Last week, the President, Trump fired off an the angry tweets attacking the Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is the access to the expanding mail voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic:
Trump, have you previously expressed his opposition to the mail voting — falsely claiming that it contributes to voter fraud and that’s it benefits Democratic candidates — but this attack still seemed to come out of the blue. The ezra taft Benson pointed out in the her responseseveral other states, including seven with Republican secretaries of state also automatically mailed or are mailing absentee-ballot applications to voters for their primary elections, and none elicited a tweet from Trump. But Benson”s decision that was different in that it is applied not only to the Michigan”s Aug. 4 primary, but also to the Nov. 3 is a general — an election in which Trump will be on the ballot.
By our count, only two other states have announced rule changes to the general election on the account of the pandemic so far — in New Hampshire, and California.
- On April 9, With The Republican Government. Chris Sununu announced that New Hampshire voters afraid to vote in person could vote absentee if the coronavirus is still a threat in the fall. Under normal circumstances, New Hampshire requires an excuse to vote absentee, but the state you are board that any voter can use the “disability” excuse during the pandemic.
- And on May 8, the Democratic republic of the Gov’t. Gavin Newsom only California, to conduct November, the election predominantly by mail, in the same way, states like Oregon and Washington already for jo. That means California will mail the ballots to all the 20.7 million registered voters, but limited to in-person voting will still be available. The majority of voters in the Golden State already to vote by mailso while this will still be a major logistical undertaking, and it will not be a big change for most Californians.
Why Trump didn’t attack, in New Hampshire, probably you have something to do with the fact that Sununu is a Republican, and the change I have announced, which I was fairly minor (it’s simply brought to New Hampshire in line with the In 29 other statesplus , the District of Columbia, that don’t require voters to give an excuse to vote absentee). But on Tuesday morning, and I also took aim at California, you are erroneously claiming that the state will send ballots to anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there,” and calling it “Rigged Election.” The Republican National Committee, is also suing in California in an efland-to-reverse-Newsom”s order.
Trump”s tweet came out, at a time when many states are debating what changes, if any, to make to the administration of the general election in the face of the pandemic. The Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is the upgrade that is worth considering sending mail absentee-ballot applications to every voter, like the Night. The Illinois legislature recently voted to send absentee-ballot applications to an estimated 5 million voters. And the Missouri legislature, you passed the bill that would allow voters there to request an absentee ballot without an excuse, although for the most would have to get their ballots notarized.
But Trump’s-tweets-threaten-to-harden this issue along partisan lines. Minnesota, Illinois, and may go ahead with their plans, and the other decision-makers are Democrats, but a Republican Government. Mike Parson, may now think twice about signing Missouri’of the bill. And other Republican-led states may decide against expanding the use of mail in voting, out of fear of invoking Trump”s wrath. Given how much time is necessary to prepare for a smooth mail to the election, that could have been serious and the consequences if the coronavirus acts as in-person voting inadvisable or impossible in the fall.
