National: The Massive Obstacles in Front of National Mail-In Voting | Lisa Hagen/US News

Wisconsin’s primary last week was the first real-time example of the challenges of conducting in-person voting in the middle of a full-blown pandemic: long lines that complicated social distancing procedures and severe staffing shortages that led to a low number of operating polling sites. And now the aftermath has amplified calls for greatly expanding vote-by-mail across the country. But the implementation of more mail and absentee ballots is facing an array of hurdles – political, logistical and legal – as nearly two dozen states and territories prepare for the remaining primaries over the next three months and gear up for a general election that some believe will yield massive turnout. “What I think Wisconsin has now demonstrated is the canary in the coal mine if we don’t have emergency procedures to have in place” says Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who specializes in elections. “The good news is we still have some opportunities to do preparations for next elections, and the next hurdles are these primary elections coming up.”

California: Coronavirus crisis: All vote by mail elections coming to California | George Skelton/Los Angeles Times

California is headed toward its first all-mail statewide election in November to protect voters and precinct workers from the pugnacious coronavirus. Get used to it. All-mail elections — with every registered voter mailed a ballot — are very likely to become the “new normal” for California even after the virus is subdued. It’s ironic: Old-fashioned “snail mail” is being chosen as the easiest, safest, most efficient and fraud-free way of conducting elections in this era of rapid technological evolution. Silicon Valley techies will be posting their ballots into snailboxes. No one apparently has figured out how to make online voting secure from hackers. With mailed ballots, there’s a conspicuous paper trail. “[President] Trump keeps feeding lies about voter fraud in vote-by-mail and he has zero evidence,” says California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat.

Maryland: The instructions on your Maryland special general election ballot are wrong. You don’t need stamps. | Emily Opilo/Baltimore Sun

As Maryland undertakes its first election held primarily via mail, an early problem emerged this week as ballots landed in voters’ mailboxes: some of the instructions are wrong. The one-page, double-sided instruction sheet included with the nearly 500,000 ballots mailed by Maryland officials last week contains conflicting messages about whether postage is required. The front of the instruction page calls for voters to put two stamps on the envelope included with their ballot. The back says that postage is prepaid, but gives voters the option of using stamps to defer the cost to local election boards. The reality is all postage is prepaid. Now, state election officials are scrambling to get the message out. “Voters in the 7th Congressional District: You DO NOT need to put stamps on your return envelope before you mail your ballot,” the State Board of Elections tweeted Wednesday. “The postage on your envelope is already paid!”

Nevada: Democrats raise concerns over voter access ahead of June’s all-mail primary election | James DeHaven/Reno Gazette Journal

The Nevada State Democratic Party is calling on the state’s top election official to expand voter access to ballots delivered ahead of June’s all-mail primary election. A Friday letter from the party’s attorneys urges Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske to send ballots to all registered voters, not just active voters, and to expand the number of “well-organized and hygienic” primary election polling places permitted in each county. It goes on to ask that state elections officials stop rejecting ballots with mismatched signatures and start accepting those postmarked by Election Day. Cegavske, Republicans’ lone statewide officeholder, last month joined elections officials around the country in shifting to a mail-in election system meant to limit the potential spread of coronavirus at polling places. Attorneys for the state Democratic party acknowledged the need for many of those precautions, but threatened litigation over other steps — such as sending ballots only to active voters — that they feel are unconstitutional.

