National: As Trump attacks voting by mail, GOP builds 2020 strategy around limiting its expansion | Amy Gardner, Shawn Boburg and Josh Dawsey/The Washington Post

President Trump’s persistent attacks on mail-in voting have fueled an unprecedented effort by conservatives to limit expansion of the practice before the November election, with tens of millions of dollars planned for lawsuits and advertising aimed at restricting who receives ballots and who remains on the voter rolls. The strategy, embraced by Trump’s reelection campaign, the Republican National Committee and an array of independent conservative groups, reflects the recognition by both parties that voting rules could decide the outcome of the 2020 White House race amid the electoral challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. Helping drive the effort is William Consovoy, a veteran Supreme Court litigator who also serves as one of Trump’s personal lawyers. Consovoy’s Virginia-based law firm is handling a battery of legal actions on behalf of the RNC, several state GOPs and an independent group called the Honest Election­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­s Project, which is connected to a Trump adviser. The legal firepower and direct involvement of the national party reflect a major escalation in the conservative battle over voter fraud and voting rights, which until this year had primarily been waged by lesser-known groups with far fewer resources. The tactics of those organizations are now being embraced by new players with connections to influential figures in the president’s orbit. Thanks in part to Trump’s focus on the topic and his assertion that widespread mail balloting would harm Republicans, claims about the high risks of voter fraud have become central to the GOP’s 2020 playbook.

National: Voting by Mail to Face Biggest Test Since Pandemic Started | Alexa Corse/Wall Street Journal

Voting by mail will face its biggest test since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic when seven states and Washington, D.C., hold primaries Tuesday. All eight locales have encouraged residents to vote by mail, even as President Trump has criticized mail voting in recent tweets. Some states delayed their primaries due to the pandemic, then scrambled to change procedures and put personnel in place to process an expected surge in mailed ballots. Tuesday’s presidential primaries—in Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington, D.C.—offer little suspense since each political party already has a presumptive nominee. But state and local races are on ballots. And the voting will be an early test of how states might attempt to conduct elections if the virus remains a threat through the November general election. Five states—Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah—conducted elections primarily by mail before the pandemic, with options for in-person voting and ballot drop-off sites as well. Last-minute court rulings and partisan fighting spread confusion leading up to Wisconsin’s primary in April, and there were delays for absentee ballots and hour-plus waits at a reduced number of polling places in Milwaukee.

National: Attorney General William Barr floats an implausible theory that foreign countries could interfere in the 2020 election by mass producing ‘counterfeit ballots’ | Grace Panetta/Business Insider

Attorney General William Barr floated a highly implausible theory that foreign adversaries will try to interfere in the 2020 election by making and sending out “counterfeit ballots” to voters. In an interview with The New York Times magazine published on Monday, Barr said the idea was “one of the issues that I’m real worried about,” claiming that “there are a number of foreign countries that could easily make counterfeit ballots, put names on them, send them in. And it’d be very hard to sort out what’s happening.” Barr’s comments come as President Donald Trump spreads conspiracies and misinformation about mail-in ballots just five months to go before election day. The social media platform Twitter recently labeled some of the president’s tweets about voting by mail as misleading. As states have moved over the past few months to increase absentee and mail-in voting, Trump – who voted by mail himself in Florida earlier this year – has falsely claimed that an expansion of absentee and mail-in voting will lead to massive fraud and corruption (rates of fraud are very low), that expanding mail-in ballot hurts Republicans (it confers no partisan advantage to either side), and on Friday, even raised a baseless conspiracy that children in California will go around stealing ballots out of mailboxes and forging them.

