[EL] The Importance of In-Person Voting

Fri Jul 17 08:52:38 PDT 2020

While attention and words are devoted in mass amounts to the potential challenges of unusually large numbers of absentee ballots taxing elections offices and slowing the count after the November election, little is being discussed about another challenge that will surface on Election Day. That is what will happen when jurisdictions compress polling place availability as they did in the primary and create long lines waiting to vote as polls close late in the day. I deal with that a bit in the piece I posted this week at the political blog www.thepoliticaldish.com <http://www.thepoliticaldish.com>  

https://www.thepoliticaldish.com/2020/07/what-biden-needs-to-combat-republican-voter-suppression/

The article also discusses the potential impact of closed universities on the election turnout and result.

Larry Levine

From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> On Behalf Of Pildes, Rick
Sent: Friday, 17 July 2020 5:09 AM
To: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: [EL] The Importance of In-Person Voting

I posted this on the ELB, but given the time sensitivity of these issues, I also wanted to send it directly to list-members:

Recent Stories Confirm the Importance of In-Person Voting This Fall

Policymakers and election officials are rightly racing to prepare for unprecedented levels of absentee voting this fall.  But it is also essential that we ensure a robust capacity for in-person voting this fall.    

Back in June, I explained <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/23/absentee-ballots-will-be-critical-this-fall-in-person-voting-is-even-more-essential/>  why it remains important to focus just as much on the in-person voting option as on the absentee option.  Now that more information has come out about the primaries, I want to pull together a number of stories that illustrate concretely the major issues with the absentee process that make it critical to ensure the capacity for in-person voting this fall:

1.  The high rates at which absentee ballots are rejected:  see here <https://app.getpocket.com/read/3050635765>  and here <https://www.npr.org/2020/07/13/889751095/signed-sealed-undelivered-thousands-of-mail-in-ballots-rejected-for-tardiness> 

2.  The problem of requested absentees not getting delivered to voters or being returned on time to get counted:  see here <https://app.getpocket.com/read/3049608512>  and here <https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/07/15/court-denies-mich-absentee-ballots-come-election/112261952/>  and here <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/voting-lines-2020-elections.html> 

3.  The fact that many voters prefer to vote in person, despite the virus, because they do not trust the absentee process to count their votes fairly:  see here <https://app.getpocket.com/read/3025810391> , as well as all the stories about long lines even in states that have no-excuse absentee voting

4.  The long, dangerous delays between Election Day and when a winner can be announced:  see here <https://app.getpocket.com/read/3051494133>  and here <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/23/us/elections/results-kentucky-senate-primary-election.html>  for recent examples 

I have written <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3613163>  on a number of policy changes that would make the absentee process run smoother than all this.  But even with those changes, a strong in-person voting option will still remain essential this fall.

To be sure, there have also been problems with in-person voting thus far, particularly the long lines due in part to polling place consolidations.  I’ll have another short piece coming out soon on one major change that would address that issue and enhance the capacity for in-person voting this fall.  

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