An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Make Election Mail Free

An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Make Election Mail Free

Supporting free, fair, and accessible elections is a basic duty of government, so let’s fulfill that duty by covering the costs of voting by mail BY MARK JAMISON SavethePostOffice: A common thread that runs throughout the history of the United ...
Voting by Mail Is Crucial for Democracy

Voting by Mail Is Crucial for Democracy

Especially amid the pandemic, it’s the surest path to a more inclusive, more accurate and more secure election. New York Times Editorial Board: For a man who votes by mail himself, Donald Trump is strangely obsessed with the idea that it ...
The pandemic will change the way millions cast ballots. Here’s the state of absentee voting in the U.S.

The pandemic will change the way millions cast ballots. Here’s the state of absentee voting in the U.S.

Washington Post: The coronavirus pandemic is set to change the way millions of Americans can vote in November, as states expand access to mail-in voting as a safer alternative to in-person voting. As of now, nearly 180 million Americans who ...
Stacey Abrams, Soledad O’Brien and More Join #MailedIt Tweetathon to Save the USPS and Mail-in Voting!

Stacey Abrams, Soledad O’Brien and More Join #MailedIt Tweetathon to Save the USPS and Mail-in Voting!

Today, on National Postal Worker Day, Samantha Bee, host of TBS’ Emmy Award-winning Full Frontal launched the #MailedIt campaign, which is a social movement to save the United States Postal Service (USPS), and it’s currently trending #1 on Twitter! Key voices ...
Trump’s Attacks on Vote-by-Mail Worry Some Election Officials

Trump’s Attacks on Vote-by-Mail Worry Some Election Officials

PEW: There is growing concern among election officials and experts that the increasingly partisan debate around voting by mail could sow doubt in the results of the presidential election. For months, President Donald Trump has been one of the loudest ...
NPR: Why Is Voting By Mail (Suddenly) Controversial? Here's What You Need To Know

NPR: Why Is Voting By Mail (Suddenly) Controversial? Here’s What You Need To Know

NPR: Casting a ballot by mail isn’t a new way to vote, but it is getting fresh attention as the coronavirus pandemic upends daily life. The voting method is quickly becoming the norm and quickly becoming politically charged as some ...
The pandemic has already altered how tens of millions of Americans can cast their ballots this year

The pandemic has already altered how tens of millions of Americans can cast their ballots this year

Washington Post: The coronavirus pandemic is rapidly transforming this year’s elections, changing the way tens of millions of people cast ballots and putting thousands of election officials at the center of a pitched political fight as they rush to adapt ...
Why We Need Postal Democracy

Why We Need Postal Democracy

David Cole, New York Review of Books: Nothing symbolizes democracy like long lines at the polls on election day. They represent a collective act of faith, as chances are virtually nil that any one of the votes we cast over our ...
Few States Are Prepared To Switch To Voting By Mail. That Could Make For A Messy Election

Few States Are Prepared To Switch To Voting By Mail. That Could Make For A Messy Election

FiveThirtyEight: As with most aspects of our daily lives, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the administration of elections. Several states have already postponed primaries that were scheduled for this spring, and the few in-person elections that have taken place were marred ...
What’s Super Popular? Voting by Mail

What’s Super Popular? Voting by Mail

Congressional Democrats must recognize that Americans want this change, and bargain hard for the $4 billion that will assure safe and fair elections John Nichols, Nation Magazine: President Trump and his hyper-partisan Republican allies have been attacking proposals to vote ...
Voting by Mail Could Be What States Need. But Can They Pull It Off?

Voting by Mail Could Be What States Need. But Can They Pull It Off?

