South Carolina: Could South Carolina be like Wisconsin? Elections proceed amid mixed messages | Eric Connor and Genna Contino/Greenville News

The statewide June primaries will forge ahead even as uncertainty looms over how voters can best prevent spreading the novel coronavirus or avoid having to vote in person at all. The pandemic has created confusion over absentee voting, and election officials say that issue and social-distancing measures could mean delays that right now can't fully be measured but must be accounted for as early voting begins next week. South Carolina is trying to avoid the confusion and monumental delays that Wisconsin saw in its primaries earlier this month, when voters had to choose between risking their safety and exercising their right to vote. Voters in South Carolina for years have been allowed to cast absentee ballots — whether in person or by mail — so long as they meet one of 18 exceptions. You can be sick. You can be on vacation. You can have a conflict because of work. But none of the exceptions expressly includes a provision for social distancing or fear of infection brought on by the pandemic and unprecedented shutdown of society.

Texas: Voters sue over age restrictions for mail-in ballots | Alexa Ura/The Texas Tribune

Citing the threats of the coronavirus, six Texas voters filed suit in federal court Wednesday challenging restrictions that limit age eligibility for voting by mail to those 65 and older. In a lawsuit filed in San Antonio, the voters — all between the ages of 18 and 28 — claim the Texas election code violates the 26th Amendment’s protections against voting restrictions that discriminate based on age. While all Texas voters 65 and older can request a mail-in ballot, those younger than 65 must meet a narrow set of requirements to qualify. The voters are backed by the National Redistricting Foundation, an affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee chaired by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The lawsuit cites the urgency brought on by the coronavirus outbreak in asking a federal judge to remedy what they argue are discriminatory and unconstitutional age restrictions. "Having opted to make mail-in voting an option for voters in Texas, Defendants may not constitutionally choose to restrict access to the franchise to voters for no other reason than the fact that they are 18 years old, 25 years old, or 64-and-a-half years old. Period," the lawsuit argues. "While the Absentee Ballot Age Restriction would be unconstitutional under any event, in the current circumstances its application is unconscionable."

Virginia: GOP seeks to keep witness requirement for absentee ballots | Amy Friedenberger/Roanoke Times

The Republican Party of Virginia is seeking to intervene in a federal lawsuit trying to waive the requirement that a witness sign absentee ballots sent in the mail for the June primaries.

The state party argued in a court filing Wednesday that removing the witness requirement will harm the integrity of the June 23 primaries and will increase the risk of people casting ballots who are not permitted to vote.

State Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that Virginia reached an agreement to waive the witness requirement. However, the court still needs to issue a ruling and aimed to resolve the matter next week.

The state GOP argued it has a right to defend the nomination process as well as the competitive environment and integrity of the election.

Republicans will pick a U.S. Senate nominee in June. Primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives include Democrats in the 5th Congressional District — which includes Franklin County and part of Bedford County — choosing a candidate to compete in the November general election.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of three voters and the League of Women Voters in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg. It would block Virginia election officials from requiring that absentee voters find a witness to watch them sign their ballots, citing the social distancing guidelines prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. The ACLU argued the witness requirement could force absentee voters who live alone to choose between not voting or risking their health by asking another person to come to their homes to witness their signatures.

Under state law, any voter who submits an absentee ballot by mail must open the envelope containing the ballot in front of another person, fill out the ballot and then ask the witness to sign the outside of the ballot envelope before it is mailed. Virginia is one of 11 states that require witnesses for absentee voters.

There have been other efforts from Democrats and civic organizations to ease restrictions for mail-in ballots. There is no evidence of widespread mail voting fraud.

Full Article: Virginia GOP seeks to keep witness requirement for absentee ballots | Local News | roanoke.com.