National: Republicans Fear Trump’s Criticism of Mail Voting Will Hurt Them | Trip Gabriel/The New York Times

President Trump has relentlessly attacked mail voting, calling it a free-for-all for cheating and a Democratic scheme to rig elections. None of the charges are true. But as eight states and the District of Columbia vote on Tuesday in the biggest Election Day since the coronavirus forced a pause in the primary calendar, it is clear that Mr. Trump’s message has sunk in deeply with Republicans, who have shunned mail ballots. Republican officials and strategists warned that if a wide partisan gap over mail voting continues in November, Republicans could be at a disadvantage, an unintended repercussion of the president’s fear-mongering about mail ballots that could hurt his party’s chances, including his own. In Pennsylvania, Iowa, Indiana and New Mexico, all states voting on Tuesday that broadly extended the option to vote by mail this year, a higher share of Democrats than Republicans have embraced mail-in ballots. “If the Republicans aren’t playing the same game, if we’re saying we don’t believe in mail-in voting and are not going to advocate it,” said Lee Snover, the Republican chair of Northampton County in Pennsylvania, “we could be way behind.”

District of Columbia: Voters report difficulty getting mail-in ballots for Tuesday primary | Julie Zauzmer/The Washington Post

As the District attempts to carry out a primary election on Tuesday like none before — one in which officials, mindful of the coronavirus pandemic, have shrunk the number of Election Day voting locations and urged residents to instead vote by mail — the D.C. Board of Elections resorted over the weekend to an unusual personalized approach. Staff members drove around the District hand-delivering ballots to some voters at their homes. The tour of the city with cars full of ballots was just one more unexpected event in a primary election that the Board of Elections has struggled to manage. Some Washingtonians have complained that the process of obtaining a mail-in ballot has been difficult or impossible for them — and the idea of voting in person during a pandemic is fraught. The Board of Elections has received absentee ballot requests from 92,093 residents — approaching the number of total voters in the 2016 Democratic primary. As of Sunday, 37,000 ballots have been mailed back, said Rachel Coll, a spokeswoman for the Board of Elections. Voters have until Tuesday to mail in their ballots, which will be counted if they are received within seven days of the election. Those who haven’t yet voted by mail or during early voting can vote in person Tuesday at one of the 20 voting centers set up in place of the usual polls at 143 precincts.

Georgia: Absentee ballots delayed and polls close as Georgia primary approaches | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tens of thousands of Georgia voters hadn’t yet received their absentee ballots Monday as precincts continued to close, narrowing options for voters to safely cast ballots in the state’s June 9 primary. The secretary of state’s office might ask the National Guard to help voters at precincts on election day if too many poll workers quit because they fear catching the coronavirus.The obstacles facing both absentee and in-person voters just eight days before the primary create the potential for long lines on election day and absentee ballots arriving too late to be counted. Election officials said they’re working to ensure that absentee ballots are delivered in time, though voters might have to return them in drop boxes rather than put them in the mail. Absentee ballots will be counted only if they’re received by county election offices by 7 p.m. June 9. “It’s definitely a tight time frame,” said Gabriel Sterling, the implementation manager for the secretary of state’s office. “The good thing is we have drop boxes in every metro county. It’s the safest option if you want to make sure your ballot is going to get there, or you can vote in person.”

Pennsylvania: Governor extends 2020 primary election mail ballot deadlines for Philadelphia, five other counties | Jonathan Lai,/Philadelphia Inquirer

Voters in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and certain other parts of Pennsylvania will have an additional week for elections officials to receive their primary mail ballots if they are sent on Tuesday, officials said Monday. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf initially suggested he had extended the deadline for the entire state. The current deadline requires elections officials to have received mail ballots by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when polls close. “The count will continue for seven days after tomorrow,” Wolf said Monday, as days of civil unrest and violent clashes over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis had officials scrambling to conduct Tuesday’s election safely. “I can’t do anything about the election day, but I am extending the time to actually get votes in,” Wolf said at a news conference in Philadelphia. “So if you vote and the vote gets in by next Tuesday… it’ll count. An extra seven days.” But Wolf apparently misspoke. His executive order, which allows mail ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Tuesday and received within a week, will apply only to Philadelphia and Delaware, Montgomery, Allegheny, Dauphin, and Erie Counties. “The civil disturbances in these affected counties have created one or more barriers to voters returning their ballots,” the order said, “including travel and public transportation disruptions, road closures and blockages, lack of access to ballot drop boxes, alteration of mobile ballot collection schedules, evacuations of buildings, and curfews.”

