Washington: Mail-In Voting Is ‘Not Rampant Voter Fraud,’ Says Washington’s Top Election Official | Emma Bowman/NPR

This past week, President Trump renewed his unsubstantiated claim that mail-in voting begets inaccurate or fraudulent results when he raised the prospect of delaying November's election. "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history," Trump tweeted Thursday. Trump's rhetoric alarms Kim Wyman, the secretary of state of Washington, one of a handful of states that vote almost entirely by mail. A growing number of states are embracing mail-in voting — which is essentially the same as absentee voting — over fears that going to polling stations could increase exposure to the coronavirus. "I think it really shatters peoples' confidence in the process," Wyman, a Republican, said in an interview with All Things Considered on Saturday. "We need to make sure we're inspiring confidence in the public that this is a fair election. And the way you do that is balancing access and security." Contrary to the president's claims, fraudulent mail-in voting is very rare, according to election security experts. And as for Washington, Wyman said, "We've seen a very low incidence of any kind of voter fraud."

Wisconsin: Republicans break with Trump on delaying election | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Top Wisconsin Republicans broke with President Donald Trump on Thursday over delaying the November election. The Republican president on Thursday suggested on Twitter that the Nov. 3 election should be delayed because of concerns he has about mail voting. Republicans and Democrats alike dismissed the idea, and election experts emphasized that mail voting has not been found to be rife with fraud. Postponing the election drew bipartisan alarm from congressional leaders and election experts noted a president does not have the power to change the date of an election. “The election should not be delayed," U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Menomonee Falls said in a statement. "The 20th Amendment sets the terms of the election and is clear. The terms of the president and vice president shall end at noon on the 20th day of January.” Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester and state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau also opposed the notion. The two this spring sued to keep the April election for state Supreme Court on schedule after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tried to delay it.

Wisconsin: Republicans break with Trump on delaying election | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Top Wisconsin Republicans broke with President Donald Trump on Thursday over delaying the November election. The Republican president on Thursday suggested on Twitter that the Nov. 3 election should be delayed because of concerns he has about mail voting. Republicans and Democrats alike dismissed the idea, and election experts emphasized that mail voting has not been found to be rife with fraud. Postponing the election drew bipartisan alarm from congressional leaders and election experts noted a president does not have the power to change the date of an election. “The election should not be delayed," U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Menomonee Falls said in a statement. "The 20th Amendment sets the terms of the election and is clear. The terms of the president and vice president shall end at noon on the 20th day of January.” Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester and state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau also opposed the notion. The two this spring sued to keep the April election for state Supreme Court on schedule after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tried to delay it.

Wyoming: Cheney, Barrasso reject suggestion of election delay | Tom Coulter/Wyoming Tribune Eagle

After President Donald Trump tweeted the idea of delaying the November election, several Republicans in Congress quickly rejected the idea Thursday, and two of Wyoming’s federal delegates were among them. The president’s tweet, which was met with widespread disapproval from federal leadership in both parties, was posted Thursday morning. ”With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history,” Trump tweeted. “It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” The first public reaction among Wyoming’s congressional delegation came from Sen. John Barrasso, who said there would be no delay of the November election in an interview later Thursday morning with Fox Business. ”We have been focused and working on making sure elections are secure, and we will get results,” Barrasso said. “It’s going to take a while. We may not know on election night the balance of the House of Representatives or the Senate or the presidency, but we will not delay the elections.”

Australia: 'Rigged': Trump talks November delay, Republicans reject idea | Matthew Knott/Sydney Morning Herald

Leading Republican politicians have forcefully rejected US President Donald Trump's suggestion that the November 3 election may need to be delayed because of concerns about mail-in voting, insisting the election must go ahead as planned. Trump tweeted on Thursday morning, US time: "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???" Later, speaking at the White House, Trump said he believed the election would be be "fraudulent", "fixed" and "rigged". "I don't want to have to wait for three months and then find out the ballots are all missing and the election doesn't mean anything," he said. "That is what is going to happen." Presidential election dates are enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change - an impossible prospect given Democrats control the House of Representatives. The Constitution makes no provision for a delay to the January 20, 2021 presidential inauguration. Even so, Trump's tweet and statement were widely seen as a remarkable provocation and a disturbing portent of how the voting process and legitimacy of the election results could be undermined in November.

