Senate Democrats say the presidential election could be delayed over mail-in ballots being delivered and counted.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota say that if the Postal Service does not receive more federal funding, the election stands less of a chance of being decided on Nov. 3.
Democrats are pushing for universal mail-in balloting as a means for people across the country to cast their votes in a manner that keeps them safe from contracting the coronavirus. But Republicans argue in-person voting is a more efficient and reliable method and voters can remain safe while casting their ballots at the polls.
“If Trump wants this to work, and he’s claiming there’s all these problems, then he can’t turn his back on the funding, because that’s one way he can help the states, whether it’s his allies or not, to run these elections,” Klobuchar told the Washington Examiner.
“And second is we know we’re not going to know all the results that night because counting ballots does take time, so the media is going to have to be patient. But we will do much better if they’re able to run their elections properly with the right resources,” she added.
Schumer said he hopes the Nov. 3 presidential election can be decided that night when asked if he had concerns, given the current mail-in ballot problems in the New York primary with the still-outstanding Democratic primary race in Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s district.
“That’s why we’re fighting for money for the Postal Service and money for elections. If the American people lose faith, and Donald Trump’s trying to get them to lose faith, and he looks worried about the future, and he has no respect for rule of law, no respect for democracy, no respect for anything other than himself,” Schumer said. “But if we lose faith in this democracy, something that Americans have had for 200 and 20 some odd years will be gone.”
He added, “We have to do everything we can so the election results can come out as quickly as possible.”
Five states — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington — presently conduct all their elections completely by mail, and at least 21 other states allow smaller elections to be conducted by mail. All voters on the registration rolls receive a ballot in the mail for these types of elections.
Critics argue mail-in ballots rely on state voter registration rolls that may not always be current and could contain duplicate, outdated, or dead registrants.
Absentee ballots in other states, on the other hand, must be requested by a registered voter who wants to vote early as an absentee.