Politics aside, many states will face daunting financial, logistical and personnel challenges to making mail balloting the norm. New York Times: When Colorado’s 3.5 million voters help select a president this fall, their choice will be made almost entirely by ...
CISA COVID working group releases FAQs on expanding absentee/VBM

CISA COVID working group releases FAQs on expanding absentee/VBM

electionline.org: According to the U.S. Census, in 2018, just 6.2 percent of the voters who cast a ballot in the Northeast part of the country did so by mail/via absentee. In the South, it was 9.7 percent. Overall, just 23.1 ...
Coronavirus crisis forces states to prioritize mail-in ballots

Coronavirus crisis forces states to prioritize mail-in ballots

Axios: Mail-in ballots are becoming states’ saving grace for their 2020 primary contests as the coronavirus crisis deepens in the U.S. Why it matters: Amid CDC guidance that gatherings shouldn’t exceed 50 people, the states voting today — Arizona, Florida and Illinois ...
The race to change how America votes

The race to change how America votes

Axios: With in-person elections on Nov. 3 the hope but no longer a certainty, states are racing to chip away age-old barriers to alternatives in time for the general election. Why it matters: State laws and political calculations remain formidable ...
"Time Is of the Essence”: How States Can Shore Up Mail Voting

“Time Is of the Essence”: How States Can Shore Up Mail Voting

The Appeal: As many states postpone primaries due to the coronavirus outbreak, Oregon still plans to hold its May elections. “Because Oregon votes by mail, we do not have to be concerned about social distancing issues at polling places that ...
How to Protect the 2020 Vote from the Coronavirus

How to Protect the 2020 Vote from the Coronavirus

The Brennan Center’s plan to ensure that the 2020 election is free, fair, accessible, and secure Brennan Center: The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) presents a difficult and novel challenge to the administration of the 2020 general election. Recent election emergencies ...
Preparing for an Election Under Pandemic Conditions

Preparing for an Election Under Pandemic Conditions

Here’s a 50-state breakdown of what systems election administrators have and don’t have in place to protect the 2020 election from the Covid-19 pandemic Brennan Center for Justice: The Brennan Center has laid out steps election administrators should undertake to ...
The Coronavirus Could Change How We Vote, In 2020 And Beyond

The Coronavirus Could Change How We Vote, In 2020 And Beyond

FiveThirtyEight: The 2020 election will likely be different thanks to the new coronavirus. In fact, COVID-19 has already left its mark on the Democratic nomination race, with many states postponing their primaries. So it’s likely that in the coming months, states ...
The coronavirus’s threat to democracy itself

The coronavirus’s threat to democracy itself

Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post: The coronavirus pandemic poses a terrifying threat to life and a staggering test to our leaders. The unseemly spectacle of lawmakers scrambling to craft a response in the midst of a corporate lobbying feeding frenzy ...
Voting in the Time of Coronavirus

Voting in the Time of Coronavirus

The New Yorker: Early Tuesday morning, Ohio became the fourth state—after Louisiana, Georgia, and Kentucky—to postpone a primary election because of covid-19. The decision, which came just hours before polls were scheduled to open, was made by Governor Mike DeWine, who ...
Democrats throw down the gauntlet on vote-by-mail

Democrats throw down the gauntlet on vote-by-mail

Washington Post: Here’s a good piece of news amid the parade of horrors: House Democrats are set to introduce their own version of the stimulus, and importantly, it includes a set of provisions that would potentially prevent coronavirusfrom scuttling this ...
Voting in a time of national emergency

Voting in a time of national emergency

Brookings: Abraham Lincoln could not vote for his own reelection in 1864. His home state of Illinois required all voters to physically present themselves at the polling station in order to exercise their franchise. In the midst of a national ...
This is more than just a health and economic crisis. It’s a democracy crisis.

This is more than just a health and economic crisis. It’s a democracy crisis.

Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post: As we have seen from the raft of primary election postponements, the coronavirus threatens our health and economy, but also our democracy. If voters cannot get to the polls, or are afraid to get to the ...
The Coronavirus Doesn’t Have to Disrupt Our Elections

The Coronavirus Doesn’t Have to Disrupt Our Elections

We have ways to keep voters safe. Now we just need to use them. John Nichols, Nation Magazine: The 2020 primary election schedule is being upended by the coronavirus outbreak, and that should ring alarm bells for the November 3 ...