Australia: ‘Rigged’: Trump talks November delay, Republicans reject idea | Matthew Knott/Sydney Morning Herald

Leading Republican politicians have forcefully rejected US President Donald Trump's suggestion that the November 3 election may need to be delayed because of concerns about mail-in voting, insisting the election must go ahead as planned. Trump tweeted on Thursday morning, US time: "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???" Later, speaking at the White House, Trump said he believed the election would be be "fraudulent", "fixed" and "rigged". "I don't want to have to wait for three months and then find out the ballots are all missing and the election doesn't mean anything," he said. "That is what is going to happen." Presidential election dates are enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change - an impossible prospect given Democrats control the House of Representatives. The Constitution makes no provision for a delay to the January 20, 2021 presidential inauguration. Even so, Trump's tweet and statement were widely seen as a remarkable provocation and a disturbing portent of how the voting process and legitimacy of the election results could be undermined in November.

China: White House condemns China for delaying Hong Kong elections despite Trump suggesting same for US | John T. Bennett/The Independent

The White House on Friday condemned China's decision to delay an election in Hong Kong by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic even as Donald Trump continues floating the idea about the US election slated for November. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump administration officials "condemn the Hong Kong government's decision to postpone for one year its legislative ... elections, and to disqualify opposition candidates. This action undermines democratic processes and freedoms that have underpinned Hong Kong's prosperity." "This is only the most recent [of] a growing list of broken promises by Beijing," she added. That came less than 24 hours after the US president again signalled he would support – even prefer – the 3 November election in the United States be delayed, arguing a massive increase in mail-in ballots due to fears about voting in person inevitably will lead to widespread fraud. "I want an election and a result, much, much more than you," Mr Trump said at the White House on Thursday evening. "I don't want to delay. I want to have the election. But I also don't want to have to wait three months and then find out that the ballots are all missing, and the election doesn't mean anything." The president help up print outs of recent media reports detailing problems with mail-in ballots. The list included reporting from major US media outlets like The Washington Post and others.

United Kingdom: The Guardian view on delaying elections: it’s what autocrats do | The Guardian

Postponing elections is what autocracies do. On Friday, Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, announced a delay to September’s planned legislative council (LegCo) elections. Ms Lam cited the coronavirus public health emergency as her justification. Yet the real reason is Hong Kong’s political emergency. Hong Kong’s elections have been postponed because even with its very limited democracy, Ms Lam and the Chinese government are afraid the voters will choose a LegCo with greater sympathy for the protests. In spite of their very different systems, Donald Trump’s reasons for proposing the postponement of November’s US presidential election are essentially the same. Mr Trump also cites the pandemic. But his real motives are also political. He thinks he is losing the campaign. He thinks Joe Biden will be elected in November. He wants to stop him if he can, by fair means or foul. And he wants to discredit his own defeat. Yet, there are significant differences between the two cases, which need to be understood. These make Mr Trump’s move in some respects even more sinister. There is nothing in the US constitution that permits the president to postpone an election. The date is fixed by law. Such a change would require an act of both houses of Congress, so it is not going to happen. Even Republicans admit this. In any event, a postponement would not allow Mr Trump to continue in office beyond January 2021.

