What about just the general principle of "starving the beast," thereby slowly executing the postal service so FedEx, UPS, and DHL--for-profit delivery services--can corner the market?
How about crippling the postal service so it will be unable to adjust to any vote-by-mail changes that could conceivable pass Congress?
Some states are urging voters to apply for absentee ballots.
But instead of just temporarily adjusting to meet the current crisis, what if we addressed both the coronavirus's impact on voting and traditionally anemic voter turnout?
What if we used this crisis as an opportunity to institute real progressive change?
The possibly of voting by mail is one such way to accomplish this.
Those who have voted via absentee ballot already do this.
Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Senate counterpart Ron Wyden introduced "The Resilient Elections During Quarantines and Natural Disasters Act of 2020", intending to replicate nationwide what their state has practiced since being passed into law in 1998.
The bill calls for $500 million to help states prepare for voter disruptions the coronavirus may inflict.
Wyden and Minn. Sen. Amy Klobuchar also introduced "The Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act (NDEBA)" to allow all states 20 days of early voting, counting mail-in ballots submitted during 21 days before an election, and ensuring all voters have the option to submit absentee ballots.
Other states are taking notice.
New York State Senator Jen Metzger (D Rosendale) has introduced a bill (S8120) requiring the state board of elections to create a vote-by-mail election plan during emergencies, which would allow state residents to cast via U.S. mail June 2020 ballots should the current crisis continue.
Her plan involves all eligible voters receiving and returning ballots through the mail or delivering them to designated locations just like Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Utah, and Colorado.
New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi also introduced her version.
Wisconsin election clerks reported scores of requests for mail-in ballots before last week's presidential primary.
More than 111,000 Illinois voters cast mail-in ballots.
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