Overview
First Tuesday Update is our monthly take on current issues in commercial disputes, international arbitration, and judgment enforcement.
Since today is election day in the United States, it seems appropriate to write about voting. 136 years ago, the United States first allowed absentee voting (then known as proxy voting) for Union soldiers to vote from the battlefields during the election of 1864. Many historians credit Abraham Lincoln's win to the soldiers' votes. Now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, attention has turned once again to voting by means other than in-person at the polls on election day. According to The New York Times, 99.7 million ballots have been submitted via in-person early voting and by mail. Approximately 35.7 million people voted in-person and 63.9 million had cast ballots by mail or drop box. 139 million people voted in the 2016 election and so these early votes are nearly three-quarters of the number of votes cast in the 2016 election. It seems likely that with today's votes, the 2020 election will surpass the total number of votes cast in 2016.
We encourage anyone who has not voted yet to vote. Two years ago, Steptoe became the first major law firm to join two nonpartisan, web-based groups created to support a get-out-the-vote initiative. For the 2018 midterm elections, the firm provided scheduling flexibility for those who needed it to make it to the polls. Once again, today on November 3, 2020, Steptoe will grant leave to employees and staff who take the time to vote.
Many Steptoe lawyers are also working on election protection issues on a pro bono basis during this election season. If you have questions about voting at the polls, visit Vote.org.