National: Study finds election officials vulnerable to cyberattacks | Maggie Miller/The Hill

Election administrators across the country are vulnerable to cyberattacks that originate through malicious phishing emails, a report released Monday found. The report, compiled by cybersecurity group Area 1 Security, found that over 50 percent of election administrators have “only rudimentary or non-standard technologies” to protect against malicious emails from cyber criminals, with less than 30 percent using basic security controls to halt phishing emails. The study also found that around 5 percent of election administrators use personal emails, which are seen as less secure than government emails, and some election administrators use a custom email infrastructure known to have been targeted by Russian military hackers during prior elections. Email phishing is a key way hackers infiltrate networks, with hackers attempting to trick individuals into clicking on malicious links or attachments or providing sensitive information in other ways that allows the hacker to access a network. Area 1 Security noted that 90 percent of cyberattacks begin with a phishing email.

National: Senate GOP Coronavirus Package Omits Additional Elections Funding | Alexa Corse and Lindsay Wise/Wall Street Journal

Senate Republicans didn’t include any new funding to help states and local governments to administer elections in their latest coronavirus aid package, setting up a fight over the issue in coming negotiations with Democrats. House Democrats in May proposed sending $3.6 billion to state and local officials to help them hold elections during the pandemic, which has prompted many areas to expand vote-by-mail options and invest in protective equipment for poll workers. Democrats also called for a nationwide vote-by-mail option and a guarantee of 15 days of early voting, among other requirements. Republicans point out that they have already given $400 million to help overcome coronavirus-related election challenges in the Cares Act, which passed in March, and that they are opposed to mandating new voting procedures. “We’ve already appropriated an awful lot of money for election assistance,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday. “What we’re not going to do is federalize the American election system, which is basically conducted in every single state in very different ways.”

National: Senate GOP Coronavirus Package Omits Additional Elections Funding | Alexa Corse and Lindsay Wise/Wall Street Journal

Senate Republicans didn’t include any new funding to help states and local governments to administer elections in their latest coronavirus aid package, setting up a fight over the issue in coming negotiations with Democrats. House Democrats in May proposed sending $3.6 billion to state and local officials to help them hold elections during the pandemic, which has prompted many areas to expand vote-by-mail options and invest in protective equipment for poll workers. Democrats also called for a nationwide vote-by-mail option and a guarantee of 15 days of early voting, among other requirements. Republicans point out that they have already given $400 million to help overcome coronavirus-related election challenges in the Cares Act, which passed in March, and that they are opposed to mandating new voting procedures. “We’ve already appropriated an awful lot of money for election assistance,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday. “What we’re not going to do is federalize the American election system, which is basically conducted in every single state in very different ways.”

National: Donald Trump calls for delay to US presidential election | Suzanne Lynch/The Irish Times

US president Donald Trump has suggested that November’s presidential election should be delayed, citing unsubstantiated concerns about postal voting. With just over three months to the election, Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday: “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRADULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” The date of the US election is set in statute. The election must take place every four years on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.” Additionally, the US Constitution gives Congress – and not the president – power to regulate elections. The election must take place every four years on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November”.

National: Donald Trump calls for delay to US presidential election | Suzanne Lynch/The Irish Times

US president Donald Trump has suggested that November’s presidential election should be delayed, citing unsubstantiated concerns about postal voting. With just over three months to the election, Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday: “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRADULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” The date of the US election is set in statute. The election must take place every four years on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.” Additionally, the US Constitution gives Congress – and not the president – power to regulate elections. The election must take place every four years on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November”.

National: Ransomware continues to be election-security fear for local officials | Benjamin Freed/StateScoop

The 2020 presidential election has already been upended by a disastrous pandemic that’s forced states to re-evaluate the methods by which people will vote this year. But election administrators, especially at the local level, must still contented with digital threats, like ransomware attacks, that could potentially disrupt voting infrastructure and create chaos on or after Nov. 3, county officials were warned last week during a webinar. The hourlong event, hosted by the National Association of Counties, laid out what a ransomware attack could do to a county’s ability to safely and accurately carry out an election. Ryan Macias, a former technology specialist with the federal Election Assistance Commission who is now an election security consultant to the Department of Homeland Security, laid out a pair of unsettling scenarios. “Picture it being National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 22, and your entire voter registration database is locked up,” he said. “Picture [on Nov. 3] that you’re getting to 8 p.m., close of polls, and you see a message that says: ‘Your system is locked up and you have no results for this election unless you pay us a ransom.'”

