A comprehensive examination of the potential problems with mail-in voting and the wide disparities between the states.
America's decentralized system of voting means states enjoy broad leeway on setting election rules. Whether voters realize it or not, states' procedures vary widely on everything from registration deadlines, ID requirements and types of voting machinery to who is permitted to vote absentee and when mail-in ballots must be postmarked in order to be counted.
President Donald Trump savaged the most obvious work-around when he tweeted on April 8 that mail-in voting carries"tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans." Of course, the states best-equipped to weather a public health emergency are those that already have robust remote voting infrastructures.
Several other states with low mail shares have taken steps to expand access to mail voting, even before the outbreak. In a 2018 referendum, Michigan scrapped a requirement for voters to list an excuse to vote absentee. In 2019, Pennsylvanian Gov. Tom Wolf signed"no excuse" absentee voting into law. And Gov. Ralph Northam has signed a law making Virginia the 34th"no excuse" absentee state in the nation and Election Day a state holiday.
"If you've only got 6 percent vote-by-mail and you go to 50 percent, there are enormous challenges," warned Rice University Prof. Robert Stein, who has advised local governments on election administration and emergency contingencies."From securing a vendor to print the ballots to getting the ballots mailed, opening ballots with gloves, checking signatures, counting them — and then doing it all on Election Night by 9 p.m. You have to bring in far more people.
However, in Ohio, where GOP Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation to convert the canceled March 17 primary to an all vote-by-mail election on April 28, would-be voters must jump through more hoops: the state is mailing all voters postcards with instructions for requesting and mailing in an absentee ballot application, placing the burden on voters to obtain one.
"My number one fear is that voters will want absentee ballots and will request them on time, but the system will be overloaded and unable to deliver them back," said Prof. Edward Foley, director of the Election Law program at The Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law."Wisconsin made pretty clear this is an issue that needs to be front and center, and that there needs to be some kind of emergency backup.
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