Tennessee: Secretary of State holding on to $55M for projects besides universal absentee voting | Sam Stockard/The Daily Memphian

The Secretary of State’s Office is sitting on $55 million, but it won’t be putting it toward universal absentee balloting, a policy neither Secretary Tre Hargett nor Gov. Bill Lee support. Through the CARES Act, the office has $9.58 million to deal with coronavirus issues and has put together a plan to cope with COVID-19 during the August and November elections. Most of the plan focuses on sanitary measures, social distancing, screening of poll workers and absentee balloting for anyone 60 and older. The state received $7.98 million from the federal CARES Act and put in another $1.6 million of its own money for a COVID plan. “We are spending every penny of those funds to administer the August and November elections,” Secretary of State spokeswoman Julia Bruck said. The state also has $10.2 million from earlier in the year and $35.4 million left from other federal grants intended for other investments but could be used for pandemic-related needs, according to Think Tennessee, a nonprofit think tank. Yet while Think Tennessee, Democratic lawmakers and a majority of Tennesseans believe the state should take steps to avoid voting crowds during the pandemic, the state balks at the idea.

Tennessee: In Midst of COVID-19 Pandemic, Plaintiff Sues to Challenge Tennessee’s Vote-By-Mail Procedures | Junaid Odubeko, Mike Stephens, Richard W.F. Swor/Bradley

Heading into this year, 2020 was set to be one of the most interesting and consequential elections in recent history. However, the 2020 election cycle has been upended by the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus. Voters standing in line close to each other, handling ballots, and using touchscreens could make for a dangerous environment for transmission of the virus. Election officials and policymakers are giving full attention to mitigation strategies, including voting by mail. In Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee and Secretary of State Tre Hargett have announced their intention to hold the August election like any other year, rebuffing the expansion of absentee or mail-in voting. Currently, a voter can only receive an absentee ballot if they fall in one of the enumerated categories in Tennessee Code § 2-6-201. These nine categories include people who are living outside of the county, people observing a religious holiday, and people who are over the age of 65 or are unable to appear at their polling place because they are hospitalized, ill, or disabled.

National: As Trump rages, state officials quietly press forward with vote by mail | Kevin Collier/NBC

Judging solely by President Donald Trump’s recent diatribes, mail-in voting would seem to have become one of the nation’s most partisan flashpoints. But at the state level — where elections are actually administered — there’s little disagreement. Instead, most state officials are ignoring partisanship and quietly laying the groundwork for an effective, mail-heavy election, including in those states led by Republicans. “State election directors are aware of that conversation, but I think they’ve got their heads down,” said Ben Hovland, the chair of the federal Election Assistance Commission, which regularly videoconferences with state election chiefs and helps advise them in detail on how to deal with a surge of mailed ballots. “They focus on the job at hand. There’s more than enough to do without worrying about political fights that are taking place.” All but four states now offer every eligible voter the option to mail in their ballot, according to a new survey from the Open Source Election Technology Institute, a nonprofit that researches election technology. NBC News has collaborated with the institute since 2016 to monitor U.S. election-technology and voting issues. Of the states offering mail-in options, leadership is almost equally split: 24 have Democratic governors and 22 Republican.