National: ‘The Nightmare Scenario’: How Coronavirus Could Make the 2020 Vote a Disaster | Zack Stanton/Politico

For a certain segment of the American electorate, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic birthed a 2020 nightmare scenario, with an embattled President Donald Trump delaying the November election. But the prospect that terrifies election experts isn’t the idea that Trump moves the election (something he lacks the power to do); it’s something altogether more plausible: Despite an ongoing pandemic, the 2020 election takes place as planned, and America is totally unprepared. The nightmare scenario goes something like this: Large numbers of voters become disenfranchised because they’re worried it’s not safe to vote and that participating makes it more likely they catch the coronavirus. Voter-registration efforts, almost always geared toward in-person sign-ups, bring in very few new voters; few states allow online voter registration, and relatively few first-time voters take part in the election. A surge of demand for absentee ballots overwhelms election administrators, who haven’t printed enough ballots. In some states, like Texas, where fear of coronavirus isn’t a valid reason to request an absentee ballot, turnout drops as Americans are forced to choose between voting in person (and risking contact with the coronavirus) or not voting at all.

National: America’s Elections Won’t Be the Same After 2020 | Russell Berman and Elaine Godfrey/The Atlantic

This year’s democratic presidential primary was tumultuous from beginning to end—starting with a record field of two dozen major candidates and ending in the middle of a pandemic. But its lasting legacy could be far more fundamental: The chaos of the 2020 election season could radically, even permanently, change how Americans vote. By November, a majority of the country—and possibly the overwhelming majority—could cast their ballot by mail for the first time. In the years to come, more and more voters will pick their candidates not by selecting one favorite, but by ranking several under a system designed to give people more choices and less chance for regret. And by 2024, the final vestiges of a 200-year-old tradition—caucuses—could be gone, buried for good by the debacle in Iowa that launched this year’s nominating process. “I have this very sinking feeling that life in America will never again quite be the same,” says Phil Keisling, the former Oregon secretary of state who oversaw elections when the state switched to a vote-by-mail system in 1998. “Election systems have to evolve too.”

National: Ohio’s mail-in ballot brouhaha: a sign of coming trouble? | Carrie Levine/Center for Public Integrity

Risha Mason, who wants to vote in Ohio’s primary on Tuesday, called the local elections office three times in recent weeks to request applications for absentee ballots for herself and her mother. But the applications never arrived. Mason lives in Sandusky, Ohio, a city on the shores of Lake Erie that, like the rest of the state, is largely shut down because of coronavirus-related stay-at-home directives. Finally, more than a week ago, Mason said she drove to the county elections office to obtain ballot applications. She then made another trip to return them to the dropbox at the elections office. As of Monday, Mason, a manufacturing technician, still hadn’t received the ballots. “It’s not like [the ballots] are coming from another town,” she said. “If they sent it out Monday, I should have gotten it Tuesday. And still nothing.” Mason’s situation isn’t unique. Voting advocates and Ohio election officials acknowledge that many Ohio residents may not receive by-mail ballots in time to cast them in Tuesday’s rescheduled vote, which includes presidential, congressional and state Supreme Court races. They’re also preparing for the possibility of lines at county election offices, the only places where in-person voting can take place. State officials have mandated that nearly all voters vote by mail.

National: Why are Republicans afraid of vote-by-mail? | Zack Christenson/Spectator USA

Republicans are afraid of voting by mail in November. So is President Trump — which could cost him the 2020 election. The days are ticking by on our way to the general election and our fight with COVID-19 continues to rage. It’s more and more likely that November will see more voting by mail than in any previous election. It’s not a matter of whether Trump wants it or ‘allows’ it: he really doesn’t have much say. Voting by mail has been here for years. All 50 states already have some form of vote-by-mail. Regulations vary, with some states permitting 100 percent vote-by-mail and others demanding proof that you’d be unable to vote in person. Most are somewhere in the middle: you only need to request your ballot be mailed to you and give some vague reasoning that isn’t really important. The current Republican position on vote by mail is a curious one. Republican candidates have long enjoyed an advantage when it comes to voting by mail. Generally, Republican voters tend to love absentee voting too. Older voters understand the absentee process and are more likely request their ballots ahead of time. Millennials and Gen-Z voters would be hard-pressed to find a stamp, let alone take the time to drop it into a mailbox — or even understand how.

