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How the Coronavirus Handed the GOP New Ways to Squash the Vote
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/06/coronavirus-voting-rights/. . .
The virus has heightened already considerable barriers to voting.
While quickly expanding voting by mail could help many people cast ballots in November, it poses its own risks. If election officials, especially in places unused to the method, are overwhelmed by a surge of requests, ballots might not reach voters in time. The United States Postal Service, which faces a major budget shortfall and attacks from the Trump administration (a major fundraiser for the Republican National Convention was just named postmaster general), could lack the resources to handle increases in sent and returned ballots. And a sizable chunk of the electorate will be unfamiliar with the intricate rules governing mail-in voting and could see their ballots thrown out on technicalities.
Florida’s 2018 election presents cautionary tales, both about how unrelated events could disrupt mail-in voting and how postal ballots can be invalidated. About a week before the contest, Cesar Sayoc, a fervent Trump supporter, was arrested for mailing explosive devices to prominent Democrats including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Five packages were traced to a large postal distribution center in Miami’s industrial outskirts near where Sayoc was living, forcing staff to evacuate. The coming weeks saw widespread reports of delayed or missing ballots among South Florida’s heavily Democratic voters. While the USPS says an internal review found ballot handling was not hindered by the evacuations, local journalists reported concerns that the facility was too short-staffed to tackle the flood of election mail. Democratic voters in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, who make up the party’s core support in the state, were sent almost twice as many absentee ballots as Republicans, but 144,000 of the Democrats’ ballots were never returned or didn’t arrive back in time. Republican Ron DeSantis was elected governor by 32,000 votes; Rick Scott, also a Republican, won a US Senate seat by 10,000 votes.
While nearly a third of Florida voters cast mail ballots in that election, some core Democratic constituencies were far more likely to have those votes thrown out, even when ballots were returned in time to be counted. Mail voters in Florida, who voted without the assistance of poll workers, had nearly 32,000 votes tossed over small mistakes like a forgotten envelope signature or because officials concluded a voter’s signature did not match one on file. Voters who were 18 to 21 had their ballots rejected more than eight times as often as voters 65 or older. Black, Hispanic, and other voters of color were more than twice as likely as white voters to have mail-in ballots rejected. Overall, Florida’s mail voters were 15 times more likely to have ballots thrown out than in-person voters. In 2018, 1.4 percent of mail-in ballots cast nationwide were rejected. If that rate holds in 2020 and half the country votes by mail, about 1 million ballots would be tossed—enough to swing the outcomes in key states.
While groups like Rock the Vote and Voto Latino have reported a major increase in voter registrations amid the protests over George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer, calls for young people and people of color to reshape the 2020 elections by voting in record numbers must contend with the reality that those communities most affected by racism and police brutality could also have the toughest time voting this year.
The virus has heightened already considerable barriers to voting.
While quickly expanding voting by mail could help many people cast ballots in November, it poses its own risks. If election officials, especially in places unused to the method, are overwhelmed by a surge of requests, ballots might not reach voters in time. The United States Postal Service, which faces a major budget shortfall and attacks from the Trump administration (a major fundraiser for the Republican National Convention was just named postmaster general), could lack the resources to handle increases in sent and returned ballots. And a sizable chunk of the electorate will be unfamiliar with the intricate rules governing mail-in voting and could see their ballots thrown out on technicalities.
Florida’s 2018 election presents cautionary tales, both about how unrelated events could disrupt mail-in voting and how postal ballots can be invalidated. About a week before the contest, Cesar Sayoc, a fervent Trump supporter, was arrested for mailing explosive devices to prominent Democrats including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Five packages were traced to a large postal distribution center in Miami’s industrial outskirts near where Sayoc was living, forcing staff to evacuate. The coming weeks saw widespread reports of delayed or missing ballots among South Florida’s heavily Democratic voters. While the USPS says an internal review found ballot handling was not hindered by the evacuations, local journalists reported concerns that the facility was too short-staffed to tackle the flood of election mail. Democratic voters in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, who make up the party’s core support in the state, were sent almost twice as many absentee ballots as Republicans, but 144,000 of the Democrats’ ballots were never returned or didn’t arrive back in time. Republican Ron DeSantis was elected governor by 32,000 votes; Rick Scott, also a Republican, won a US Senate seat by 10,000 votes.
While nearly a third of Florida voters cast mail ballots in that election, some core Democratic constituencies were far more likely to have those votes thrown out, even when ballots were returned in time to be counted. Mail voters in Florida, who voted without the assistance of poll workers, had nearly 32,000 votes tossed over small mistakes like a forgotten envelope signature or because officials concluded a voter’s signature did not match one on file. Voters who were 18 to 21 had their ballots rejected more than eight times as often as voters 65 or older. Black, Hispanic, and other voters of color were more than twice as likely as white voters to have mail-in ballots rejected. Overall, Florida’s mail voters were 15 times more likely to have ballots thrown out than in-person voters. In 2018, 1.4 percent of mail-in ballots cast nationwide were rejected. If that rate holds in 2020 and half the country votes by mail, about 1 million ballots would be tossed—enough to swing the outcomes in key states.
While groups like Rock the Vote and Voto Latino have reported a major increase in voter registrations amid the protests over George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer, calls for young people and people of color to reshape the 2020 elections by voting in record numbers must contend with the reality that those communities most affected by racism and police brutality could also have the toughest time voting this year.
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