Vote-By-Mail

“I don’t want to give them more power than they actually have to undermine us and our faith in the election process,” said Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for Common Cause, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for expanded voter access. “We have a huge infrastructure with thousands of election officials and checks and balance. In places where there are bad intentions to harm voters, we are all working to ensure those don’t happen.”

Republicans appear to have cynically calculated that these “ballot security” measures to suppress the vote may be harmful to some of their own voters, but that it will block  more Wisconsinites who might vote for their political opponents.  Republicans have targeted voters who reside in urban areas like Milwaukee, Madison, Racine and Green Bay. They have also homed in on college and university students by making it more difficult for that population to vote, even with a college-issued photo ID, than almost anywhere else in the nation. Most cruelly, Republicans have targeted Wisconsinites with disabilities, the elderly and the poor who must rely on public transportation and don’t have or cannot easily obtain the required photo ID needed to vote in Wisconsin. Republicans have not always behaved like this in Wisconsin. The question now is when, or even if, they will come to their senses and abandon this vicious assault on the very essence of our being as Americans, a promise that has made this state and this nation a beacon of  freedom and hope in the world: our 233-year-old commitment to free and fair elections.

“Today’s decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court means that voters will be able to rely on the provisions of the VOTES Act in the upcoming elections. This is a big win for voting rights in Massachusetts,” said Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts.

“We are thrilled that Governor Baker signed the VOTES Act into law today,” Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said in a written statement. “At a time when many states are making it harder to vote, this new law will modernize our elections and make our democracy more accessible and equitable.”

Common Cause Georgia deployed “self-help stations” around the state where voters could access a computer, printer and scanner to print out a mail ballot application before Friday’s deadline. “People are believing political propaganda and not understanding this is creating more hurdles to voting,” said Aunna Dennis, the group’s executive director.

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at Common Cause, an independent citizens' lobbying group, said that much money would be “transformative” for states holding elections.  ... Albert said states often save the grant money they receive from the federal government for emergencies or for other unexpected reasons.  “Officials don't have confidence that more money will be coming. They don’t feel free to use it in a way that could expand access,” Albert said, praising Biden's call for sustained funding. “That would really allow election officials to create programs that really maximize access ... without worrying that they are spending money to expand a program but then next year have to roll it all back.” Expanding vote-by-mail programs in underserved areas could help people who live in rural areas and on Native lands vote more easily, Albert added.  The proposal could also solidify a Postal Service policy to deliver ballots regardless of whether they have postage on them. Currently, enforcement of that policy varies across the country, she said. “Adding something like this to law would ensure that that policy is actually followed,” she said.