them has been able to drive or have owned a car for years.

My dad retired from the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer in 1997. They own a home in Milwaukee. They pay taxes. And they're registered voters.

We, as a family, agreed that, during a global pandemic, getting a ride to the polls was NOT a good idea for them, nor was being around a crowd of people, considering the state of their health. So they requested their ballots, voted and sent them in.

That's where the story should end, shouldn't it? They're American citizens, taxpayers and one is a military veteran. Why should their lack of transportation affect their right to vote?

It shouldn't. And it doesn't. Mail-in voting is legal and, before the events of the last two days, there were few accusations of the system creating fraud and even less evidence of it.

It doesn't matter who they voted for; it's nobody's business but your own. But it's important to have empathy for others and their situations. Control what you can about your own life, but there's no reason that people like my parents shouldn't be able to vote by mail.

To quote Claire from one of my favorite shows of all-time, Six Feet Under:

via HBO
via HBO
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