Despite COVID-19's grip on daily movements in the country, the 2020 general election is shaping up to be historic, with record numbers of votes cast before Election Day.
In Illinois, 3,591,646 total votes were cast early. In-person voting edged out mail-in numbers by a slim margin with 1,832,401 in-person votes cast and 1,759,245 mail-in ballots returned, the U.S. Elections Project database showed.
Ida Pizzo Raia, who lives in Cicero, Illinois, is an election judge and already voted. She is very politically involved in fighting corruption and advocating for seniors and is part of the Convention of States.
Raia had an approximately 16-page ballot to wade through. The presidential race was the most important issue for Raia on the ballot. She made sure to vote for a president but skipped anyone who didn't identify with a party.
"If they're not going to, you know, tell us who they are, then I don't think I need to be voting for them," Raia told West Cook News.
In reference to voting, Raia said people need to do what they need to protect the American government from communist influences.
From personal experience, Raia is wary of government corruption, especially in her state. When choosing between candidates, she values integrity.
"Their background, their history reputation; you know, if they got anything bad they did, I'm not voting for them," she told West Cook News. "Any kind of corruption like Michael Madigan or, you know, all these corrupt politicians, we have out there in Chicago—it's disgusting."
Raia thinks the choice to go out and vote is a simple one.
"I would just put it directly: do you want to vote for Communism and have your rights taken away and not have your Second Amendment, or your free speech or anything like that, or do you want freedom?" she said. "You pick you choose."
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