The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

OPINION | The United States can make voting safer during the pandemic. Don't let republicans stop her

2020-05-14T22:05:07.459Z


With a second wave of the virus expected to be even more devastating this fall, the urgency to implement options such as voting by mail increases.


  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
  • Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)

Editor's Note: Alyssa Milano is an actress, producer, activist, and host the podcast "Alyssa Milano: Sorry Not Sorry." Follow her on Twitter @Alyssa_Milano. The opinions expressed here are his. Read more opinion at CNNe.com/opinion

(CNN) - Donald Trump made it clear from the start of his presidency that he is willing to undermine the results of the US election and make it difficult for people to vote.

After he won, he made ridiculous and unsubstantiated claims about illegal voters that allowed Hillary Clinton to hit him in the popular vote, even though he won the White House at the Electoral College. He launched a mock commission to examine electoral fraud, then dissolved it when he didn't find the evidence he wanted. And now, as Americans seek to ensure that they can vote safely during this covid-19 crisis, he opposes voting by mail, even though he himself has voted.

To back it up, the Republican National Committee has said it will spend $ 20 million to fight lawsuits aimed at making it easier for Americans to cast their votes this year.

We need to be clear about what this is: voter suppression. It is one of the only instruments in his campaign toolbox, and like Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin who forced a primary in person without adequate protection, Trump is willing to make voters choose between their health and their vote.

It is outrageous and deeply cynical. And frankly, Republicans in Washington are also wrong about the facts.

Nearly 60 million Americans voted early or by mail and absentee ballots in the last presidential election. Five states, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah, hold elections by mail. Oregon has been doing it for almost 25 years. Members of our armed forces have voted by mail for over a century and a half.

Vote-by-mail states have chosen both Democrats and Republicans. Republican Senator Cory Gardner was the first to be elected in Colorado following the state's decision to vote entirely by mail.

Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Mike Lee are in office because of millions of ballots mailed in their home state of Utah.

Voting by mail is safe and proven, and does not benefit one party or the other, no matter what Trump says.

With a second wave of the virus expected to be even more devastating this fall, the urgency to implement options such as voting by mail increases. Rather than waste time interfering with more radical and anti-election judges, Senate Republicans should side with Democrats in the House of Representatives and support major voting reforms. States must also act.

First, Congress must give states the funding they need to ensure they provide their voters with as many safe voting options as possible. The $ 400 million for the elections that Democrats negotiated in the Cares Act is a good down payment, but it is far from enough.

Election experts and administrators have said Congress should approve at least another $ 3.6 billion to implement options to keep people safe.

If members of Congress can create a $ 500 billion corporate bailout, they can surely spend $ 4 billion to rescue our democracy. Congress should also specify that states should expand voting by mail and early voting options to all registered people, as proposed by Mrs. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Elizabeth Warren (D -MA). ) and organizations like Let America Vote.

Second, states need to start preparing now. Fear of covid-19 must be considered a legitimate reason to vote absentee in states that require a reason. Election administrators must include postage-paid return envelopes with absentee ballots and provide them with a safe place to drop them off. With voter registration paused due to social distancing restrictions, states should allow online voter registration.

Finally, even with voting by mail, there are many people who prefer or need, or for example, those with disabilities or those with limited access to the mail service, to vote in person.

States should expand early voting opportunities to reduce overcrowding at polling places on Election Day. Local election officials must keep personal polling places safe and accessible. They need the funds to buy cleaning supplies to clean up the voting booths and ensure that poll workers have adequate protection.

These are common sense changes that have wide support among Americans, despite the political party. But in Washington, and in some state capitals, Republicans, who have been making voting more difficult for some groups of voters across the country for years, are trying to use this crisis to further suppress voter turnout by not supporting a vote by mail option. They think having this option would hurt them in elections, promoting the idea that only Democrats benefit from increased voter turnout. It is typical of his discreet and cynical approach to politics. But deadly pandemics shouldn't be an excuse to keep people away from the polls.

In these uncertain times, when children don't know when they will be able to return to school, parents struggle to balance work and distance learning, families are unsure when they will be able to celebrate milestones like weddings and graduations, and everyone is concerned about protecting your health, voting should be easy. We have the tools and experience to do it.

While much of our lives seem to have been on hiatus for the past few months, our democracy cannot be. We have held elections during the Civil War and the Great Depression, during the 1918 flu pandemic, and after natural disasters. We can unite and do so also during this crisis. Let us overcome partisanship and guarantee access to our democracy while keeping people safe.

2020 Elections United States

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-05-14

You may like

Business 2024-02-10T05:24:54.842Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-05T01:10:22.181Z
News/Politics 2024-03-05T21:26:10.162Z
Business 2024-03-16T05:15:50.613Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.