Congressional Democrats plan to use their new-found majorities to permanently expand vote-by mail after an election that saw both record turnout and former President Donald Trump’s failed attempts to block New Jersey and other states from making it easier in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The bill would let anyone could vote by mail for any reason and receive postage-paid envelopes for requesting and returning ballots. States would have to set up secure drop boxes for completed ballots. Any ballots postmarked by Election Day but received up to 10 days later would count, and voters whose ballots are rejected would have to be notified and given time to fix problems such as mismatched signatures
The bill also would create automatic voter registration and allow people to register on the same day they vote, require all states to provide 15 days for early voting, allow voters to sign affidavits in lieu of presenting photo IDs, and eliminate requirements that ballots be notarized or witnessed.
“We should have standardize rules and that’s what this bill is doing,” said Stephen Spaulding, senior counsel for public policy at the advocacy group Common Cause. “This hopefully would tamp down on all of that chaotic litigation by getting these rules settled and setting a national standard
The provisions are part of the Democrats’ campaign finance, ethics and voting legislation, designated at H.R. 1 in the new Congress to denote its priority. Democrats control the Senate as well and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer followed suit by numbering his bill as S. 1