National: Racing the Clock on Election Security | John Breeden II/Nextgov

Believe it or not, there are less than 100 days before the next presidential election. And in addition to picking a president, most of us are also voting for scores of federal, state and local officials as well. In addition to all of that, we have the COVID-19 pandemic which has many voters rightly concerned for the safety of both themselves and election workers. To compensate, many states are modifying the way that people are voting, both in-person and remotely. And this could open states up to new or unexpected cyber threats and physical challenges. A perfect example of a physical challenge occurred during the recent primary election in New York. The New York Daily News reports that one in five absentee ballots cast in New York City were rejected for technical reasons. That’s over 100,000 votes that didn’t get counted. On the cybersecurity side, the Wall Street Journal reports that less than 20% of election officials nationwide have anti-phishing protection on their email, and many are using personal email addresses for official election board business. While there is no direct connection between email and the voting machines themselves, it does present a window that enterprising attackers could use to try and manipulate the election.

National: House Intel Committee votes to give all members access to foreign disinformation evidence | Maggie Miller/The Hill

The House Intelligence Committee voted Wednesday to give all members of the House access to classified information that Democrats say shows evidence of “a concerted foreign interference campaign” against members of Congress ahead of November's elections. The evidence, compiled in a “classified addendum,” was submitted to the FBI earlier this month by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.). The Democratic leaders pointed to it in requesting an immediate all-members classified briefing from the FBI on election threats. Schiff said in a statement Wednesday that the evidence, which had previously been available to view only for members of the House Intelligence Committee, was being made public for all House lawmakers in response to multiple requests. “In the absence of an FBI defensive briefing to the Congress, more than two dozen Members have requested access to the classified addendum to our July 13 letter, which addresses the concrete, specific, and alarming reporting that the congressional intelligence committees have seen regarding our elections,” Schiff said.

National: GOP sparks backlash after excluding election funds from COVID-19 bill | Maggie Miller/The Hill

Senate Republicans left out funding for mail-in and early voting during the COVID-19 pandemic in their stimulus bill rolled out Monday, prompting backlash from Democrats, election officials and advocacy groups. With less than 100 days to go before Election Day, these officials are concerned that without a new injection of federal funds, state and local officials facing budget shortfalls may struggle to carry out safe and secure elections that ensure every American can vote. The concerns come as the pandemic has upended the primary process, leading most states to postpone their contests, while results in a handful, including New York, have been delayed by a surge in mailed-in ballots. “This isn’t in anyone’s budget, no one budgeted for a pandemic, and you can see state and local budgets are cratering, they don’t have funding to put into this, and certainly it’s going to be a challenge,” Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Chairman Benjamin Hovland, who was nominated by President Trump, told The Hill Tuesday.

National: Fact checking Barr's claim that it's 'common sense' that foreign countries will counterfeit mail-in ballots | Tara Subramaniam/CNN

As coronavirus continues to spread, bipartisan officials across the country and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have supported mail-in voting as a pandemic-safe option for the upcoming election. Despite having voted by mail himself on previous occasions, President Donald Trump has frequently pushed back on the concept, claiming without evidence that it would lead to widespread voter fraud and a "rigged" election. Asked about the issue in a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr said he had "no reason to think" that the upcoming election will be "rigged." But he did say he believes that "if you have wholesale mail-in voting, it substantially increases the risk of fraud." During the hearing, Barr was also asked about comments he made last month regarding potential foreign interference in the presidential election via counterfeit ballots. Barr acknowledged he didn't have evidence foreign countries could successfully sway US elections with counterfeit ballots but claimed it was "common sense" that they would attempt to do so.  Facts First: More Americans than ever are expected to cast mail-in ballots this year. While that certainly presents its own challenges, historically voting by mail has not led to massive voter fraud. And nonpartisan election experts say the possibility of foreign entities printing millions of fraudulent mail-in ballots this November is highly unlikely.