National: Mail ballot surge places Postal Service under spotlight | Reid Wilson/The Hill

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed millions of voters to request their ballots by mail, a rapid increase that is likely to change the shape of the 2020 electorate and put incredible strain on an already limited United States Postal Service (USPS). Now, voting rights activists are raising questions about whether the Postal Service can handle the millions of ballots that will flood their processing centers in the days leading up to the presidential contest. The risk of errors, of voters who cannot receive ballots in time or ballots that do not reach elections administrators in time, could be cataclysmic. With the White House, the Senate and the House on the line, the prospects of finding a few tubs of ballots misplaced or overlooked could throw results of close races into question, adding to President Trump’s repeated efforts in recent days to delegitimize an election that has not yet taken place. The nightmare scenario has already played out twice this year. In a Supreme Court contest in Wisconsin in April, about 1,600 ballots were discovered the morning after Election Day in a mail processing facility in Chicago — 1,600 voters whose ballots did not count. Hundreds more who applied for absentee ballots did not receive them in time, according to a report by the state Board of Elections.

National: US Postal Service Faces Challenges With More Ballots Going In The Mail | Brian Naylor/NPR

Eight states and the District of Columbia are holding primary elections next week amid the coronavirus pandemic, and voters are expected to cast their ballots by mail in record numbers. It is likely to be a preview of what’s to come in the fall, and some worry whether the U.S. Postal Service is up to the challenge. A lot of people like the Postal Service; according to a recent Pew poll, 91% of Americans had a positive view, higher than any other branch of government. But it’s an agency with some big problems. To start, President Trump has called it a joke, demanded it raise its rates, and and made unfounded claims that mailed ballots will be “substantially fraudulent” and that mail boxes will be robbed.That’s  a false assertion, says Tammy Patrick, a senior adviser to the Democracy Fund. She tells NPR that voters need options like voting by mail during this pandemic. “For many, many people this year, it’s going to be to get their ballot delivered to them by the United States Postal Service,” she says. “Now, calling that into question, saying that people will be taking mail out of mailboxes — that’s just not going to happen.”

National: Ballot-Collection Battles, Split by Partisanship, Move Through Courts | Brent Kendall and Alexa Corse/Wall Street Journal

With more citizens looking to avoid in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic, legal clashes are emerging over whether third parties should be allowed to help absentee voters by collecting and submitting their ballots. The cases, part of a broader battle over rules amid the public health crisis, break down along partisan lines. Democrats and their allies argue that collection can be a needed service for vulnerable voters who face difficulties navigating the system. Republicans say most voters can submit ballots on their own and describe collection practices by third parties as ballot harvesting, saying they are an invitation for fraud. “It is true there have been occasional ballot collection problems, the most prominent recently being North Carolina’s ninth congressional district in 2018, a legit scandal,” said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “It’s also true that during a pandemic time, ballot collection can be an absolute lifeline for some voters and save them from what would be a worrisome amount of exposure. Not everyone has reliable mail service right to their door.” Some amount of third-party assistance is permitted in a majority of states, though laws vary widely. In California, for example, ballot collection is broadly permissible, while other states, including Florida and Minnesota, cap the number of ballots any one agent can collect, which effectively limits large, organized campaigns to deliver ballots. Some states allow voters to have a relative, household member or caregiver submit their ballots, but not other third parties.

Alabama: Largest cities pressure lawmakers on ‘no-excuse’ absentee voting | John Sharp/ AL.com

Three of Alabama’s largest cities are poised to adopt resolutions arguing in favor of no-excuse absentee voting even as the state marches toward this year’s elections with the excuse provision in place. Mobile could join Birmingham and Huntsville on Tuesday in supporting similarly-worded resolutions that supports an option for residents to vote absentee during the coronavirus pandemic without having to submit an excuse as to why they are not showing up physically at the polls on Election Day. “What we want to do is ensure that those who have underlying health conditions and those who are of the senior population are not fearful of engaging in the democratic process,” said Mobile City Council President Levon Manzie. The timing of the resolutions is likely not going to matter during this year’s elections, and the Alabama Republican Party says they “lack teeth.” The runoff contests are scheduled for July 14, followed by the general election on Nov. 3. A majority of Alabama cities are also scheduled to have mayoral and council elections on Aug. 25. The Alabama Legislature is not scheduled to meet until the spring of 2021.