International: Why voting online is not the way to hold an election in a pandemic | The Economist

On May 3rd, months after Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales was forced to resign, the country was supposed to elect his successor. Because of covid-19, that election has been postponed. Bolivians are now stuck with a caretaker president who seems in no mood to relinquish power. They are not alone. The pandemic is playing havoc with elections worldwide. Britain, France, North Macedonia and Serbia have already postponed ballots of various sorts. Opposition politicians in Poland have called for the presidential contest in May to be delayed; some have called for a boycott if it takes place. Eighteen American states have postponed or cancelled presidential primaries, including New York, which scrapped its primary on April 27th. At this rate, scores of elections may be derailed or disrupted, perhaps even America’s polls in November.

Editorials: Let’s put the vote-by-mail ‘fraud’ myth to rest | Amber McReynolds and Charles Stewart III/The Hill

Widespread calls to conduct the 2020 elections by mail, to protect voters from COVID-19 exposure, are being met with charges that the system inevitably would lead to massive voter fraud. This is simply not true. Vote fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare, with mailed ballots and otherwise. Over the past 20 years, about 250 million votes have been cast by a mail ballot nationally. The Heritage Foundation maintains an online database of election fraud cases in the United States and reports that there have been just over 1,200 cases of vote fraud of all forms, resulting in 1,100 criminal convictions, over the past 20 years. Of these, 204 involved the fraudulent use of absentee ballots; 143 resulted in criminal convictions. Let’s put that data in perspective. One hundred forty-three cases of fraud using mailed ballots over the course of 20 years comes out to seven to eight cases per year, nationally. It also means that across the 50 states, there has been an average of three cases per state over the 20-year span. That is just one case per state every six or seven years. We are talking about an occurrence that translates to about 0.00006 percent of total votes cast.

Arizona: Election, Health Officials Urge Vote By Mail For Arizona | Ben Giles/KJZZ

A coalition of election officials, health experts and voting rights advocates collected more than 1,000 signatures urging Gov. Doug Ducey and legislative Republicans to let ballots be mailed to all voters. Calling it a “vote-by-mail plus” model, the coalition led by All Voting Is Local Arizona said mailing ballots to every voter would not preclude the state from still offering polling places on election day in August and November. In fact, Coconino County Recorder Patty Hansen said that mailing ballots would allow her office to allocate scarce resources and manpower to areas of the county that most need in-person voting options. Voters in urban areas have easy access to mail, while rural voters — particularly those on Arizona’s Indian reservations — still need the option to vote in-person. “Allowing the counties to mail ballots to all registered voters will alleviate the burden that the counties currently have in finding and staffing all of our election day polling locations,” Hansen said.

California: Los Angeles County Supervisors approve mail-in ballots for November election | Tammy Murga/Santa Clarita Valley Signal

Los Angeles County voters will be sent vote-by-mail ballots for all elections, starting with the Nov. 3 general election, according to a unanimous vote by the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The decision comes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has upended many aspects of life, including voting. “Voting is a right that should not come at the cost of being exposed to the virus,” read the approved motion by supervisors Janice Hahn and Sheila Kuehl. Despite success in flattening the curve among residents by practicing physical distancing and with an already extended safer-at-home directive set to expire on May 15, county Department of Public Health officials have warned the general public of the consequences of reopening or easing safety measures too soon. 

Delaware: State to allow voters with disabilities to vote online in primary: report | Maggie Miller/The Hill

Delaware will allow voters with disabilities to cast their ballots online during the upcoming primary election next month, NPR reported Tuesday.  The move would make Delaware the second state to allow internet voting for those with disabilities, after West Virginia. New Jersey is also considering allowing some online voting for people with disabilities or those who live overseas, according to NPR.  A spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Elections did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the report.  Discussion around online voting has ramped up over the past month as in-person primary elections have been delayed or canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Mail-in voting has also been proposed by Democratic officials and voting rights advocates who argue that voters should not have to choose between their health and their right to vote.  Cybersecurity advocates have long cautioned against voting online, saying it would open up vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors to interfere in elections.

