美国有线新闻 CNN 邮寄投票引发争议 美国邮政局暂停改革（在线收听）

 And the first story we're explaining today is a controversy concerning mail-in voting in America. Here's a down the middle look at what's going on. Every U.S. state has someway for American's to vote without actually appearing at a polling location. Because of concerns over the spread of coronavirus, interest has exploded in mail-in voting. CNN 10 contributor Kelly Manno has info on how exactly that works. Kelly.

今天首则新闻来关注美国邮寄投票引发的争论。下面我们来客观地说明一下情况。美国所有州都有方法让美国公民在不前往投票站的情况下进行投票。由于担心冠状病毒扩散，人们对邮寄投票的兴趣激增。下面请CNN10分钟新闻的撰稿人凯莉·曼诺介绍邮寄投票的具体操作方法。有请凯莉。

KELLY MANNO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks Carl. Now let's take a look at what mail-in or absentee voting means. Traditionally, the majority of voters show up in person to cast their ballots for primary and general elections. Vote by mail's when voters opt out of showing up in person so they cast their ballot through the mail. This process depending on the state usually starts when a voter requests their ballot through the mail. Then election officials send the official ballot to the voter who fills it out and sends it back to be counted. At least 34 states now allow voters to request an absentee ballot without the need of an excuse.

CNN撰稿人凯莉·曼诺：谢谢你，卡尔。现在我们来看一下邮寄投票或缺席投票怎么操作。传统上，大多数选民会亲自到投票站为初选和总统大选投票。当选民选择不亲自到场时，他们会通过邮件进行投票，这就是邮寄投票。这一过程取决于各州，通常在选民要求进行邮寄投票时开始。之后，选举官员将正式选票寄给选民，由选民填写选票，然后将选票寄回，由官员进行计票。现在至少有34个州允许选民在无需提供理由的情况下要求进行缺席投票。

Currently, seven states requiring excuse to vote by mail, places like New York and Texas, still that may change. Other places like California and Nevada have decided to send a ballot to every registered voter even those who didn't apply for the mail option. Carl, the question now remains, with the pandemic creating a once in a lifetime challenge for elections, what impact will this have on the general election in the fall?

目前纽约州和得克萨斯州等7个州要求选民提供进行邮寄投票的理由，但这可能会发生改变。加州和内华达州等州决定向所有注册选民寄选票，即使有些选民没有申请邮寄投票。卡尔，现在的问题是，新冠疫情为选举带来了百年不遇的挑战，那这会对秋季的大选产生何种影响？

AZUZ: Thanks Kelly. That question is at the root of a blooming controversy. The Trump Administration is planning to sue Nevada and at least one other state for their plans to mail a ballot to every voter. Many Republicans and critics of mail-in voting say it increases the risk of fraud in part because election officials like poll workers, won't be there in person to make sure the votes are cast freely and fairly. Many Democrats and supporters of mail-in voting say it's already been shown to work in several states and that it opens up the opportunity to vote to more people.

阿祖兹：谢谢凯莉的介绍。这个问题是激烈争论的根源。特朗普政府计划起诉内华达州和至少另一个州向所有选民邮寄选票的计划。许多共和党人和邮寄投票的批评者认为，这会增加舞弊风险，部分原因是民调工作者等选举官员不在现场，无法确保选民进行自由且公平地投票。许多民主党人和邮寄投票的支持者认为，邮寄投票已在多州被证明是有效的，而且为更多人提供了投票机会。

A number of experts on this issue say it's not clear if mail-in voting benefits one party over the other. But there's no guarantee that either Democrats or Republicans would have an advantage with mail-in ballots. But an American infectious disease specialist says, as long as people follow social distancing guidelines, there's no reason why they can't vote in person this fall. So how all this plays out remains to be seen.

多名该领域专家表示，目前尚不清楚邮寄投票是否对某个政党更为有利。同时也不能保证民主党或共和党在邮寄投票方面占有优势。但一名美国传染病专家表示，只要民众遵守社交距离准则，他们就没有理由不能在今年秋季亲自到场投票。因此，事态发展还有待观察。

Another layer to this controversy concerns the U.S. Postal Service. This year the agency had planned to limit the overtime hours employees could work and remove some mail sorting machines and public mailboxes. The postal service has been losing money for years and the Post Master General says its plans were meant to cut costs. But critics, including many Democrats, say the changes were made under pressure from the Trump Administration which they accuse of trying to intentionally slow down service in anticipation of more mailed in votes.

这场争论的另一个层面涉及美国邮政局。今年，该机构计划限制员工的加班时间，并拆除一些邮件分拣机和公共邮箱。美国邮政局多年来一直在亏损，邮政局长表示，这些计划旨在削减成本。但包括众多民主党人在内的批评人士认为，这些改革因特朗普政府施压而做出，他们指控邮政局为期待更多邮寄选票而故意拖慢服务速度。

The Post Master General denies that and says any further changes will be delayed until after the election. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives plan to hold a vote this weekend on billions of additional funding for the agency. Experts in the post office itself say it handles far more mail over Christmas than it would through mail-in ballots and that it would have no problem processing them.

邮政局长否认这些指控，并称改革将推迟至大选结束后再进行。众议院的民主党领袖计划本周末举行投票，以决定是否向该机构追加数十亿美元的拨款。邮政局的专家表示，他们在圣诞节期间处理的邮件数量比邮寄投票要多得多，因此处理这些邮件没有任何问题。