With Trump doing his best to cast doubt on the 2020 election result before it’s even happened, the concept of “voter fraud” has been front and center as November approaches.
In the clip above from Last Week Tonight, John Oliver breaks it all down — first debunking Trump’s dishonest claims about mail-in voting before explaining how the president could actually use it to declare the election before all the votes are even counted.
To finish, he asks the question many people will be wondering in the run-up to the election: “What can we do to help the system run smoother?”
“Luckily, there are steps you can take. First, as an individual, make a plan to vote. You can find information for your state at canivote.org,” says Oliver, before adding that if your schedule is flexible enough and you live in a state where it’s possible to vote early, you should do that rather than voting on the day in order to make the line shorter for those who don’t have another option.
“Now, if you want to vote by mail, that’s great too,” the host adds. “But, we should be trying to flatten the voting curve to take the pressure off the system. So request your ballot as early as possible, read all the instructions, and send it back or drop it off as soon as you’ve filled it in.”
Oliver adds that you should be careful with your signature, and use the tracking option offered by 46 states if you’re able to. If you need more state-by-state information, fellow late show host Stephen Colbert has a website with all the details too.
“The really important thing to remember is, this election is already very different from all those before it, so we all need to be on top of not only our own voting plans, but making sure our friends and family are on top of theirs as well,” Oliver says.