Indiana: State won’t change mail-in ballot deadline despite worries | Tom Davies/Associated Press

Indiana’s top election official on Friday rejected a request for extending the deadline for returning mail-in ballots for next week’s primary election, despite worries that thousands of them could arrive late and go uncounted. Some voters scattered around the state have complained about not receiving mail-in ballots that they requested as election officials encouraged voting by mail to lessen the risk of coronavirus exposure Tuesday at in-person polling sites. State figures show nearly 550,000 voters across Indiana requested mail-in ballots — more than 10 times the number of those ballots cast during the 2016 primary — and more than 300,000 have been returned through Thursday. Marion County Clerk Myla Eldridge, who oversees the election staff in Indianapolis, sent a letter Thursday to state officials asking them to extend the deadline that requires mail-in ballots arrive at county election offices by noon Tuesday while polling sites remain open.

Kansas: Despite Trump’s attacks, Kansas voters request 2020 mail ballots at historic rate | Bryan Lowry and Sarah Ritter/The Wichita Eagle

Johnson County election workers spent Memorial Day weekend sending out roughly 380,000 applications for mail ballots — one to every registered voter in the state’s most populous county. Kansas has allowed voters to cast ballots by mail for any reason since 1996. But the unprecedented move by county officials reflects COVID-19’s impact on the mechanics and politics of voting in 2020. Their hope is to prevent long lines in August and November, as voters elect a new U.S. senator and other office holders amid the ongoing the pandemic. “Because of COVID-19, we’re very concerned about our voters and poll workers. So the secretary of state and county officials decided we wanted to encourage vote-by-mail, and in Kansas, we’re lucky to have that option,” said Johnson County Election Commissioner Connie Schmidt. “And since we don’t know what the pandemic is going to look like in the fall, we decided to go ahead and mail out forms for both elections.” Election officials in Sedgwick County will be doing the same this week and plan on sending another round of applications in September. Douglas and Leavenworth Counties are also mailing applications to all voters, while election officials in other counties have sent postcards to voters explaining how to apply for a mail ballot.

Maryland: Ballot vendor blames Maryland officials for delay in reaching Baltimore voters for Tuesday’s primary | Emily Opilo/Baltimore Sun

Officials at a vendor that state elections officials blame for a delay in ballots reaching Baltimore voters for Tuesday’s primary say the state was at fault, not them, for the holdup because it delivered the voter information files late that the company needed to address and mail ballots. The 330,000 delayed ballots have been the most high-profile glitch during the lead-up to the primary, which is Maryland’s first attempt at a statewide election held mostly by mail. It includes citywide races for mayor, City Council president and city comptroller. Ballots for the race, printed and mailed by Minnesota vendor SeaChange, began to enter the postal system April 27. Baltimore’s were among the last on the state’s county-by-county schedule, due to be mailed May 8. After complaints from city voters about not receiving ballots, state officials revealed May 17 that the ballots hadn’t gone out as planned. They were mailed beginning May 15, with most of them taking another week to arrive at voters’ homes. Amid a public outcry and pressure from Baltimore’s legislative delegation, many of whom felt the city was vulnerable to voter disenfranchisement, state officials said SeaChange misled them, twice telling elections officials the ballots had been mailed on time.

Massachusetts: State lawmakers propose to expand mail-in voting option amid pandemic | Matt Murphy/Worcester Telegram

Every registered voter in Massachusetts would receive an application by mid-July to request a ballot to vote by mail in the 2020 elections under a plan released Friday by House and Senate Democrats intended to create more options for voters to safely participate in the electoral process during the coronavirus pandemic. The proposal for expanded voting-by-mail would be coupled with in-person early voting before both the primary and general elections in September and November, and traditional voting at a local polling station during both elections. With the bill, Massachusetts state lawmakers are inserting themselves directly into a fiery national debate over the integrity of mail-in voting, with President Donald Trump at the center of the conflagration. Trump has suggested that mailboxes would be robbed and ballots would be forged or fraudulently signed as states moved to vote-by-mail, despite five states already using this system without trouble before the pandemic. The co-chairs of the Election Laws Committee Rep. John Lawn of Watertown and Sen. Barry Finegold of Andover released a bill on Friday night, giving members of their committee 48 hours to review and vote on whether to recommend the bill to the full House and Senate.