Washington: Where Everyone Votes by Mail – an interview with Secretary of State Kim Wyman | Lisa Lerer/The New York Times

Amid controversies over testing and respirators, social distancing and stimulus checks, another issue has been bubbling up as a heated partisan battle in our era of pandemic: voting by mail. Democrats and voting rights groups are pushing proposals to expand access to mail-in ballots as a way to protect voters from spreading the virus and ensuring that millions — particularly African-American and poorer voters who tend to vote for Democrats — are not disenfranchised. Republicans largely oppose the idea, arguing that vote-by-mail elections could lead to fraud, since voters don’t have to show up in person at a polling place. Across the country, Republican leaders are fighting state-level statutes that could expand absentee balloting and mail-in-only elections and increase postal balloting. President Trump has also voiced another concern, one Democrats believe is a prime motivation for his party’s opposition: Mail-in ballots would make it easier to vote, prompting more people to participate in the election and, they believe, hurt Republican candidates. He’s complained that a national expansion of vote-by-mail and early voting would mean “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” There’s little evidence that vote-by-mail leads to widespread fraud or favors Democrats. Mr. Trump, himself, voted by mail in Florida’s primary election last month and the 2018 midterms.

Editorials: We run elections in Arizona. An all-mail option for 2020 wouldn’t ruin the process | Virginia Ross and Lisa Marra/Arizona Republic

On April 2, an opinion piece by Rep. Shawnna Bolick (“All-mail voting would only compromise the integrity of elections”) included inaccurate and often misleading information about ballot-by-mail elections. As election professionals, we are committed to ensuring that the rest of the elections in 2020 are accurate, secure and safe for voters, anticipating the COVID-19 pandemic could continue requirements around social distancing for the remainder of the year. On behalf of the Arizona Recorders Association and the Election Officials of Arizona, we believe it is crucial that the Legislature extend our ability to hold ballot-by-mail elections for state and federal elections, a practice already authorized for jurisdictional elections. It is the best way to ensure Arizona voters are safe during this pandemic and have the certainty of the continuity of our democracy. We are requesting this change only for 2020, during this unprecedented pandemic.

Florida: A full vote-by-mail election in Florida isn’t happening in 2020, despite coronavirus, state leaders say | Steven Lemongello/Orlando Sentinel

Voting by mail in Florida has in the past been beset by problems ranging from signature mismatches, delivery delays and tight deadlines. Now, it could be the key to holding full elections if the state is still in the middle of a pandemic and to avoid scenes like what happened in Wisconsin on Tuesday, where thousands lined up for hours wearing face masks after the state and U.S. Supreme Court rejected postponing a vote there. Democrats and voting rights groups in Florida and across the U.S. are pushing hard to make vote-by-mail as widespread as possible, especially after poll workers for the March 17 state presidential primary tested positive in Broward and Duval counties. Congressional Democrats included billions of dollars for expanded vote-by-mail in their version of the coronavirus stimulus, most of which did not end up in the final bill but is still on the table for future ones. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll also showed 72% of all U.S. adults, including 79% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans, supported universal mail-in ballots. Meanwhile, President Trump and many Republicans are openly hostile to voting by mail, even as Republican governors and legislatures in states such as Ohio are moving forward with it and after Trump cast a mail-in ballot in Florida himself.

Ohio: Should Ohio plan for a vote-by-mail election in November, just in case? | Andrew J. Tobias/Cleveland Plain Dealer

The strife over Ohio’s 2020 primary election, converted at the last minute last month to a largely vote-by-mail election over the coronavirus pandemic, has cast a new light on whether the state elections system is capable of handling an all-mail election in November if need be. Models currently project the worst of the coronavirus outbreak will recede by the summer. But past pandemics have seen a second wave break out. And with a widespread vaccine not likely to be available for more than a year, there is a distinct possibility that elections officials could be confronted with a similar scenario in November. Voter advocates, elected officials and elections workers say Gov. Mike DeWine and other leaders need to begin planning soon just in case. They want to prevent a repeat of what happened in March, when DeWine canceled Election Day, citing public health reasons, just hours before in-person voting was to have begun. The decision set off public confusion, a flurry of lawsuits and eventually, a new election plan, unanimously approved by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, that sets an effectively all-mail vote through April 28.

