Understanding Where We Are Now: The entire country is on edge. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Demonstrators are risking their lives to protest the death of George Floyd. And, the president of the United States is still offering wild conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud despite voting by mail himself.
How will all of this impact the 2020 election?
We saw what happened during the Wisconsin primary, where state health officials attributed dozens of coronavirus cases to in-person voting. Will election officials learn from that disaster and prevent another nightmare scenario from happening in their states during the November election? (read more)
Super Tuesday, Round Two: Many states postponed their primary elections. Now voters in nearly a dozen states will finally cast a ballot tomorrow. Many of these states expanded access to absentee voting due to the coronavirus, and election officials report a major uptick in requests for mail ballots. What are the lessons to be taken from those states that already hold all-mail elections? (read more)
A Running List of COVID-Related Election Lawsuits: Voter ID and requirements to explain the reasons for requiring an absentee ballot impact hundreds of thousands of voters every year. They will likely play a major role in the 2020 election.
Across the country, Democrats and Republicans have dumped millions of dollars into legal battles over mail-in and early voting — so expect things to get crazy as November nears.
In California, former Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) filed a lawsuit to block Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) vote-by-mail order. The NAACP is in Missouri trying to waive excuse requirements for obtaining a mail ballot. In Georgia, the ACLU is fighting to provide every absentee voter with a prepaid postage stamp.
There are many moving parts, but we’ll give you the latest developments. (h/t to Daily Kos)
Trump Doesn’t Let Pandemic Curb His War on Absentee Ballots: As states struggle to keep voters safe this November, Trump continues to propagate conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud in an effort to curb voting-by-mail. (read more)
Victory for Felon Voting Rights: A district court judge ruled Florida’s “pay-to-vote” system unconstitutional, and that officials cannot condition the right to vote on an individual’s wealth.
“A state may disenfranchise felons and impose conditions on their re-enfranchisement,” Hinkle wrote in his 125-page ruling, “but the conditions must pass constitutional scrutiny.” (read more)
WhoWhatWhy and Readers’ Picks of the Week:
- Trump Sows Doubt on Voting. It Keeps Some People up at Night. (New York Times)
- Democrats Want to Restrict Political Ad Targeting Ahead of the 2020 Election (The Verge)
- Judge Again Blocks Conservative Group’s Effort to Stop Mail-Only Primary Election (Nevada Independent)
- Texas Will Extend Early Voting Period this Fall, Gov. Greg Abbot Says (Texas Tribune)
- Pennsylvania Republicans Don’t Want to Vote by Mail: ‘We’re Listening to Trump on This’ (Philadelphia Inquirer)