Editorials: Vote by Mail Works. Here’s How It Was Done in Michigan. | Jocelyn Benson/Slate

The ongoing war over voting rights and voter suppression has developed a new battleground in recent weeks: The debate over whether every citizen should have a right to vote by mail in the era of COVID19, thus ensuring that no American has to fear risking his or her health in order to vote. On one side of this issue is the president of the United States, who has taken to Twitter to denounce a practice that is time tested and secure—and has backed up these denunciations with threats to withhold funding from states, like Michigan, that have sought to ensure voting by mail is universally accessible to every voter. The other side is the vast majority of voters, millions of whom have voted by mail for decades, and several governors and secretaries of states on both sides of the aisle who in recent months have embraced voting by mail as a way to ensure democracy is preserved amidst the current pandemic. In fact, 46 states have provided a way for every citizen to vote from home this election year. This option is permanent in 34 states, and 12 more temporarily granted their voters this right due to the coronavirus outbreak this spring.

Montana: Challenge To Ballot Collection Limit Moves Forward | Kevin Trevellyan/MTPR

A Montana district court will move forward with a challenge against a state law limiting the number of ballots a person can deliver on others’ behalf. As of now the law is currently blocked ahead of the Jun. 2 primary. On May 29, Judge Jessica Fehr of the Yellowstone County District Court sided with Native American tribes, Western Native Voice and Montana Native Vote in denying the state’s motion in support of the Ballot Interference Prevention Act, or BIPA. BIPA caps the number of ballots a person or group can drop off for someone else at six. The law also requires people to sign a form letting election officials know they’re dropping off another person’s ballot. Lillian Alvernaz with the ALCU of Montana is representing the tribes and advocacy groups. She says BIPA significantly limits the voting rights of people on rural reservations.

Nevada: Mailing of ballots to all voters in Las Vegas area puts sharp focus on election safeguards | Elise Viebeck/The Washington Post

The decision by Nevada’s most populous county to mail ballots to all registered voters ahead of the state’s June 9 primary has intensified a partisan debate about the security of all-mail voting, putting sharp focus on how states are handling a process President Trump claims without evidence leads to widespread election fraud. Officials in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, began sending ballots to 1.1 million active voters this month as part of Nevada’s first all-mail election, prompted by the coronavirus epidemic. Roughly 200,000 more inactive voters — those who did not reply to a postcard sent to verify their address within 30 days, after it was determined they moved — also received ballots in the mail after Democrats sued to make voting in the primary more accessible. In recent days, Republicans have seized on a few accounts of what appeared to be unattended or discarded ballots in residential areas of Las Vegas as proof that mailing ballots to all voters opens the door to massive election fraud that will benefit Democrats.

New York: Advocates Sue Board of Elections to Make Absentee Voting Accessible for the Primary | Ethan Stark-Miller/City Limits

Disability rights groups sued the New York State Board of Elections (BOE) last Friday in a bid to make absentee voting accessible for voters with disabilities by the state’s June 23 primary. There was a hearing on the lawsuit Thursday morning. But the plaintiffs are already seeing some success outside of court, with the BOE passing a resolution on Wednesday to try to make PDF ballots available to some of those who request them for the primary. The groups filed the lawsuit with the Southern District of New York (SDNY), alleging the BOE is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing an accessible absentee voting system. They aim to compel the BOE to provide accessible absentee voting options to New Yorkers with disabilities, because the paper ballots the board currently uses are inaccessible to those with visual impairments and dexterity issues. This is so voters with disabilities can vote privately and independently without going to polling sites to use the accessible voting machines called ballot marking devices, which is a risk to their health amid the coronavirus pandemic.