Georgia: Ballots mailed to Georgia voters with incorrect instructions | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia election officials said Tuesday they will correct absentee ballot instructions that erroneously told voters to insert ballots into envelopes that no longer exist. Instructions mailed with future absentee ballots will tell voters that ballots should be placed inside a folded piece of paper labeled “Official absentee ballot,” which replaced an inner envelope that secured ballots in previous elections.The inner envelope protected the secrecy of ballots so they couldn’t be matched with voters’ information printed on the outer envelope. Without the inner envelope in Georgia’s June 9 primary, a county election worker could see how someone voted after opening the outer envelope.Absentee ballots will be counted as long as they’re received by the time polls close on election day, said Gabriel Sterling, implementation manager for Georgia’s voting system. Absentee ballots must be returned in signed and dated envelopes, which are still included. The secretary of state’s office only learned that absentee ballot packets wouldn’t include inner envelopes when voters began receiving them late last week, Sterling said.

Iowa: Absentee ballot requests spike as Iowans prepare to vote by mail in June primary elections | Brianne Pfannenstiel/Des Moines Register

Iowans are preparing to vote from home in historic numbers as concerns linger about the spread of the novel coronavirus, numbers from the Secretary of State's office show. As of Tuesday, 49,325 people have requested absentee ballots — surpassing the 44,016 people who requested ballots during the entire 2016 primary. In the 2018 primary, 55,421 people requested absentee ballots. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement that he's confident in county auditors and their staffs' ability to respond to the increased requests. "They’ve done a great job responding to the ballot requests so far," he said. "It’s also important to keep in mind that while these numbers are high for a primary election, auditors process many more absentee ballot requests in the typical general election. County election officials are handling this situation well, and my office is here to assist them with anything they need.” Pate is among only a handful of Republican secretaries of state to expand early and absentee voting options ahead primary elections in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

Louisiana: Legislature passes election plan after rolling back access to mail-in ballots | Sam Karlan/The Advocate

An emergency plan for Louisiana’s delayed spring elections was approved by the state Legislature after Republican lawmakers rolled back an expansion of mail-in ballots for people concerned about the coronavirus. The state House and Senate both approved the revised plan, crafted by Republican Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, even as a contingent of GOP lawmakers sought to block it because they believed it still featured too much access to mail-in ballots. Lawmakers voted by mail on the emergency plan. The House approved it on a 62-to-39 vote and the Senate voted 31-to-8. Following the vote, Ardoin called it a “pragmatic and temporary response” to the pandemic. Ardoin originally worked with Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards on the emergency plan, and settled on an expansion of mail-in ballots to those 60 or older, those subject to a stay-at-home order, those unable to appear in public due to concern of exposure or transmission of COVID-19, or those caring for a child or grandchild whose school or child care provider is closed because of the virus, among others.

Massachusetts: MassVOTE gives guidance on how Massachusetts can implement voting by mail during the COVID-19 crisis | Jackson Cote/MassLive

Due to the coronavirus outbreak’s impact on ballot-casting last month, one nonprofit is providing guidance on how to vote by mail ahead of this fall’s general election. MassVOTE published a policy brief this week analyzing four issues surrounding voting by mail - including accessibility, cost, infrastructure and security - and highlighted best practices states being used by states across the country. The nonprofit group has sent the eight-page brief to the commonwealth’s 200 state legislators and more than 5,000 of their supporters, according to a statement from the organization. “Our main goal with this policy brief is to not only educate folks, but to dispel many myths around vote-by-mail,” Alex Psilakis, MassVOTE policy and communications manager, said in the statement. “Everyone, from legislators to voters, has heard a lot about vote-by-mail over the past few weeks. Yet what they have actually heard - and what vote-by-mail can actually look like - varies dramatically." Beacon Hill lawmakers introduced a bill earlier this month that would allow early voting by mail before the September state primary and the November general election if the current state of emergency is still in effect. Ballots would need to be received by one’s town clerk before polls close on Election Day.

Nevada: Federal judge asked to block Nevada’s mail-in primary election | Scott Sonner/Associated Press

A U.S. judge in Reno plans to hear Wednesday from lawyers for Democrats and conservative voting rights activists who are challenging — for different reasons — plans to conduct Nevada’s primary election predominantly by mail because of COVID-19. The conflict involves lawsuits at the state and federal level, both major political parties and voters with divergent political views who argue their constitutional rights will be violated if the primary moves forward as planned June 9. Three voters represented by lawyers for True the Vote Inc. Voters’ Rights Initiative are asking U.S. District Judge Miranda Du for an injunction blocking the existing format. They say it would “require the state to forgo almost all in-person voting” and “all but ensure an election replete with ... ballot fraud.” “The plan alters the nature of Nevada’s election, changing it from an in-person election with absentee ballots received by request to a scheme of mailing mail-in ballots to some, but not all, registered voters and highly restricted walk-in voting options,” according to their lawsuit filed last week.

Ohio: Primary marks a major test for mail-in voting | Joseph Marks/The Washington Post

Ohio will today hold its primary election almost entirely by mail  in what could be a model for the rest of the nation in November. The contest is a canary in the coal mine for more than a dozen states still planning presidential and state primaries this year. They’re aiming for either a fully vote-by-mail elections or for far more ballots than usual to be cast by mail. Today's contest is also likely to guide officials as they plan for November’s presidential election, which could be similarly restricted by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Ohio aims to be a counterpoint to Wisconsin, where the Republican-led legislature blocked Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’s efforts to delay the April 7 primary contest, resulting in thousands of people not receiving absentee ballots and blocks-long lines outside polling places on Election Day. At least 40 Milwaukee residents who stood in line or worked the polls have since tested positive. The primary also takes place as New York, which has been ravaged by the coronavirus, yesterday canceled its primary. “What I saw from the outside looking in in Wisconsin looked very chaotic and candidly dangerous to me,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) told me. “I would not want that scenario in Ohio and I think we’ve taken the right steps to prevent it.”

Pennsylvania: As counties look to consolidate polling places, advocates worry about voter disenfranchisement | Ivey DeJesus/PennLive

Elections officials across the state are bracing for a walk-out of sorts. Not technically a walk-out but a no-show.With the current coronavirus pandemic still ratcheting up the count of positive cases and deaths across Pennsylvania, election officials  are worried that poll workers are thinking twice about working on June 2, the newly designated primary date. The prospect is pushing up against the idea of further consolidating polling places. The underlying reason: Poll workers tend to be older individuals - typically retired - and as such, they belong to one of the most COVID-19 vulnerable demographics. Election officials are concerned that with the lethal virus still a threat, poll workers will decide to stay home on election day rather than risk exposure to the deadly virus. I‘m in touch with inspectors and judges to see what their comfort level is and I can tell you right now today I‘m going to be missing 30 percent of poll workers,” said Jerry Feaser, director of the Dauphin County Office of Elections and Voter Registration. “That varies from poll workers not willing to serve given the conditions to precincts where maybe a handful of poll workers would be missing.”

Pennsylvania: Luzerne County manager proposes hand marked paper ballots for in-person voting June 2 | April 28, 2020 Jennifer Andes/Times Leader

Non-disabled Luzerne County voters casting their ballots in person on June 2 would use paper ballots instead of the new electronic touchscreen ballot marking devices under a preliminary coronavirus plan presented Tuesday. Each voter would receive a pen to make their selections on paper so no pens would be shared and then feed the paper into a scanner to be tabulated, plan drafter county Manager C. David Pedri told council in its virtual meeting. Each polling place would still be equipped with an electronic machine for voters with visual impairments or other disabilities that prevent them from using paper ballots, with cleaning after each use, he said. Paper is a better option for this primary because it alleviates coronavirus concerns about touchscreens, Pedri said. A day of repeated screen wiping and drying also could slow up voting and damage the equipment, election workers have said.

