Michigan’s secretary of state Jocelyn Benson wants four critical things from mail-in election reforms in the state.
The ongoing war over voting rights and voter suppression has developed a new battleground in recent weeks: The debate over whether every citizen should have a right to vote by mail in the era of COVID19, thus ensuring that no American has to fear risking his or her health in order to vote.
In fact, 46 states have provided a way for every citizen to vote from home this election year. This option is permanent in 34 states, and 12 more temporarily granted their voters this right due to the coronavirus outbreak this spring. Then in early May we held local elections—during the height of the pandemic—primarily by mail and demonstrated that even in the midst of a crisis, safe and secure elections are possible. We mailed every registered voter an application and instructions to request their ballot through the mail and vote from home. The result was that turnoutfrom previous May elections and 99 percent of voters cast their ballots by mail or at a ballot dropbox.
• First, enabling election workers to process—but not count—mail-in ballots prior to Election Day would give them a better chance of reporting results on Election Night, and make it possible for more workers to deploy to polling locations on Election Day. Such laws are already in place in at least 18 other states. Many Michigan clerks say ideally they would have three full additional days to process ballots to prepare for the Election Day vote count.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Texas Supreme Court blocks vote-by-mail expansion to those lacking immunity to the coronavirusThe Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked a push to expand vote-by-mail to registered voters in the state amid the pandemic, saying that a lack of immunity to the coronavirus does not count as a 'disability' for which a voter can apply for a mail-in ballot.
Read more »
Rock the Vote launches virtual summer initiative to register 200,000 votersAs the coronavirus pandemic disrupts the course of the 2020 election, Rock The Vote is spear-heading a summer-long initiative aimed at registering 200,000 new voters
Read more »
Column: In landmark vote, Chevron shareholders demand report on its climate lobbyingChevron's directive from shareholders: Report how you're lobbying against the environment.
Read more »
The True Story Behind the 'Mrs. America' Abortion Vote at the 1972 DNCThe True Story Behind the Mrs. America Abortion Vote at the 1972 Democratic National Convention
Read more »
Taylor Swift calls out Donald Trump on Twitter: 'We will vote you out in November'The singer-songwriter made her feelings about the current president absolutely clear on Twitter on Friday.
Read more »