New York: Election Officials Expect Surge in Absentee Ballots for Primary | Jimmy Vielkind/Wall Street Journal

Election administrators in New York are bracing for a crush of paper ballots for the state’s June 23 primary contests as voters avoid the polls to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order in April allowing any state voter to apply for an absentee ballot, and then told county officials who administer elections that they had to mail an application for an absentee ballot to every voter with an active contest on the ballot. That includes all 6.5 million enrolled Democratic Party voters, who can vote in the party’s presidential primary, as well as voters in other parties with primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives and state and local elections. The state Board of Elections tried to reduce the amount of voting by canceling the Democratic presidential primary after former Vice President Joe Biden emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee. But a federal court overturned the board’s resolution.

Ohio: About 5,500 provisional ballots rejected because voters didn’t qualify to vote in person | Rick Rouan/The Columbus Dispatch

About 5,500 ballots that were cast in person on Ohio’s delayed primary election were not counted because the voters were neither disabled nor homeless and didn’t request an absentee ballot on time. That represented a small fraction of the 1.8 million ballots that were counted in the election. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose released the official results of the 2020 primary on Friday afternoon, about 2 1/2 months after Ohio’s originally scheduled March 17 Election Day. After the polls were closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, state lawmakers extended the election to April 28 and forced most voters to cast absentee ballots through the mail. It carved out two exceptions: voters who were disabled or did not have access to mail, mostly the homeless. But mail delays plagued the system, and some voters never received their ballots. Those who showed up at their Board of Elections on April 28 to cast an in-person provisional ballot had to certify that they fell into one of the two exempted categories. LaRose directed boards of elections not to count those who did not unless the board could verify that the voter had requested an absentee ballot ahead of the deadline at noon on April 25. Democrats in the Ohio General Assembly and voting rights advocates objected to that decision.

Pennsylvania: Days before the primary, Democrats and progressive groups continue push for more time to vote by mail | Jonathan Tamari and Jonathan Lai/Philadelphia Inquirer

Just days before Pennsylvania’s primary election, key ground rules are being challenged in four cases now pending before state courts. In the last week alone, Montgomery and Bucks Counties have asked their local courts to extend mail ballot deadlines in their counties; a group of voters in Southeastern Pennsylvania asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to give voters statewide an extra week to return ballots; and Democrats appealed to the state Supreme Court for a one-week extension and to allow third parties such as friends, family, or political activists to collect and turn in mail ballots. The legal challenges have so far been unsuccessful but remained live Friday afternoon. The courts could scramble the election rules just days before people are set to cast their votes on or by Tuesday. State law requires that ballots be received by county elections officials by 8 p.m. on an election day; postmarks don’t count. County officials warn that thousands of voters will receive their ballots too late to return them in time. But Republicans opposing the lawsuits have said changes would invite voter fraud.

Pennsylvania: Republicans don’t want to vote by mail: ‘We’re listening to Trump on this’ | Andrew Seidman /Philadelphia Inquirer

President Donald Trump has said voting by mail is “fraudulent” and will result in “rigged” elections. In Pennsylvania, Republican voters appear to be listening — despite efforts by national and state party officials to encourage mail voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of Thursday morning, about 1.3 million registered Democrats had requested and been approved for mail ballots for the June 2 primary election, compared with about 524,000 Republicans. Republicans made just 29% of the requests, even though they represent 38% of registered voters in the state and 45% of those registered with either major party. “I must tell you that locally, in my county, we’re not advocating and we’re not pushing the mail-in voting,” said Lee Snover, chairwoman of the Northampton County GOP. “We’re concerned about fraud. We’re not happy with the process. Trump has sent the message out there that he’s concerned about it as well. “I think that we need to inspire Americans to get out and go to the polls,” she said. “Sign in, identify yourself, and vote.”