National: Voting by mail: Why states will have a hard time setting it up | Amber Phillips /The Washington Post

The safest way to hold an election during the coronavirus pandemic is to not. But canceling elections, especially in a presidential year, isn’t an option. So 15 states have moved their primaries back to the summer, and nearly every state is considering how it can have more people vote in November by mail instead of in person. That means they could either expand absentee balloting while keeping fewer polling places open, or they could mail ballots to all voters. But easier said than done. Only five states have the ability to hold a statewide by-mail election, and it took them years to set it up and work out the kinks. The states considering it now have months, if that, which means they need to decide in the next few weeks whether to push for all-mail elections for November and hope it can be done. Here are the biggest hurdles to having more people vote by mail in November. The equipment that states have to conduct in-person elections won’t work for mail-in elections. The scanners many states have to count ballots in each polling places can’t handle counting ballots en masse from the whole county or state. The kind of scanner that can do that heavy work costs $500,000 to $1 million, said Wendy Underhill, an elections expert with the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures.

National: The new coronavirus funding battle over the November election | Marianne Levine and Burgess Everett/Politico

Consensus is growing that Democrats and Republicans will soon hash out a new coronavirus emergency package in the coming weeks. But a major obstacle is emerging: the November election. Democrats are making a push to expand funding for vote-by-mail efforts in a fourth emergency rescue package, citing the need to help states prepare to hold elections during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a public health issue, Democrats argue: That elections carried out as usual could spread the virus this fall. But new vote-by-mail funding is facing stern resistance from Senate Republicans and the Trump administration, who argue against imposing federal guidelines on states. The issue may be a sticking point to any relief package as the U.S. faces mass unemployment and a plummeting economy. “We are getting more and more bipartisan support from secretaries of states across the country,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in an interview, who is leading a bill with Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) to expand early voting as well as vote-by-mail. “In a worst case scenario communities may be facing the choice of either voting by mail or not voting at all,” added Wyden. “We’re already going in this direction and now we’re in the middle of a pandemic and I think this is a very different time.”

National: Democrats press Trump, GOP for funding for mail-in ballots | Maggie Miller/The Hill

Democrats and voting rights groups on Thursday pressed President Trump and Republicans to support more funding for elections this year, saying it was crucial to include money ensuring people could cast ballots as part of the next coronavirus stimulus package. Lawmakers and voting advocacy groups took part in what amounted to a sustained campaign calling for the country to ensure people could cast votes either in person or by mail despite the coronavirus crisis. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) argued on one press call Thursday that at least $1.6 billion more was needed to guarantee Americans could vote in November. “This next month is critical for our democracy, I can’t think of another time when we faced something quite like this in terms of our limitations,” Klobuchar told reporters. “I think we can do this, I really do, we simply must make sure that people have the right to vote.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

National: Pelosi, state Democrats push for more funds for mail-in voting | Maggie Miller/The Hill

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and more than 50 state Democratic officials advocated strongly on Tuesday for Congress to give states more funding to support mail-in and absentee voting efforts as part of the next coronavirus stimulus bill.  “In terms of the elections, I think that we’ll probably be moving to vote by mail,” Pelosi said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday. “That’s why we wanted to have more resources in this third bill that just was signed by the president to get those resources to the states to facilitate the reality of life that we are going to have to have more vote by mail.” The coronavirus stimulus package signed into law by President Trump last week included $400 million to allow states to adapt the upcoming primary and general elections during the coronavirus crisis. That amount was far lower than the $4 billion proposed by Pelosi as part of the House version of the stimulus bill, which also would have required states to send absentee ballots to every registered voter and expand early voting. The final coronavirus stimulus package did not include any requirements for how states must use the $400 million. Pelosi said on Monday that she was disappointed the stimulus did not include funding for the U.S. Postal Service to send ballots to Americans, and said she hoped public opinion would help to push Republicans to support more funding for elections in the next coronavirus stimulus bill.

