Former Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett called on the federal government to “make it as easy as possible” for people to vote, as Democrats push for mail-in voting across the country amid coronavirus fears.
“We shouldn’t have to choose between our health and exercising our most fundamental right to vote,” Jarrett said on MSNBC when asked about the “big drive for registering and voting by mail.”
“I think we should be making it as easy as possible for people to vote, and unfortunately, we’ve seen a history now in our country where states have passed laws and practices have been put in place to suppress the vote,” she said. “We should be doing just the opposite. Technology is our friend. The ability to do absentee balloting is something that we could fund and have in place if we get ready right now.”
Democrats have sparked a conversation across the country by calling for mail-in ballots to protect voters at polling places despite recent reports suggesting that process is far from secure. A report this week said that over 28 million mail-in ballots have been unaccounted for over the past 10 years.
“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it,” President Trump said earlier this month. “Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”
Fox News host Tucker Carlson echoed that sentiment on his show Tuesday night, arguing that Democrats “encourage” voter fraud because it helps them win elections.
“We have a different value system about what voting means to a democracy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week, referring to Republican opposition to mail-in ballots. “Clearly, we want to remove all obstacles to participation.”
