Tag: vote by mail

There’s a surprising ending to all the 2020 election conflicts over absentee ballot deadlines

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One of the most heavily contested voting-policy issues in the 2020 election, in both the courts and the political arena, was the deadline for returning absentee ballots.

Going into the election, the policy in a majority of states was that ballots had to be received by election night to be valid. Lawsuits seeking an extension of these deadlines were brought around the country for two reasons: First, because of the pandemic, the fall election would see a massive surge in absentee ballots; and second, there were concerns about the competence and integrity of the U.S. Postal Service, particularly after President Trump appointed a major GOP donor as the new postmaster general.

The issue produced the Supreme Court’s most controversial decision  during the general election, which prohibited federal courts from extending the ballot-receipt deadlines in state election codes. Now that the data are available, a post-election audit provides perspective on what the actual effects of these deadlines turned out to be. Continue reading.

Most Americans want to vote before Election Day, a significant shift from previous years, poll finds

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About six in 10 registered voters nationwide say they want to cast their ballots before Election Day, a significant departure from previous years that will force the candidates to reshape how they campaign in the election season’s final weeks, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland pollconducted by Ipsos.

Fear of the coronavirus and doubts about the reliability of mail voting after months of attacks from President Trump are weighing heavily on Americans as they decide how to safely ensure their vote will be counted in this fall’s presidential election, according to the survey. In 2016, about 4 in 10 ballots were cast early.

The likely surge in early voting and mail ballots will test election systems nationwide, many of which are ill-prepared to contend with an unprecedented volume of early votes or help voters who are struggling to learn the rules around mail ballots. Continue reading.

Judge halts Trump campaign’s mail-voting lawsuit against Pennsylvania

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A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Sunday halted the Trump campaign’s lawsuit against the state over how it sends and counts mail-in ballots.

Nicholas Ranjan of the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania, who was appointed by President Trump, ruled Sunday that Trump’s lawsuit against the secretary of state and 67 county election boards should be put on hold while state court cases about voting move forward, CNN reported. 

“After carefully considering the arguments raised by the parties, the Court finds that the appropriate course is abstention, at least for the time being. In other words, the Court will apply the brakes to this lawsuit, and allow the Pennsylvania state courts to weigh in and interpret the state statutes that undergird Plaintiffs’ federal- constitutional claims,” Ranjan reportedly wrote Sunday.  Continue reading.

Democrats demand Postal Service reverse new rules that have slowed the delivery of absentee ballots

Washington Post logoDemocratic leaders on Capitol Hill told negotiators for President Trump on Wednesday that preserving funding for the U.S. Postal Service and removing new rules that have slowed delivery times are essential ingredients of a new coronavirusrelief bill in a year when millions of Americans plan to vote by mail.

“Elections are sacred,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), told reporters after a meeting with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “To do cutbacks when ballots, all ballots, have to be counted — we can’t say, ‘Oh, we’ll get 94 percent of them.’ It’s insufficient.”

Schumer said he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told DeJoy, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, that their demands regarding the Postal Service are necessary to striking a deal on broader relief bill that may also include new unemployment benefits and a payroll tax cut. Continue reading.

Postal Service backlog sparks worries that ballot delivery could be delayed in November

Washington Post logoThe U.S. Postal Service is experiencing days-long backlogs of mail across the country after a top Trump donor running the agency put in place new procedures described as cost-cutting efforts, alarming postal workers who warn that the policies could undermine their ability to deliver ballots on time for the November election.

As President Trump ramps up his unfounded attacks on mail balloting as being susceptible to widespread fraud, postal employees and union officials say the changes implemented by Trump fundraiser-turned-postmaster general Louis DeJoy are contributing to a growing perception that mail delays are the result of a political effort to undermine absentee voting.

The backlog comes as the president, who is trailing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the polls, has escalated his efforts to cast doubt about the integrity of the November vote, which is expected to yield record numbers of mail ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading.