National: 16 States Restrict Access to Voting by Mail – How That Could Change 2020 Presidential Election During the Coronavirus Pandemic | Ashley Stockler/Newsweek

As the coronavirus pandemic heightens concerns about participation in November’s general election, advocates are calling on officials in the over one dozen states where voting by mail is heavily restricted to expand access to absentee ballots. According to research compiled by the National Vote at Home Institute, 16 states limit the distribution of absentee ballots—which can be mailed or otherwise delivered to the voter’s home—to residents who present a lawful excuse for avoiding in-person voting, such as planned travel or a disability. Of those states, five—West Virginia, Alabama, Indiana, Delaware and Massachusetts—have already waived these limitations for voters in upcoming primary and statewide elections because of public health concerns over the virus’ spread. The abilities of these and other states to expand vote-by-mail options come November are alternately limited by political will, state law or the state constitution.

Georgia: Voters mailed absentee ballot request forms for May 19 Georgia primary | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia election officials began mailing absentee ballot request forms Monday to the state’s 6.9 million active voters, making it easier for them to vote without having to show up in person. Voters who fill out and return the request forms will then be mailed a ballot for the May 19 primary, which includes candidates for president, Congress, the Georgia General Assembly and county offices.The mass mailing of absentee ballot request forms is an effort by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to encourage remote voting during the coronavirus pandemic. Georgia voters will also have the option of voting in person on election day and during three weeks of early voting starting April 27. Absentee ballot request forms will continue to be mailed through this week. Once voters return the forms to county election offices, ballots will be sent within three days.

Indiana: ‘A logistical nightmare’: Local counties preparing for mail-in election | Max Lewis/WSBT

“A logistical nightmare” is how county clerks are describing Indiana’s now June primary. The state election commission made several changes after the primary was delayed, including allowing everyone to vote by mail. The coronavirus already caused Indiana’s primary to be moved from May 5th to June 2nd. But with expectations that social distancing will extend into early summer, the way we now vote is going to change. Our mailbox may be the new ballot box when Indiana votes at the beginning of June. The state’s election commission made major changes last week, one of the biggest is allowing everyone to vote by mail. Elkhart County Clerk Chris Anderson says the prospect of having the county’s around 50,000 registered voters all getting ballots in the mail will be a challenge.

Maryland: Legislative leaders call for in-person voting option for June 2 state primary | Emily Opilo and Pamela Wood/Baltimore Sun

The president of the Maryland Senate and the speaker of the state House called Tuesday on Gov. Larry Hogan to explore offering in-person voting as an option during the June primary, in spite of the new coronavirus outbreak. In a letter circulated to members of both chambers, Senate President Bill Ferguson and Speaker Adrienne A. Jones argued that voting is an essential activity, akin to the work of essential businesses that have remained open despite severe restrictions Hogan has implemented during the pandemic. “The state must explore potential options for in-person voting opportunities for a limited number of our citizens to ensure that we are demonstrating that democracy can still flourish in the midst of a public health emergency,” the Democratic leaders wrote. The letter comes as the state Board of Elections prepares to submit a plan to Hogan on the logistics of the June 2 primary, in which Marylanders will nominate candidates for president and the U.S. House. Baltimore voters will also nominate candidates for mayor, City Council president, comptroller and council seats. Earlier this month, Hogan issued an executive order postponing the primary from April 28 in response to the virus outbreak. At the same time, the Republican governor ordered the board to come up with a plan by Friday for how to carry out the rescheduled primary.

New Mexico: GOP files lawsuit to block mail-in primary election | Tony Raap/Santa Fe New Mexican

The state Republican Party filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the New Mexico Supreme Court that aims to block an effort by more than two dozen county clerks to conduct the June primary election by mail. The lawsuit contends a mail-in primary election offers no ballot security and could lead to voter fraud. “You cannot monitor votes in such a mail-in ballot election,” New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce said in a statement. “Many states that use this process can scan ballots for security, but New Mexico doesn’t have that technology.” The lawsuit comes a day after 27 New Mexico county clerks petitioned the state Supreme Court for an order to conduct the June 2 primary by mail to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading further. The clerks said it would be impossible to carry out a normal election during the pandemic and that to do so would “violate their oath of office in order to protect the health and safety of their community.”

