This was the democracy- by- mail
election: About 60 million people
put their ballots in a mailbox or a drop
box, doubling previous totals and con-
tributing to what is likely to be the high-
est turnout rate since 1900, according to
estimates by the U.S. Elections Project.
Delivering the ballots was not without
its challenges. There were slowdowns at
the U.S. Postal Service over the summer
because of operational changes institut-
ed by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a
recent appointee of President Trump’s.
In the end, the Postal Service failed to
deliver a relatively small but signifi cant
number of ballots in time for them to be
counted on Election Day — more than
150,000 across the country, including
thousands in swing states, according
to the agency’s own data.
But for the most part, mail-in balloting
— and balloting at the polls, too — went
smoothly and revealed two compet-
ing truths: The machinery of Ameri-
can democracy is working, its many
interlocking parts functioning, thanks
in large part to the legion of state and
local offi cials who make it all go. And yet
at the same time, the administration of
elections — as well as the right to vote
— is fragile and facing renewed threat.
America’s pandemic election was a
remarkable, unlikely feat. ‘‘The chal-
lenges and obstacles were perhaps the
highest in history, or at least since the
Spanish Flu in 1918, and we saw fewer
problems than in any presidential elec-
tion since Bush v. Gore,’’ said NathanielTHE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE