Editorials: How Republicans are using the coronavirus to suppress votes | Richard L. Hasen/Los Angeles Times

Even in a pandemic, some Republicans are looking to suppress the vote for partisan political advantage. But the biggest power plays may come in November, and they could threaten our democracy. With most of the country under a stay-at-home order, in-peson voting right now is perilous. We don’t know what the situation will be like in November, but vote-by-mail is one way to help ensure that millions of Americans will be able to vote safely. Yet, across the country, some Republican legislators and leaders are opposing efforts to make voting safe and widespread. In Wisconsin, Republican legislators have refused to postpone Tuesday’s scheduled primary despite the serious health risk posed by in-person voting. Some have suggested Wisconsin Republicans are happy to have depressed turnout to help a Republican-backed state Supreme Court candidate win election. On Friday, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, called the Legislature into special session on Saturday to consider an election delay and shift to a mostly vote-by-mail election. But the Republicans immediately rejected any change to the election. In Georgia, Republican state House Speaker David Ralston has opposed sending absentee ballots to every Georgia voter for the upcoming primary, claiming that such a change “will be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia. Every registered voter is going to get one of these. … This will certainly drive up turnout.”

Georgia: GOP House Speaker says vote-by-mail system would be ‘devastating to Republicans’ | Aras Folley/The Hill

Georgia state House Speaker David Ralston (R) is coming out against a recent effort taken by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to mail absentee ballot request forms to all voters in the state amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying the move could be “devastating” for Republican candidates.. Last week, Raffensperger announced the state would be mailing absentee ballot request forms to its nearly 7 million voters “in an effort to allow as many Georgia voters as possible to exercise their right to vote without leaving their homes.” The move came a week after the state postponed its presidential primary from March 24 until May 19, as officials nationwide have urged the public to stay indoors as much as possible and to avoid large gatherings in a bid to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.  During an interview released on Wednesday, Ralston was asked about concerns he had regarding Raffensperger’s move.

Georgia: Counties work to keep in-person early voting safe despite coronavirus | Amanda C. Coyne/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The coronavirus pandemic has forced elections officials to reexamine how to conduct voting while preventing the spread of disease. Potentially long voter lines, touch-screen voting machines and a high likelihood of more than 10 voters and poll workers in an indoor polling place present a challenge for election directors: They must conduct in-person balloting while trying to minimize voters’ and poll workers’ exposure to disease.Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett are each still nailing down the details of how voting will go forward.“These circumstances are unique — they are unprecedented, actually — and I think public health takes precedence,” said Rick Barron, Fulton County elections director. Georgia’s presidential primary was postponed to the May 19 general primary. Although early voting had begun throughout metro Atlanta, it was suspended on March 19 due to the coronavirus. More than 275,000 people had voted by then, twice the amount that had at the same point in 2016. Early voting is expected to resume April 27. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is encouraging residents to vote by mail, and the state is sending every registered voter an absentee ballot application. The secretary of state’s office began mailing those applications Monday, March 30. However, each county is still required under state law to offer at least one early voting location in the three weeks before election day.

Iowa: Election officials pushing vote by mail for June primary | Erin Murphey/Sioux City Journal

There will be a June 2 primary election in Iowa, state and local elections officials pledge. But those officials are encouraging Iowa voters to submit their ballots early through the mail in order to sidestep voting in-person on Election Day while the state may still be dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic. So serious is he about encouraging Iowans to vote by mail that Secretary of State Paul Pate, the state’s top elections official, plans to mail every registered Iowa voter an absentee ballot request form for the June primary. Pate even considered going to a 100 percent vote-by-mail election. He shelved that idea for the June primary, but it remains on the table for the November general election, if the virus is still spreading in Iowa this fall. “We’ve had to adapt,” Pate said. “It’s very fluid.” Iowa’s June 2 primary election features multiple competitive federal races. Five Democrats seek their party’s nomination in the state’s U.S. Senate race — the winner will face Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst. In western Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, four Republicans are challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King. And in eastern Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, two Republicans seek the nomination in what will be an open-seat race in the fall.

Maryland: Election board reverses course on mail-only June primary, recommends limited in-person voting | Emily Opilo/Baltimore Sun

Yielding to pressure from voting rights advocates, the Maryland Board of Elections reversed itself Thursday, recommending the state offer at least one in-person voting center in each county for the June 2 primary despite concerns about the new coronavirus outbreak. The board’s new plan still needs the approval of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. It calls for a minimum of one voting center and a maximum of four in each of Maryland’s 24 counties. The centers would be offered on primary day only at sites typically used for early voting centers, subject to approval by the state. The reversal came just a week after the board recommended against offering such an option, a decision influenced by remarks from Webster Ye, director of the Maryland Department of Health’s office of governmental affairs. Ye warned board members that protective gear would not be available for poll workers and cautioned the outbreak wouldn’t peak until around July 4 — more than a month after primary day. A day later, Hogan dismissed Ye’s statements as “personal opinion."

Michigan: May 5 elections are still on, but some want them postponed due to coronavirus concerns | Lauren Gibb/mlive

With COVID-19 continuing to spread in Michigan, voters are being encouraged to cast their ballots absentee in upcoming May elections - but some are calling for them to be postponed entirely out of concern for election worker safety. Local jurisdictions in 55 counties had May 5 elections scheduled before the coronavirus pandemic hit Michigan, most of which were for school and local government millages or bond proposals. Locals were given the option to reschedule any May ballot measures to the Aug. 4 election under a recent executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and many took up the offer. In Washtenaw County, all three May ballot proposals were postponed, and a Jackson Public Schools millage was also bumped to August. Other ballot measures will move forward as scheduled, including a school millage put forward by the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency.

New York: Two Covid-19 Deaths At New York City Board of Elections, And More Than A Dozen Sickened | Brigid Bergin/WNYC

When New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last Saturday that he would postpone the April presidential primary, staff at the New York City Board of Elections breathed a sigh of relief. Some hoped the delay meant they could stop going into the office to protect their health and the health of people still entering them. BOE staff have paid a high price for showing up to work during the pandemic. To date, 15 people have tested positive for COVID-19 at the BOE’s main office in lower Manhattan, according to sources at the Board of Elections. Two people from the borough offices have died from the virus, with a third death that has not been officially linked to the disease.  While Board of Elections staff were not explicitly deemed essential workers under the governor’s earlier executive order calling for a PAUSE, the city BOE’s Executive Director Michael Ryan told Gothamist / WNYC that they had been given guidance by the State Board of Elections to continue operations. “We at the Board have a legal mandate to conduct our jobs. The continuity of government depends in part on some of the work that we're doing,” Ryan said.

North Carolina: With new federal money, officials planning for November elections | Jim Morrill/Charlotte Observer

North Carolina’s top elections official said Friday that much of the federal stimulus money the state expects to receive for elections will go to local boards to offset cuts caused by the pandemic. North Carolina is set to get $10.9 million for its elections from the $2.2 trillion bill that Congress passed last month. “Our real goal is to try to push as much of that money as we can down to the counties,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, told the Observer. “We’re at a time when we cannot do more with less.” With businesses closed and unemployment rising, the pandemic is expected to squeeze state and local revenues. N.C. officials are planning for an election that will be one of most important in memory, and one of the most fraught. Not only will millions of voters cast ballots for president and governor, but they’ll help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate and House and decide who controls the General Assembly. And they’ll do it in a public health environment no one can foresee. The coronavirus pandemic that has shut down much of the state could linger into fall.

Ohio: Federal judge won’t change primary election plan implemented in face of coronavirus | Eric Heisig/Cleveland Plain Dealer

A federal judge on Friday declined to step in and change a plan Ohio lawmakers unanimously approved to alter the state’s primary election, which will now be held almost solely by mail through April 28 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. District Judge Michael Watson ruled that a coalition of voting-rights groups that filed suit Monday over the Ohio legislature’s plan did not show that the rights of residents would be disenfranchised enough to override the law.

Even if the plan, named House Bill 197, isn’t perfect, that’s not enough to intervene, the judge wrote in his 27-page opinion.

“The Constitution does not require the best plan, just a lawful one,” wrote Watson, whose courtroom is in Columbus. “As is apparent from the briefing in this lawsuit, every group has a different idea of what the best plan would be. But the Court will not declare the Ohio Legislature’s unanimous bill to be unconstitutional simply because other options may have been better.”

Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a statement that did not address the ruling but said that “in these challenging times, Ohioans deserve an election done fairly and safely, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which represented the groups, said in a statement that “we are disappointed in the Court’s decision not to order changes to protect voters from disenfranchisement.”

The statement continued: “We will be watching the execution of the April 28 primary closely. If Ohio’s process prevents people from voting, it will have denied its citizens’ fundamental rights. And the state will hear from us.”

The primary election was previously set for March 17, though Ohio Health Department Director Dr. Amy Acton closed polling places out of concern for the coronavirus-related risks associated with large gatherings. Acton previously issued orders banning mass gatherings for the same reason.

State lawmakers late last month set aside a proposal from LaRose to preserve an in-person vote on June 2 and instead send postcards with instructions on how to obtain absentee-ballot applications to all registered voters who hadn’t previously voted early. Voters generally will be required to use their own postage stamp to send in their ballot application, and the process will go through April 28.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, while he signed the bill, noted that he would have liked a longer timeline for voters.

Lawmakers said wrapping the primary up sooner would allow for the state’s presidential delegates to be seated in time for the Republican and Democratic national conventions. They also noted that local government and education groups, which seek resolution on local levies and other ballot issues, need the results sooner because of their fiscal years.

The League of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute and several state voters said in their lawsuit that the state’s timeline is too fast to conduct a proper election. They asked the court to take several steps, including pushing back the date, ordering county boards of elections to direct mail primary ballots with pre-paid envelopes, and expanding in-person voting. 

Texas: Amid coronavirus fear, mail-in votes could be key in July primary runoffs, November election | Gromer Jeffers Jr./Dallas Morning News

For the July primary runoffs, and perhaps the November general election, ballots that are mailed instead of cast in-person could largely determine winners and losers — and change the way political campaigns are conducted in the coronavirus era. The fight against the coronavirus has delayed the runoffs, originally scheduled for May 26, until July 14. But it’s unclear if Texas will have turned the corner in the battle by then. Residents could still be wary of going to polling places for fear of coming in contact with infected people. Seniors have an easy solution. Texas law allows anyone older than 65 to vote by mail. Political analysts expect that group to be as important as ever, as many older residents are already accustomed to mailing their ballots. As of now, seniors, the sick and people with disabilities are the only non-absentee residents who can vote by mail. On Thursday, Keith Ingram, director of elections for the Texas secretary of state, sent out a memo reminding county elections officials that they could encourage voters suffering or recovering from an illness, be it COVID-19 or something else, to use a mail-in ballot.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin election date still April 7, absentee voting count extended | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A federal judge Thursday kept next week's presidential primary on track but allowed more time to count absentee ballots after excoriating Wisconsin officials for not doing more to protect voters during the coronavirus pandemic.  The ruling — which was immediately appealed — will allow absentee ballots to be counted if they arrive by April 13, six days after election day. U.S. District Judge William Conley also gave people until Friday to request absentee ballots and loosened a rule requiring absentee voters to get the signature of a witness. But Conley did not go as far as Democrats and voter mobilization groups wanted and declined to postpone Tuesday's election. On the ballot is the presidential primary and elections for state Supreme Court and local offices around the state.

Wisconsin: Infectious diseases expert: Allowing in-person voting Tuesday ‘just seems really irresponsible’ | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One of the state's top public health experts says Republican legislative leaders are putting Wisconsin at unnecessary risk by refusing to delay the election or stop in-person voting. James Conway, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Global Health Institute, said allowing people to gather at polling locations during Tuesday's spring election will also damage the effectiveness of state leaders' message to stay away from each other to blunt the spread of coronavirus. "It just seems really irresponsible to make this one giant exception," Conway said in an interview. "I was a little naive a week or so ago in thinking, 'Oh, they've got to realize they've got to delay.' ... And then time has crept on and I'm like, really? I am very concerned." Gov. Tony Evers on March 25 issued an order closing scores of businesses in an effort to limit the spread of the virus and Conway says, so far, that action has been successful in preventing the virus from spreading like wildfire.

