Instead of standing in line at polling places, hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians are signing up online to vote by mail in the state’s June 2 primary — a herculean effort to avoid the spread of the deadly coronavirus (the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is May 26).

Pennsylvania is setting a model for how all 50 states can act during such a historic election, with the presidency and control of both houses of Congress at stake. The commonwealth is respecting its citizens’ fundamental right to vote while keeping them safe from a deadly disease.

As Americans struggle during covid-19, the ability to exercise the basic right to vote carries real risks. The solution: More Americans need to vote by mail.

But the institution that makes voting by mail possible — the U.S. Postal Service — faces an existential financial threat brought on by the crisis.

Congress can solve this. Proposals in the new $3 trillion covid-19 relief bill would make voting safer and protect the USPS. This issue cannot and should not be politicized for supposed partisan advantage. This is not a partisan issue, but an attempt to ensure and strengthen democracy. Both parties should put these measures in place to empower the entire electorate.

Ohio recently conducted its own successful dry run for a safe and fair national election. Initiated by Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, the all-mail election offered a clear contrast to the Wisconsin primary on April 7, which horrified Americans across the political spectrum by forcing voters to choose between exercising their right to vote and exposing themselves to the deadly covid-19 virus. Sadly, at least 71 coronavirus cases in Wisconsin have already been linked to in-person voting in the primary.

When voters wore masks and gloves to the few polling places that remained open in Milwaukee, their long lines symbolized a horrific tragedy. This sad spectacle is prompting a huge, bipartisan shift in American attitudes towards voting by mail.

Today, 51% of likely voters intend to vote at home with a mail-in ballot in the 2020 general election, according to anew survey of 16 “battleground states,” including Pennsylvania, conducted by the nonpartisan Center for Voter Information. That’s a 4 percentage point increase since April, and a far-reaching change from previous years.

The strongest supporters for at-home voting include members of the “rising American electorate,” those historically under-represented Americans who constitute a growing majority of potential voters, including African Americans (58% intend to vote from home by mail), millennials (61%) and white college women (58%), the CVI survey shows.

As the 2020 election approaches, the great question is whether, in spite of a medical and economic crisis, American democracy will reflect our changing demography. The rising American electorate, from communities of color to single women and millennials, now totals some 150 million adults, including 5.1 million Pennsylvanians. Nationally, the rising American electorate represents 63% of all Americans who can vote.

But will they register and vote? More than 3 million adult Pennsylvanians are not yet registered, and 67% of them are members of the rising American electorate. They move frequently between elections and register and vote at lower rates than the rest of the population.

Now that most Americans understand that voting must be safe as well as secure, how can our election system work for every segment of society? Yes, everyone should have the right to request a vote-by-mail or absentee ballot. But there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Simply shifting to solely vote-by-mail elections could disenfranchise vulnerable communities who often need a variety of voting options.

Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, every state should offer a mail-in voting option. But states should also provide safe ways to participate in person in primary and general elections, similar to the steps Pennsylvania is taking.

Vote-by-mail is one of many reasons why USPS is essential to American democracy, serving every community from the inner cities to isolated rural communities, providing job opportunities, and offering new options for participating in elections. Because of its importance to predominantly Democratic urban areas and heavily Republican rural areas, support for USPS should be bipartisan.

We must not let this public health emergency threaten the democratic health of our nation. As a crucial swing state, Pennsylvania’s voting policies have an outsized impact on the national discourse, and its strong vote-by-mail program sets an example that other states should follow. Those policies will help bolster turnout in Pennsylvania but, going forward, the only way to ensure a strong vote by mail effort in this state and around the country is for Congress to save the USPS.

The coronavirus is attacking all Americans, especially those who have long been denied full participation in our country’s political and economic life. By providing safe ways for all Americans to vote in person or by mail in the crucial elections this year — and by preserving the U.S. Postal Service — we can ensure that the most vulnerable voters are not pushed to the sidelines of democracy yet again.

Page Gardner is founder and board chair of the nonpartisan Voter Participation Center and Center for Voter Information, which run the largest mail-based voter registration and turnout programs in the nation.

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