Texas: Texas Says Coronavirus Is Not A Good Enough Reason To Vote By Mail | Ashley Lopez/NPR

In an effort to keep voters safe, states of all political complexions are finding ways to expand access to mail-in ballots as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Then there’s Texas. The state has some of the most restrictive laws limiting vote by mail in the country. Under Texas law, the program is open only to people who are 65 or older, people who will be out of the county during the election, people who are in jail and not convicted, and people who are disabled. And after a series of often-contradictory court orders over the past month, it’s still unclear whether more Texans will be able to use mail-in ballots during upcoming elections in July and November. There are currently multiple legal challenges to those policies working through various state and federal courts. Lower court judges have ordered the state to allow voters greater access to mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher courts have routinely overturned those orders – often a day or two later. The most recent legal decision, made by the Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday, said lack of immunity to the virus was not sufficient grounds for requesting a mail-in ballot.

Texas: Three top Texas GOP officials who oppose expanding mail-in voting have each used it | Alexa Ura/The Texas Tribune

Three of Texas’ top Republican leaders are vigorously fighting efforts to expand mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic, arguing it will lead to increased voter fraud, yet all three have themselves cast absentee ballots at least once in past elections. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — then a state senator — voted by mail in 2007 for a May Houston municipal election and an ensuing runoff, though Harris County records show his first mail-in ballot was rejected because of a signature verification issue. Patrick is a regular voter in both local and state elections and favors casting his ballot during the early voting period. He’s been voting in Montgomery County since 2017. Although he’s a regular in-person voter in Collin County, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton used the voting-by-mail option to cast a ballot in a 2011 municipal election, according to county records. In recent elections, he’s opted for voting early. Travis County election records show Gov. Greg Abbott cast a mail-in ballot in a 1997 special election when he was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court. Abbott consistently votes in local and state elections.

Virginia: Federal judge denies complaint against Virginia officials over absentee voting rules | Justin Mattingly/Richmond Times-Dispatch

A federal judge has denied a request from six Northern Virginia voters challenging Virginia election officials over the loosening of absentee voting restrictions. Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. in the Eastern District of Virginia issued the ruling Friday, saying that while the voters’ complaint “may be well-founded, the court is constrained at this time from remedying these constitutional grievances.” Jim Bopp, who represented Citizens United in the landmark 2010 campaign finance case against the Federal Elections Commission, filed the lawsuit this month on behalf of the Northern Virginia voters. In the lawsuit, they say letting residents vote absentee if they are not sick and do not have a disability encourages them to make a false statement. Under current law, Virginians must list one of a number of state-authorized excuses for why they cannot vote in person on Election Day, such as a work, family or school obligation or an out-of-town trip. Under a law that takes effect July 1, voters will be able to cast absentee ballots without providing an excuse. Gov. Ralph Northam and state election officials have encouraged voters to list “disability or illness” as their reason for requesting an absentee ballot for the June 23 congressional primaries.

Wisconsin: Election Commission approves $4 million for vote by mail, lawmaker not happy | Benjamin Yount/The Center Square

Wisconsin’s 1,850 local election managers will share $4 million to mail almost every voter in the state an absentee ballot application this fall. Wisconsin Election Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe made the announcement Friday.  “We are using the lessons we learned from the spring election in April and the federal grant funds to ensure we are prepared for November,” Wolfe said. The money is coming from Wisconsin’s share of the federal coronavirus stimulus package. The WEC unanimously voted this week to send nearly three million voters absentee ballot applications. The WEC will not be mailing actual ballots, however. Mailing ballots “would require the legislature to pass and amend existing law, and the Wisconsin Elections Commission does not have the authority to make these changes,” the WEC said in its announcement.