Ohio: All-mail Ohio voting called challenging | David Skolnick/The Youngstown Vindicator

Election officials in Mahoning and Trumbull counties say it’s going to be challenging to have a virtually all-mail April 28 primary, but they don’t expect problems. “It will be tough,” said Stephanie Penrose, Trumbull County Board of Elections director. “Don’t get me wrong, it will be a heavy workload. But we’re going to get it done.” Thomas McCabe, deputy director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections, said: “It’s a very tight window, but we’ll make it work.” Both counties reported getting hundreds of telephone calls a day since Thursday, the day after the state Legislature voted to extend the primary from March 17 to April 28. “We’ve been getting a lot of requests for ballots and numerous calls,” Penrose said. “The Legislature’s decision has drummed up interest in the election.” Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health, canceled the March 17 in-person primary late the night before it was to be held at the request of Gov. Mike DeWine because of a public health concern about the COVID-19 pandemic. DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose called for the primary to be June 2 with mail voting extended and plans for in-person voting June 2.

National: The Postal Service, in trouble before covid-19, is fighting for its life | Joe Davidson/The Washington Post

The $2 trillion congressional coronavirus assistance package would provide badly needed relief for millions of Americans and businesses but little for one organization already in desperate financial health. The U.S. Postal Service has been in money trouble for years. Now, covid-19, the disease the virus causes, is forcing the quasi-governmental agency into a fight for its life. “What we’ve seen in the pandemic is the collapse of mail,” Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), chairman of the government operations subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service, said by phone. “While people are shipping packages, mail volume has collapsed.” Unless Congress acts quickly, the decline in mail because of covid-19 could soon close the constitutionally mandated mail service, according to Connolly and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the full Committee on Oversight and Reform. They called the situation “a national emergency” as they proposed postal relief measures. “As a direct result of the coronavirus crisis, it has become clear that the Postal Service will not survive the summer without immediate assistance from Congress and the White House,” Maloney and Connolly wrote in a letter Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “Postal Service officials warn that, without immediate intervention, the precipitous drop off in mail use across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic could shutter the Postal Service’s doors as early as June.”

National: Stimulus package provides United States Postal System no funding, postal service could shutter by June 2020 amid coronavirus | Nicole Goodkind/Fortune

Fifty years ago, a postal worker strike halted mail delivery. The eight-day strike, carried out by 150,000 letter carriers across 30 cities, prompted then-President Richard Nixon to declare an emergency and send in the National Guard to deliver mail. “The United States Postal System is a vital element of our entire communications system. The poor depend heavily upon it for medical services and also for government assistance,” Nixon said in an address to the nation. “Veterans depend on it for their compensation checks. The elderly depend on it for their Social Security checks.” Today, the Postal Service is just as essential: It delivers about 1 million lifesaving medications each year and serves as the only delivery link to Americans living in rural areas. Working with other delivery services like UPS, the agency supports $1.7 trillion in sales and 7.3 million private sector workers year, and this year will prove essential to delivering the 2020 Census to citizens as well as any vote-by-mail initiatives. The USPS is the federal government’s most favorably viewed agency, with an approval rating of 90%. Yet once again, the USPS is in crisis mode.

