Associated Press: Switching remaining primaries to vote-by-mail not so easy

Associated Press: Switching remaining primaries to vote-by-mail not so easy

Also Wednesday voting rights advocacy group Common Cause called for states to suspend in-person voting at least for the next few weeks. The group previously recommended expanded vote-by-mail access.

Voting rights groups and the head of the Democratic National Committee want the states with remaining primary elections to offer voting by mail as a way to ensure that voters can safely cast their ballots amid the coronavirus outbreak.

A quick and easy fix? Not always.

For states that don’t already have vote-by-mail or that greatly restrict it, such a change could require amending state law. It also would require major changes to state and county voting and tabulating systems. Buying the equipment and software to track ballots and read the signatures on them could cost millions. And that’s not to mention deciding who pays for return postage — individual voters or taxpayers?

So far this year, one state has moved quickly to mail ballots statewide for the November general election. The top election official in Arizona, where about 80% of voting is already by mail, asked the Legislature on Wednesday to give counties permission to mail ballots to all registered voters. …

Also Wednesday voting rights advocacy group Common Cause called for states to suspend in-person voting at least for the next few weeks. The group previously recommended expanded vote-by-mail access.