National: The Trump administration's battle over mail-in voting heads to Congress | Joseph Marks/The Washington Post

Attorney General William P. Barr held fast to claims that a drastic expansion of mail voting in November could undermine the election amid an often combative hearing with House lawmakers. But he provided no concrete evidence for his assertions there's a “high risk” mail-in voting will lead to massive fraud, which have been roundly dismissed by election security experts. He said “common sense” guides his concern that U.S. adversaries might flood the election with phony ballots submitted by mail, even though election officials say safeguards such as bar codes and signature verification prevent this. It was the first time a congressional committee scrutinized Barr's claims in person – and Democrats savaged him, contending that he and the president were spreading conspiracy theories and aiding U.S. enemies. “The FBI and our intelligence services have repeatedly warned that [U.S.] adversaries are actively trying to sow mistrust of our election system and by repeating disinformation about mail-in voting, you and the president are helping them,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), vice chair of the committee. Barr did break from the president, however, when asked if he believed the election will be rigged. “I have no reason to believe it will be,” Barr said. The mail-voting fight is playing out amid a broader partisan battle over how to run the general election.

National: As Trump demurs, an unimaginable question forms: Could the president reach for the military in a disputed election? | Missy Ryan and Paul Sonne/The Washington Post

President Trump’s refusal to commit to accepting the results of the November election, paired with his penchant for plunging the military into the partisan fray, has prompted scholars and legal experts to ask a once-unthinkable question: How would the armed forces respond if pulled into a disputed election? Speculation about whether the military could be asked to play a role in events following the 2020 presidential vote has intensified in the wake of the Pentagon’s involvement in the government’s response to demonstrations against racism and police brutality. “If the president is willing to thrust the military leadership into so damaging a set of circumstances during the protests, just imagine what he would be willing to do if he wants to prevent an electoral outcome that would be damaging to him,” said Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “So yes, they should be absolutely worried about it.” As the election approaches, the president has once again declined to say he would accept its results. “I have to see,” he said during a Fox News interview this month. “I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no. And I didn’t last time either.”

National: Treasury agrees to lend Postal Service $10 billion in trade for rivals’ shipping contracts | Jacob Bogage/The Washington Post

The Treasury Department agreed to loan the U.S. Postal Service $10 billion in emergency coronavirus relief funding Wednesday in exchange for proprietary information about the mail service’s most lucrative private-sector contracts. The Postal Service, subject to confidentiality restrictions, will provide Treasury copies of its 10 largest “negotiated service agreements,” or contracts with high-volume third-party shippers such as Amazon, FedEx and UPS, and receive a crucial injection of cash that postal officials say will keep the debt-laden agency solvent for at least another year, according to a copy of the loan’s term sheet obtained by The Washington Post. The Postal Service contracts with private-sector shippers for “last-mile” delivery from distribution centers to consumers’ homes, and it offers those companies small discounts because of the volume of packages they provide. President Trump has derided the agency over those deals, which industry experts say only account for a roughly 5 percent savings. He has called the Postal Service Amazon’s “delivery boy” and falsely claimed the agreements are the reason the agency has struggled financially.

National: Democrats push for more transparency about Russian election interference | Joseph Marks/The Washington Post

Top Democrats are slamming the Trump administration for not sharing enough information with the public about Russian efforts to interfere in November's election. While intelligence officials have warned that U.S. adversaries are trying to hack into political campaigns and election systems – and cited Russia, China and Iran as the biggest threats -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) say that's not enough to help voters gird themselves against social media disinformation or the sort of hacking and leaking campaign that upended Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. The top-line announcement that interference exists doesn't “go nearly far enough in arming the American people with the knowledge they need about how foreign powers are seeking to influence our political process,” Schumer and Pelosi warned in a statement. “The Russians are once again trying to influence the election and divide Americans, and these efforts must be deterred, disrupted and exposed,” they continue. The statement was also signed by House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Colorado: Official details plans for penetration testing of election systems | Benjamin Freed/StateScoop