Wisconsin: In matter of seconds, Republicans stall Gov. Tony Evers’ move to postpone Tuesday election | Bill Glauber and Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Get ready for the pandemic election. Republicans stalled Gov. Tony Evers' move to push back Tuesday's election, quickly adjourning a special legislative session to deal with voting issues because of  the coronavirus pandemic. During Saturday's proceedings, the state Assembly and state Senate each gaveled in and out within seconds and recessed until Monday. The move came as pressure mounted on the Democratic governor to act on his own by using emergency powers to block the election. A source close to Evers said the governor was reluctant to do that over concerns that a postponement would quickly be blocked by conservatives who control the state Supreme Court. With only a few lawmakers present, the Legislature did not take up Evers' effort to extend the election date to May 19 and convert entirely to mail-in voting. As the Legislature made its move, the virus remained unabated. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Wisconsin has more than doubled this week, climbing to over 2,000 on Saturday. Milwaukee County accounts for around half the cases.

Editorials: Governor Evers is right. With coronavirus raging in Wisconsin, it is no time to have an in-person election. | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Gov. Tony Evers called the bluff of Republican leaders in the Legislature in a move more akin to poker than the governor's favored game of euchre — and he made the right move to protect the health of Wisconsin voters and poll workers. Evers wants to convert Tuesday's Wisconsin primary election to vote-by-mail and extend balloting until May 19. That would keep the election on track and keep people safe during a public health emergency. But so far Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, don't seem to care if the lives of Wisconsin voters are at risk. On Saturday afternoon, the chambers they lead gaveled in the special session called by Evers to change the election and quickly adjourned until Monday without acting. Voting by mail — and not in person — is the only responsible way to conduct an election as the coronavirus tears across Wisconsin. Evers insists  his emergency powers do not give him the ability to make such changes himself. Evers should test those powers if the Legislature continues to do nothing on Monday.

Wisconsin: Judge rips into Evers, lawmakers for not delaying Wisconsin election | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A federal judge slammed Gov. Tony Evers and lawmakers Wednesday for ignoring their responsibilities by not postponing next week's election because of the coronavirus pandemic as the Democratic governor prepared to deploy the National Guard to help at the polls. "The State of Wisconsin’s Legislature and governor are not willing to step up and say there’s a public health crisis and make it absolutely clear that we should not be allowing poll workers and voters to congregate on April 7," U.S. District Judge William Conley said near the end of a four-hour hearing.  Conley said he did not believe he had the power to delay Tuesday's election but would consider making some changes to voting rules. He said those who have brought lawsuits could come back to him after the election if they believe large numbers of people were disenfranchised. Conley gave his views of the case as Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called for delaying the election and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett — who is on Tuesday's ballot — said voters should vote absentee instead of going to the polls. Voting in person will be dangerous, Barrett said.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin goes it alone, holding elections next week amid fears of infection and voting chaos | Amy Gardner/The Washington Post

In Tuesday’s Wisconsin elections, more than 100 municipalities will not have enough poll workers to open a single voting location. Tens of thousands of voters who have flooded election offices with mail-ballot requests in recent days are at risk of not receiving them on time. And Sally Cohen, an elderly woman with kidney disease and asthma who is self-isolating in her apartment in Madison, isn’t sure she’ll be able to vote at all because of a state law requiring a witness to sign her ballot envelope. “I was just distraught this morning when I opened it and saw that you have to have a witness,” said Cohen, who is 77 and a retired paralegal. “I thought, ‘I just can’t do it.’ They suggested having the mailman look through the picture window, but I’m on the third floor, so that won’t work.” Voters, election officials and civil rights leaders across Wisconsin are angry that the state legislature is going forward with the April 7 presidential primary and local elections even as the novel coronavirus continues its march across the country. The public health risk is too high, and asking voters to venture out of their homes directly contradicts state and local emergency orders to shelter in place, they say.

National: Pelosi wants ‘vote by mail’ provisions in next U.S. coronavirus bill | Susan Cornwell/Reuters

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday she wants to virus-proof the November election by including funding to boost voting by mail in the next pandemic response plan being put together by Democrats in the House of Representatives. Pelosi said at least $2 billion, and ideally $4 billion, was needed to enable voting by mail, to give citizens a safe way to vote during the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 4,300 people across the United States. She noted Democrats got just $400 million for that purpose in the $2.3 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday. “Vote by mail is so important to ... our democracy so that people have access to voting and not be deterred, especially at this time, by the admonition to stay home,” Pelosi told reporters. Trump told Fox News on Monday that voting by mail would hurt the Republican Party. Pelosi rejected that argument.

