San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus-safe election changes left out of $2 trillion stimulus bill

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus-safe election changes left out of $2 trillion stimulus bill

The $400 million is welcome, but not nearly enough, said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. “Given the recent health crisis, states and localities immediately need significantly more resources to make critical investments to ensure that all voters can participate in free, fair, orderly and safe elections this year, or else millions of voters could be disenfranchised,” she said.

Despite pleas from officials in California and across the nation, money intended to make the November election safer and more secure was left out of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill before Congress.

A $4 billion request for that election help was replaced by $400 million that would allow states to increase vote-by-mail efforts and expand early voting.

The money Democrats had requested would have provided grants allowing states to boost their vote-by-mail capabilities for the Nov. 3 election. It also called for a national requirement for both 15 days of early voting and no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail, provisions that California already follows.

Republicans said the broader changes didn’t belong in an economic stimulus package. …

The $400 million is welcome, but not nearly enough, said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause.

“Given the recent health crisis, states and localities immediately need significantly more resources to make critical investments to ensure that all voters can participate in free, fair, orderly and safe elections this year, or else millions of voters could be disenfranchised,” she said.