The Colorado secretary of state’s office said Tuesday it is partnering with the security firm Synack to conduct penetration tests of its election systems ahead of the presidential vote. In an interview with StateScoop, Trevor Timmons, the chief information officer for Secretary of State Jena Griswold, said Synack’s team of white-hat hackers will poke and prod the agency’s election infrastructure, including the statewide voter registration database and Griswold’s office’s main website. “We need to know [vulnerabilities],” Timmons said. “We’ve got enough time that if they found anything we’d be able to respond to them.” Timmons said Synack will be focusing on anything that’s “internet-connected.” While Colorado is one of five states where nearly all voters cast ballots by mail, the penetration tests will also include electronic poll books at physical precincts for people who choose to vote in person. Colorado has used penetration testers to review its election systems before, Timmons said, including services offered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other private companies. But he also said that Synack, which has offered its services to election officials in previous cycles, is providing these tests on a pro bono basis as part of an expansion into the election space.

Georgia: Extreme voting lines expose where Georgia primary failed | Mark Niesse and Nick Thieme/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The last polling place in Georgia closed well after midnight. Voters had waited over five hours at Christian City, an assisted living community south of Atlanta. The line twisted far down the street, the most egregious example of extreme delays to participate in Georgia’s troubled primary. A new trove of elections data shows which voting locations stayed open late, highlighting where voters suffered the longest lines at Georgia’s 2,300 polling places. The secretary of state’s office reported the information to county election officials so they can make improvements before November’s high-turnout presidential election. About 11% of voting sites in Georgia closed over an hour late, according to an analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of the elections data. The epicenter of voting problems was Fulton County, where more than three-quarters of polling places closed after 8 p.m. Black voters bore the brunt of long lines and late closings in overcrowded, understaffed and poorly equipped polling places. Only 61% of majority Black precincts closed on time compared with 80% of mostly white precincts, the AJC’s analysis found. Georgia’s election day was a debacle created by the coronavirus pandemic, high turnout and difficulties operating new voting computers. Precincts closed, poll workers quit and social-distancing restrictions limited the number of people who could vote at a time.

Maryland: Local election officials look at slashing number of polling places due to election judge shortage | Emily Opilo and Talia Richman/Baltimore Sun

Howard County Election Director Guy Mickley’s numbers already didn’t look good. Within a day, they grew bleaker. Mickley started Monday with 491 people signed on to serve as election judges Nov. 3, about a third of what he needed. By the time the county election board met at 4 p.m., that number had dropped by 12. Judges were calling to pull back their pledges to participate, he explained, as the coronavirus pandemic waged on. “We are not going to recruit 700 people. It’s not going to happen,” Mickley told the election board. “We cannot sustain 90 individual polling places with judges like this.” Moments later, the board unanimously approved Mickley’s proposal to slash the number of polling places in Howard to 35. Local elections directors across the state face the same problem as they grapple with how to implement Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision for the state to hold a traditional election this fall. Hogan’s July 8 announcement directed elections officials to open all polling places, as well as early voting locations. He also ordered elections officials to mail all voters applications to request absentee ballots.

Maryland: 'Unnecessary Suicide Mission': Health Experts, Election Judges Blast Hogan's Election Plan | Bennett Leckrone/Maryland Matters

Public health experts say Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s decision to hold a more traditional election in November will increase the risk of COVID-19 spread. While Hogan claims giving people more options to vote will minimize voters’ risk of coronavirus, his choice to require voters to apply for a mail-in ballot instead of automatically getting one will put people at risk during the upcoming general election, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein of the John Hopkins School of Public Health said during a Wednesday morning news conference. “The virus is hoping a lot of people show up to vote, particularly in cramped locations,” Sharfstein said during the press conference put on by the Everyone Votes Maryland coalition. Instead, Sharfstein — who served as state Health secretary under former Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D) — urged Hogan to pivot toward a mail-in election format like the state’s recent primary. He said the governor’s order to open every polling center in November puts the lives of voters and poll workers alike at risk. Local election officials have repeatedly warned that a statewide shortage of poll workers will likely lead to the consolidation of polling places, and longer lines for the Nov. 3 election as a result. Mike Latner of the Union of Concerned Scientists warned that waiting in line is when voters will have the highest risk of exposure to COVID-19.