National: 15 States Have Postponed Their Primaries Because of Coronavirus. Here’s a List. | Nick Corasaniti and Stephanie Saul/The New York Times

As the coronavirus pandemic upends the presidential campaign, states across the country are postponing primary elections and expanding vote by mail options, citing the difficulty of holding elections during the outbreak. Fifteen states and one territory — Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wyoming and Puerto Rico — have either pushed back their presidential primaries or switched to voting by mail with extended deadlines. Six of those states have moved their primaries to June 2, which has unexpectedly become a major date on the Democratic primary calendar. It is among the last dates available before the June 9 deadline set by the Democratic National Committee for states to hold their nominating contests. In New York, officials delayed the presidential primary even further, to June 23. Wisconsin is holding firm to the April 7 date for its primary, but the governor wants to send every voter an absentee ballot. Tom Perez, the D.N.C. chairman, has urged states with upcoming contests to expand their use of voting by mail, no-excuse absentee voting, curbside ballot drop-offs and early voting.

National: Democrats Push for Voting by Mail Amid Coronavirus Pandemic | Lindsay Wise and Natalie Andrews/Wall Street Journal

Democrats are pushing for billions of dollars in federal funds to pay for expanded voting by mail this November, as presidential and congressional election deadlines approach and concerns heighten for the health of workers and voters at traditional polling places. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Wednesday that she wants money for voting by mail to be included in the next stimulus package designed to combat the novel coronavirus, which the House might consider by the end of April. Dozens of states have issued stay-at-home orders, and while a number of health experts expect Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, to peak in the next several months, it is still expected to be a threat in the fall. “Vote by mail is so important to our democracy so that people have access to voting and not be deterred, especially by the admonition to stay home,” said Mrs. Pelosi. The $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress last week included $400 million for state and local election officials to address complications created by the virus. It didn’t mandate specific reforms or requirements for how that money can be spent. The Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, estimates it will cost at least $2 billion for states to implement voting by mail and take other steps to ensure “free and fair” elections can go ahead.

National: Election chaos: Coronavirus fear of voting could keep people from the polls | Pete Williams/NBC

State officials nationwide are scrambling to adjust to stay-at-home and social distancing orders as they plan the 2020 voting calendar, and many experts warn that the pandemic threatens to be highly disruptive to this year's elections. "There's a real possibility that people will be afraid to vote on Election Day and won't have alternatives," said Trevor Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Elections Commission who now heads the Campaign Legal Center in Washington. "That's just unacceptable for the world's leading democracy." Fourteen states and Puerto Rico have already postponed their primary elections or caucuses for choosing presidential candidates. Voting rights advocates in Ohio sued challenging the Legislature's plan to delay the March 17 primary by extending absentee voting through April 28. The challengers argue that it is likely to overwhelm the system for handling absentee votes. They also said the plan cuts off voter registration too early. In Wisconsin, several groups have sued to postpone the state's primary on Tuesday or at least to make it easier for voters to register and vote by mail, arguing that the virus and the state's current requirements essentially disenfranchise thousands of voters. But U.S. District Judge William Conley suggested at a hearing Wednesday that he did not believe he had the authority to postpone the voting.

Editorials: The Dangers of Moving All of Democracy Online | Marion Fourcade and Henry Farrell/WIRED

Governments around the world are struggling to deal with the public health and economic challenges of coronavirus. While many have pointed to how authoritarian regimes exacerbated the pandemic, we’ve so far paid dangerously little attention to coronavirus’s challenge to democracy. In a democracy, citizens need to be able to vote, politicians to deliberate, and people to move about, meet, and act collectively. Democratic politics is a mixture of mass involvement and endless meetings. All this is hard when people can be infected with a potentially deadly virus if someone simply coughs nearby. The obvious answer might seem to be to move democracy to the internet, but some parts of democracy translate badly to an online world, while others are already being undermined by emergency powers (for example, Hungary’s parliament just passed a law that allows the prime minister to rule by decree) and by the rise of digital surveillance. If people have to vote in person, they might catch coronavirus from queuing, pressing buttons, or handing ballots to election officials. No wonder 14 US presidential primaries have been postponed so far. But not postponing elections in the midst of the crisis has been just as controversial, since the resulting vote is likely to see a dramatic reduction in turnout (as did France's first round municipal elections, and as is feared in the Polish presidential election this May).