As President Trump Rails Against Mail-In Voting, Many of His Senior Advisors Have Repeatedly Used It

WASHINGTON — A half-dozen senior advisers to President Donald Trump have repeatedly voted by mail, according to election records obtained by The Associated Press, undercutting the president’s argument that the practice will lead to widespread fraud this November.

The aides include Betsy DeVos, the education secretary who has permanent absentee voting status in her home state of Michigan. Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, voted absentee in Texas in 2018 and didn’t vote in the general election two years earlier when Trump’s name was on the ballot.

Two other senior Trump campaign officials — chief operating officer Michael Glassner and deputy campaign manager Bill Stepien — have repeatedly voted by mail in New Jersey. And Nick Ayers, a senior campaign adviser who was previously chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, has voted by mail in Georgia since 2014. Continue reading.

Congress must act now to help states with vote-by-mail in November, experts say

Election officials will need more resources to prepare for voting by mail and in person

The November presidential and congressional elections are a little more than four months away, and Congress must act now to help states prepare for a surge in Americans seeking to vote by mail because of pandemic-driven fears that are likely to keep them from voting in person, according to election experts, advocates and lawmakers.

As many as 30 states have already lowered barriers for voters seeking to mail in their ballots because of COVID-19. Some, like Nevada, have gone as far as sending pre-printed mail-in ballots to all registered voters in some counties.

But states scrambling to scale up voting by mail also need to be prepared for voters to show up in person at regular polling places because of glitches in the mailing process or a failure to receive mail-in ballots in advance. That could increase costs not only for new equipment but for staffing to handle both ways to vote, experts say. Continue reading.

Trump could have voted in person in Florida this year but chose not to

As President Donald Trump rolled to his West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course on the morning of March 7, his motorcade filed past a library where local officials were preparing for the first day of in-person early voting in Florida’s presidential primary contest.

Trump didn’t stop at that site or any of the 15 other early voting locations in Palm Beach County that were opening that day. By the time the library opened for voting at 10 a.m., Trump had already arrived at his golf course — whose main entrance is across Summit Boulevard from the library. When he departed the course hours later, he didn’t stop to vote either.

Trump would drive past the library four more times that weekend without dropping in to cast a ballot. Instead, he voted by mail — the very option he has begun railing against as governors seek to expand remote voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading.

Trump Press Secretary Admits She Has Voted 11 Times By Mail

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made the case for allowing more people to vote by mail during the November election when she defended her decision to cast absentee ballots 11 times in the past 10 years.

“Absentee voting has the word absent in it for a reason,” McEnany said in a press statement on Wednesday. “It means you’re absent from the jurisdiction or unable to vote in person.”

Health experts have warned that in-person voting during this pandemic inevitably means a high risk of infection, making it difficult or impossible for many people to do it. Continue reading.

States Should Embrace Vote by Mail and Early Voting To Protect Higher-Risk Populations From Coronavirus

NOTE: No excuse early voting either by mail or in person is available in the State of Minnesota. More information here.

Center for American Progress logoThe COVID-19 pandemic poses a substantial threat to U.S. elections, as described in previous reports by the Center for American Progress. Unless officials make significant changes to state election systems before November, Americans who vote or serve as election workers will be forced to put their lives at risk in order to participate in the democratic process. And it is not just voters or election personnel who have good cause for concern. Even those who cannot cast a ballot could become ill by coming into contact with a family member, caregiver, or neighbor who contracts the coronavirus through the voting process.

Although COVID-19 affects people from all backgrounds and communities, some groups are at higher risk of contracting and becoming seriously ill from the virus, including:

  • People ages 65 or older
  • People with preexisting conditions
  • Veterans
  • People of color
  • People with disabilities

In considering best practices for administering elections during a pandemic, lawmakers must take into account the health and safety of not just those involved in the voting process but also members of entire state populations who could be negatively affected if proper precautions are not taken. In order to keep voters, poll workers, and especially populations at risk of COVID-19 safe, state and national leaders must take immediate action to fortify the voting process and protect voters and nonvoters alike.