Virginia: Absentee Ballots To Be Accepted Without Witness Signatures | Brad Kutner/Courthouse News

Virginia’s attorney general and a leading voting rights group have reached a deal to allow voters to file an absentee ballot without having a witness sign it, removing a hurdle for those most vulnerable to Covid-19. At issue were the health and safety risks involved with the state’s requirement for all absentee voters to open and fill out their ballot in front of another adult. The League of Women Voters of Virginia and three registered voters, represented by attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union, sued state officials this month, seeking an injunction to block the witness signature requirement in light of the ongoing pandemic. While the complaint was lobbed against the State Board of Elections and its leaders, Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring authored a joint brief with the plaintiffs in support of a consent decree announced Tuesday that allows absentee ballots without witness signatures for those who believe they cannot safely have a witness present. “The fast-paced nature of this case and upcoming elections dictated a particularly short and intense negotiation period,” the brief states. “But the parties’ negotiation was conducted in good faith, involved compromises on both sides leading to a cabined, fair, adequate, and reasonable deal, and resulted in an agreement that serves the public interests of election integrity, access to the ballot, and protecting public health.”

Wisconsin: 52 people with COVID-19 reported participating in spring election | Riley Vetterkind/Wisconsin State Journal

At least 52 Wisconsinites who got COVID-19 reported voting in person or working the polls in the April 7 election, which health experts warned would increase the risk of spreading the disease. But the state Department of Health Services, which released the figures, cautioned it can’t say for certain whether the election was the reason the 52 contracted the virus without more data, such as a comparison group of negative cases. Several of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 and participated in the election also reported other possible exposures to the illness, which so far has infected at least 6,289 people and led to 300 deaths in the state.

National: Few States Are Prepared To Switch To Voting By Mail. That Could Make For A Messy Election. | Nathaniel Rakich/FiveThirtyEight

As with most aspects of our daily lives, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the administration of elections. Several states have already postponed primaries that were scheduled for this spring, and the few in-person elections that have taken place were marred by chaos. But with an election date of November 3 more or less set in stone, how can the general election be conducted safely if the pandemic is still raging in the fall? Many officials and voters alike think the solution is to conduct the election predominantly by mail — but that’s easier said than done. Converting to a vote-by-mail system is arduous and expensive, and most states simply aren’t set up to smoothly conduct a mail election with their present resources and laws. Currently, state laws on the use of mail voting are a patchwork quilt. Only five states regularly conduct mail elections by default: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Three more, though, do allow counties to opt into mail voting, and nine more allow certain elections to be conducted by mail — although these are typically low-turnout, local elections, a far cry from the 2020 presidential race.

National: States Expand Internet Voting Experiments Amid Pandemic, Raising Security | Miles Parks/NPR

Election officials nationwide are preparing for what may the highest election turnout in modern history in the middle of a pandemic. In response, several states will be turning to a relatively new and untested form of internet-based voting to aid the voters who may have the most trouble getting to the polls. In the latest demonstration of the technology, Delaware will allow voters with disabilities to return their ballots electronically in its primary election next month, becoming the second U.S. state to do so. The decision comes despite grave warnings from the cybersecurity community that the technology doesn't offer sufficient safeguards to protect the integrity of an election. NPR is the first to report the development, which has yet to be announced publicly. Both the state, and the Seattle-based company administering the technology, Democracy Live, confirmed the decision, although they dispute the term "internet voting" for the cloud-based system. Earlier this year, West Virginia passed a bill to allow the use of the technology for disabled voters, after becoming the first state to allow overseas and military voters to use an app to vote in the 2018 midterms. Delaware will also allow overseas and military voters to use the technology.

National: Weighing the Risks of Remote Voting Technology | Council on Foreign Relations

The spread of COVID-19 has raised serious questions about how Americans can vote without jeopardizing their health. The controversial Wisconsin primary held in early April, in which the state’s Supreme Court ordered election officials to proceed with in-person voting over the course of a single day, was plagued with long lines and crowding. This is exactly the opposite of the social distancing measures that have been put in place across the country to control the virus. Moreover, poor and minority communities in particular appear to have been confronted with a choice between voting and risking their health, essentially disenfranchising large groups of voters. While the option of voting at polling stations during the pandemic still seems to be on the table, some have suggested allowing people to vote remotely over the internet instead of casting their ballot in person. Policymakers may want to consider some forms of remote voting, such as vote-by-mail, but remote voting technology poses formidable security risks.