Delaware: State preparing for June 2 presidential primary | Associated Press

For now, at least, Delawareans are scheduled to cast their ballots for presidential candidates for the first time on June 2. The First State’s presidential primary election, originally slated for April 28, was pushed back last week due to the coronavirus outbreak. While it remains to be seen whether more delays will be needed, state officials are preparing to host the election in two months. Due to the virus, Gov. John Carney has expanded the list of reasons why someone can vote absentee and is encouraging people to do so. Election Commissioner Anthony Albence said last week Delaware expects to have the usual polling locations open but is aware there may be some alterations. “We are anticipating a limited number of changes, for example, if a facility housing a polling place chooses not to participate in light of the COVID-19 situation,” Mr. Albence wrote in an email. “We are hoping that some facilities with reservations about housing a polling place in the current situation may be open to doing so again in light of the move of the presidential primary after the expected end of the current state of emergency. In any case, if a voter’s polling place is changed, they will be notified by mail, and our information posted online will be updated accordingly.”

Georgia: May primary is still on for now amid pressure for a delay | Mark Niesse and Greg Bluestein/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday that he lacks the power to delay Georgia’s May 19 primary even as he announced he would issue a statewide shelter-in-place order amid the coronavirus pandemic. The election is moving ahead despite pressure from all 11 of the state’s Republican members of Congress, who signed a letter Tuesday urging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to change the primary date. Kemp and Raffensperger, both Republicans, said Georgia election laws prevent them from postponing the primary. Kemp said he can’t use emergency powers that last until April 13 to move the May election. “The attorneys I’ve talked to, I don’t have the authority under this (emergency) order to delay an election,” Kemp said. “I know there’s been a lot of talk about that. We’ve got our hands full in the COVID-19 fight.” Raffensperger, who already delayed the presidential primary once, said he also lacks the authority to change it again. A state law allows the secretary of state to postpone an election for 45 days during an emergency, as Raffensperger did March 14. The election could still be postponed at a later date, Raffensperger said.

Kentucky: Secretary of State Thanks General Assembly for Granting Flexibility in Election Procedures | Paul Hitchcock/WMKY

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael G. Adams today thanked state legislators of both parties for passing legislation that would grant the Governor, Secretary of State and State Board of Elections additional flexibility in the conduct of the 2020 primary election now set for June 23. Adams testified before a Senate committee, asking for legislation to empower a change to the “manner” of an election in case of a state of emergency. Current state law permits the Governor and Secretary of State to change the “time” or “place” but not “manner” of an election. Adams’ measure would free the State Board of Elections to develop a primary election procedure more open to absentee voting, which may be necessary if the current pandemic continues into the spring.

Maryland: Confusion reigns supreme for voters, candidates in 7th District Congressional race complicated by coronavirus | Emily Opilo/Baltimore Sun

The governor and the candidates agreed. Despite the ever-tightening grip the new coronavirus continued taking on Maryland, the seat of the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings had been unoccupied for too long — and at a critical time. That’s what led Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to announce last month that the special general election for the 7th Congressional District seat, vacant since Cummings’ death in October death, would proceed April 28. One big accommodation was made: Due to the impending public health crisis, voters would cast ballots only by mail for the first time in Maryland. Now, with less than a month remaining until that date, confusion abounds. Not until Wednesday did state officials say the mailing of ballots to voters was underway. Meanwhile, social distancing measures at a print shop inside a state prison scuttled plans to print postcards advising voters of the changes to the upcoming election. And decisions about the logistics of the special election day itself are still changing, delaying messaging from candidates that could be crucial for first-time mail-in voters. “It’s getting so confusing,” said Republican nominee Kimberly Klacik, who has been in regular contact with state election officials. “We don’t know what’s going on at the top.”