Montana: County clerks call for general election by mail | Holly Michels/Helena Independent Record

With fewer than 100 days until Montanans cast ballots, the clerks who run the state's elections are asking the governor to allow counties the option to conduct the vote by mail. In a letter to Gov. Steve Bullock dated July 24, the Montana Association of Clerk & Recorders/Election Administrators and the Montana Association of Counties (MACo) said that given the novel coronavirus' spread in Montana and the rapidly approaching Nov. 3 general election, they want to make a decision by Aug. 10. Their letter included a formal request for the mail-ballot option, with an allowance for in-person voting and other adaptions. "Given we are unsure of how long the pandemic will last, Montana’s Clerk & Recorders/Election Administrators want to (and absolutely should be) prepared for the worst, especially given that elections require numerous election judges and enormous groups of people," reads the letter. Under a directive from Bullock, all 56 counties chose to hold the June 2 primary by mail. Generally Montanans can request an absentee ballot to vote by mail, which has become increasingly popular in recent years, with absentee turnout about 73% in the last election. In June, everyone registered and active as a voter received a ballot by mail with a pre-stamped envelope to return it.

North Carolina: Blind voters are being disenfranchised, lawsuit says, and coronavirus doesn't help | The News & Observer

Blind and visually impaired voters will face discrimination and difficult choices in the 2020 elections, a new lawsuit claims, unless North Carolina acts quickly to improve options for voting by mail. North Carolina has specialized voting machines for people with disabilities who vote at any polling place around the state. But this year, the coronavirus pandemic is expected to lead to a massive increase in voting by mail. And the only option for that is a paper ballot. Having only a paper ballot for mail-in voting, the new lawsuit says, means that unless they want to risk their health to vote in person, blind voters will be forced to not only tell someone else who they'd like to vote for, but also trust that person to actually fill out their ballot. "Ensuring that absentee voting is made accessible for blind voters is particularly important because citizens with disabilities already face many barriers to full and equal participation in the voting process, in contrast with sighted voters," the lawsuit says.

Texas: Governor extends early voting for November election by six days | Alexa Ura/The Texas Tribune

Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday extended the early voting period for the November election by six days, citing continued challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. Early voting for the Nov. 3 election will now begin Oct. 13 instead of Oct. 19. The end date remains Oct. 30. The extension of the early voting period is not a surprise. During a TV interview in late May, Abbott said he would add more time to the early voting period for the November election — as he did for the primary runoff election earlier this month — but did not elaborate. Last week, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins asked Abbott to provide more details so that election officials could have enough time to prepare. In a letter to the governor, Hollins requested that Abbott move the start date to Oct. 13 at the latest. For the runoffs, Abbott doubled the early voting period, shifting the start date from July 6 to June 29. The end date was July 10.

Texas: Texans with disabilities sue to challenge mail-in ballot process | Katie Hall/Austin American-Statesman

Disability rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas secretary of state, contending that the vote-by-mail process is inaccessible to people with impairments to vision and writing. People with these disabilities must either seek help to vote by mail or "risk their health during this pandemic by traveling to a polling place," the suit argues. The solution would be to offer online voting options, which are already available to people in the military and people overseas, they said. Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs disagrees, saying it’s unfeasible to implement online voting this close to the general election, according to an attorney who wrote a letter on her behalf earlier this month. The National Federation of the Blind of Texas and the Coalition of Texans With Disabilities, along with three Texas men with disabilities — an Austin man who is blind, a Beaumont man who also is blind, and an Arlington man with cerebral palsy — are suing Hughs. All three men would prefer to vote online for the November election, the suit says.