National: How Will We Vote? Outbreak Revives Debate on Mail-In Ballots | Nicholas Riccardi and Rachel La Corte/Associated Press

As the coronavirus pandemic knocks primary election after primary election off schedule, Democrats argue the outbreak shows the country needs to move toward one of their longtime goals — widespread voting by mail — to protect the November election. But Democrats’ hopes for using the crisis to expand voting by mail face firm Republican opposition, as well as significant logistical challenges. In some states, it would amount to a major revamp of their voting system just eight months before an election. Vote-by-mail boosters already lost the first round of the fight. Democrats tried and failed to insert a broad mandate expanding voting by mail in the stimulus bill, a proposal that could cost as much as $2 billion. Instead, the bill included $400 million to help states adjust elections however they see fit before November. But Democrats in Washington say they will keep pressing the issue, pointing to the increasing number of states that are shifting to mail-in voting for primaries as evidence that the time is right. A poll from the Pew Research Center released Monday found that about two-thirds of Americans would be uncomfortable voting at polling places during the outbreak. “Practically every single Tuesday, we see another state reacting to their inability to run their election in the middle of this incredible health care pandemic,” said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the first state to vote entirely through the mail. He called expanded mail voting “not even a close call.” Former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, joined the push Sunday. “We should be looking to all-mail ballots across the board,” Biden said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We should be beginning to plan that in each of our states.”

Idaho: May primary election won’t be delayed, but will go all-absentee | Betsy Z. Russell/Idaho Press

Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney said Monday afternoon that the governor won’t be delaying the May 19 primary election, but it’ll go all-absentee due to the risk from coronavirus. “He is not going to delay it,” Denney told the Idaho Press. “We still have some things to iron out about exactly what we will be trying to do … and I can tell you we’re going to push very, very hard for as much absentee as we can, so that we don’t have people having to be in contact with each other.” Gov. Brad Little’s office confirmed this decision in a press release later that afternoon and said Little will issue a proclamation addressing the election in the coming days. The election will be conducted by mail, the governor’s announcement states, noting “the move is necessary after it became clear that sufficient polling places and poll workers could not be obtained for the election.” There were legal impediments to delaying the election for a month, as Denney had requested. “Personally, I don’t think it’s legally impossible, but there was a question whether he had the authority to delay it or not,” Denney explained. “By not delaying it, it takes one more potential challenge off the table.”

New Mexico: Clerks seek emergency court action for all-mail voting in primary | Dan McKay/Albuquerque Journal

More than two dozen of New Mexico’s county clerks asked the state Supreme Court on Monday for an emergency order that would allow them to conduct the June 2 primary by mail. The clerks said they otherwise face an impossible choice – putting voters’ and election workers’ lives at risk or violating their oath of office – amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The state of New Mexico faces a public health emergency unprecedented in modern times,” the clerks said in an their petition. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico’s chief election officer, supports the petition, describing the move to mail-in ballots – with some exceptions for in-person voting – as a sensible way to protect public health and the right to vote. The unusual petition seeks emergency court intervention. The clerks acknowledge that an immediate special session – allowing the governor and legislators to change election laws – is a potential solution. But it isn’t practical to convene a session amid a virus outbreak that could kill hundreds of New Mexicans in the next few months, the clerks said, citing a projection by University of Washington researchers. The clerks also noted that most of New Mexico’s 112 legislators are 60 or older, putting them most at risk of the disease.

National: Nationwide voting by mail will be a massive undertaking say those who’ve done it | Joseph Marks/The Washington Post

It will take a massive effort of time and resources to increase voting by mail across the nation if the coronavirus pandemic is still jeopardizing in-person voting in November. And the $400 million appropriated by Congress is nowhere near enough to make it feasible. That’s the warning from election officials in states that vote almost entirely by mail, who say it took years of careful planning for them to make the transition. “It’s going to be a herculean effort, but failure is not an option,” Washington state Secretary of State Kim Wyman, whose state is among five that vote that way, told me. By contrast, there are 13 states that don’t currently even offer all their voters the option of casting ballots by mail, according to a tally released yesterday by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. The warnings underscore the unprecedented challenge facing officials who are beginning to contemplate a complete overhaul of their election operations during just seven months and in the midst of a global health crisis. The shift to better secure elections against hacking after Russian interference in 2016, by contrast, took place over more than three years and still produced mixed results.