The coronavirus has opened a new front in the battle for the White House, with Democrats demanding more federal control over the November elections and Republicans insisting the states are equipped to address voting challenges posed by the pandemic.
Democrats for years have sought to impose universal voting standards on the states. But now they claim the matter is urgent, warning the coronavirus pandemic could disrupt in-person voting at polling places and inhibit Americans from participating in the presidential election. Among other proposals, congressional Democrats want legislation that would force states to adopt early voting, online voter registration, and voting by mail in which every registered voter automatically receives a ballot.
But even after the coronavirus caused problems with Tuesday’s primary election in Wisconsin, a key 2020 battleground, Republicans say states can handle any fallout from the pandemic. Most states, especially those that will decide the presidential contest, have robust absentee voting programs and ample time to prepare for the fall, say Republicans, who are accusing Democrats of using a public health crisis as an excuse for a power grab.
“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to [statewide] mail-in voting,” President Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”
“Many states already have absentee or vote-by-mail options with safeguards to protect from fraud,” added Mike Reed, a Republican National Committee spokesman.
But Democrats say this is not simply a matter of states’ rights versus federal control, while taking issue with GOP claims of concern about protecting the right of every eligible American to vote. For instance, in Wisconsin, voter identification laws require absentee ballots to include the signature of a witness. In North Carolina, another critical battleground, absentee ballots require either the signature of two witnesses or the seal of a notary public.
These requirements are simply not feasible for a country battling a pandemic, Democrats say.
“Republicans are forcing voters to choose between personal health and participating in their democracy,” said David Bergstein, Democratic National Committee spokesman. “The consequences of their voter suppression efforts have rarely been more serious, and the DNC will fight back at every opportunity in order to protect Americans’ constitutional voting rights.”
Jon Favreau, a former aide to President Barack Obama and co-host of the popular liberal podcast Pod Save America, cast in even darker terms the Republicans’ resistance to Democratic proposals for standardizing the electoral process across all states.
“The nightmare isn’t that Trump will cancel November’s election,” Favreau tweeted this week. “The nightmare is that he tells his supporters it’s safe to go to the polls in the midst of a pandemic, and those of us with a firm grasp on reality who know it’s not aren’t allowed to vote by mail.”
The DNC has deployed what it refers to as “voter protection directors” to 17 states in preparation to flag these issues and ensure the party defends its interests, with litigation if necessary. The Democrats are focused on the battlegrounds most likely to determine the outcome of a Biden-Trump contest.
But in interviews, Republican operatives based in a half dozen of those competitive states were suspicious of Democratic efforts, saying their states already offering easy access to “no-excuse” absentee ballots, plus some form of early in-person voting. The Washington Examiner spoke with veteran GOP operatives in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and all appear satisfied that the coronavirus would not jeopardize the ability to vote in November.
“There are no barriers in Michigan to voting by mail, except you have to request a ballot,” a Republican strategist in the state said. Added a GOP insider in Florida: “You just ask for an [absentee] ballot. There’s no excuse needed.”
Under the constitution, authority over elections is left to the states; regulations governing federal elections are not uniform across the country.
Republicans prefer this dynamic, blocking past attempts by Democrats in micromanaging the process from Washington. That is what happened last month, when Republicans stopped Democrats from using the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package to implement new decrees for states to follow in the running of elections. Republicans also insist that the traditional, state-by-state approach protects the integrity of the process.