New Mexico: High court sets April 14 hearing on mail election | Dan McKay/Albuquerque Journal

The state Supreme Court wants to hear arguments on the legality of New Mexico legislators convening electronically – rather than in person – for a special session amid the coronavirus outbreak. The justices requested the information as they consider an emergency petition filed by 27 county clerks who want to shift the June 2 primary to an election by mail. The Supreme Court set an April 14 hearing on the issue. The court orders come after the state Republican Party and 29 legislators asked the justices Tuesday to reject the emergency petition, describing it as an improper push by state election officials to bypass the Legislature and craft a new election scheme, even with reasonable alternatives available to safeguard public health. The Republicans said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham could call a special session if changing the election code is necessary to protect public health. And without a session, the GOP argued, New Mexico could simply encourage voters to cast absentee ballots – a well-trusted system, they said, that provides better safeguards against fraudulent voting.

North Carolina: Top Republican Dismisses Ideas To Make Mail Voting Easier | Steve Harrison/WUNC

North Carolina’s top Republican lawmaker, Senate leader Phil Berger, said Wednesday he opposes some recommendations made by the North Carolina Board of Elections to make it easier to vote by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic. Elections executive director Karen Brinson Bell has proposed a number of changes, including eliminating the requirement that mail ballots be signed by two witnesses or a notary, or only requiring one witness. She says that would encourage social distancing. And she has proposed making it easier for people to request mail ballots. In an interview with WFAE, Berger said he’s concerned that if North Carolina loosens its laws on mail voting it could cause problems similar to the 9th Congressional District mail ballot scandal in 2018. “I understand that some progressive, liberal Democratic groups would like to roll that back and put us back to where we were,” Berger said. “I’m afraid that’s where the elections director would take us with her proposals.”

Ohio: Secretary of State preparing to mail vote-by-mail instructions for state’s delayed primary | Andrew J. Tobias/Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office is preparing to mail nearly 8 million postcards informing voters how they can request a ballot for the state’s vote-by-mail wrap-up for its delayed primary election. The postcard, which is being sent to every registered voter in Ohio, should show up in the mail next week, according to Maggie Sheehan, a spokeswoman for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s top elections official. It lays out the rules for Ohio’s primary election, voting for which has been extended through April 28 after state officials canceled Election Day last month due to the coronavirus pandemic. There will be no in-person voting, with narrow exceptions for the homeless and disabled. Ohioans who already have voted will get the postcards, but don’t need to vote again. The postcard includes contact information for the voter’s county board of elections — which are mailing ballot applications to those who request them — as well as a step-by-step guide on how to print off an absentee ballot application through the Secretary of State’s website, VoteOhio.gov. Voters must complete the applications and either mail or deliver them to their county board of elections to then receive an empty ballot in the mail. It also lays out how voters can hand-write an application form if they’re unable to print one off or otherwise obtain one.

Pennsylvania: Coronavirus won’t delay primary again, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar says | Jeremy Long/Reading Eagle

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar is confident the coronavirus will not force the state to move its primary election again. Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill last week that moved the primary from April 28 to June 2 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "I think we are in a good place to continue on June 2,” she said. Boockvar said the state has been planning and monitoring the situation daily. “None of us want to be in the position Ohio was where they were deciding, literally, the night before the election if they were going to hold the election the next day,” she said.Boockvar held a virtual press conference with the media Wednesday afternoon to give an update on the state’s election and licensing processes. The bill that Wolf signed last week to move the primary also gave counties flexibility in terms of staffing polling locations and moving polling locations.

Tennessee: Election Commission Hears from Public, Will Delay Vote on New Shelby County Voting Machines | Jackson Baker/Memphis Flyer

The outlook for proposed new voting machines looks more muddled than ever after a virtual telemeeting of the Shelby County Election Commission (SCEC) Wednesday that was marred by the frequently indistinct audio transmission. But numerous testimonies from participating citizens were noted, most of them being read into the record from written statements supplied to the SCEC. The great majority of comments were in favor of equipment allowing hand-marked paper ballots, with arguments ranging from cost savings to transparency to an alleged greater safety factor relative to touch-screen alternatives during the coronavirus pandemic. The roster of citizens calling in or contributing statements ranged far and wide and included sitting public officials and a bevy of well-known activists. Originally, the five election commissioners were scheduled to vote Wednesday on a recommendation by Election Administrator Linda Phillips of a specific machine vendor, but a vote was postponed to allow the meeting to substitute for a previously promised public comment meeting that had been sidetracked by the onset of the epidemic.