National: Infrastructure interdependence a threat to upcoming elections | Nicholas Cunningham/Atlantic Council

Election season approaches and the effects of Russian information operations are once again manifesting in our government. In February 2020, the New York Times reported that both Democrats and Republicans are already suspicious that the other side of the aisle is benefitting from Russian interference. However, we have overlooked other vulnerabilities in our elections amidst the threat of information operations. The numerous sectors of our critical infrastructure, to include the elections process, are interdependent on one another and a failure in one sector could result in the failure of another. For example, a power outage would significantly degrade the ability of a small municipality to conduct an election. Recent developments indicate that Russia could exploit the interdependent nature of our critical infrastructure to disrupt our elections via well-timed cyberattacks. How prepared are we to address election interference that goes beyond information operations?

National: Absentee voting: Voters face potential life-or-death choices in states with limited measures | Abby Phillip/CNN

Elections are a sacred ritual for Jeremy Rutledge and always have been. But for the first time in his life, the 49-year old minister of a historic Circular Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina, says that he is being forced to make what could be a life-or-death choice because of the risk Covid-19 poses to him. Rutledge, who lives with his wife and son, says he has for nearly 12 years suffered from a chronic autoimmune disorder that has caused scarring in his lungs. His doctors have warned him that a Covid-19 infection could be a death sentence. "I've always voted since I was old enough to vote -- in every election," Rutledge told CNN. "I never imagined that I would have to decide whether I wanted to vote or whether I wanted to live and be healthy." "We've really had serious conversations," he said. "All of my doctors are worried that if I contract the virus, I could die from it."

National: Partisan battle erupts over US Postal Service as some look to mail-in ballots amid pandemic | Allison Pecorin/ABC

As some lawmakers have begun to advocate for the use of mail-in ballots as a means of safeguarding voters amid the coronavirus pandemic during the upcoming 2020 elections, a partisan battle has erupted in Washington over the future of the crippled U.S. Postal Service. Lawmakers were already facing challenging decisions about how to rescue the troubled agency, which is on the brink of insolvency in the midst of the global health crisis, but the ongoing debate over mail-in ballots has added a political dimension to an already complex problem. The stakes could not be higher. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia who chairs the House subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Postal Service, told ABC News that if Congress does not approve more money for the agency, efforts to implement a nationwide vote-by-mail measure could be in jeopardy. “The whole point of this is to make it safe and effective, and I believe the post office is well equipped to do both,” Connolly said. “But it has to get an infusion of capital to ensure that that mission is smooth and uninterrupted.”

National: Pelosi says Democrats will push for vote by mail in next coronavirus relief package | Rebecca Shabad/NBC

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Monday that Democrats will push for a vote-by-mail provision in Congress' next coronavirus relief package. In an interview on MSNBC’s LIVE with Stephanie Ruhle, Pelosi said that it's important to protect the “life of our democracy” as the coronavirus crisis continues. “In this next bill, we will be supporting vote by mail in a very important way -- we think it’s a health issue at this point,” Pelosi said. Democrats have been for weeks pushing mail-in voting before May and June primary contests— over a dozen of which have been postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus— and as they look ahead to the November election.

Voting Blogs: It’s Crunch Time for 2020 Election Security: Is Arizona Equipped to Face New Threats? | Kristin Palmason/State of Elections

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) enacted by Congress in 2012 with overwhelming bipartisan support, provides federal funds to states for the purpose of reforming the administration of elections, including upgrading voting equipment and eliminating punch-card and lever voting machines. As HAVA was enacted in response to the 2000 contested election of Bush v. Gore, which hinged on outdated voting equipment and “hanging chads,”  HAVA funds were intended to streamline internal election processes and updating archaic voting systems. Arizona committed to using the funds to replace punch card voting systems, add touch screen equipment and update voter registration, provisional balloting, and grievance processes. By 2015, approximately $3.3 billion in HAVA funds for election assistance was awarded to states nationwide, with approximately $52.5 million awarded to Arizona.