National
This Tuesday was National Voter Registration Day. Groups from businesses and nonprofits to sports teams engaged with their respective audiences to encourage people to register to vote. While national results aren’t available, our partners at the Student PIRGs New Voters Project reached out to 1.6 million people.
National Voter Registration Day couldn’t have come at a more critical time. A new report shows that the coronavirus pandemic has caused voter registration rates to plummet in many states.
To increase security and counteract concerns of lost, delayed or misplaced ballots, a majority of states now allow voters to track their ballots. This is also a timely development as a new poll shows that between early in-person voting and mail-in voting, a majority of Americans plan to cast their ballots before Election Day.
Massachusetts
Bay Staters will now be able to apply for a mail-in ballot online. Online request forms make it easier for voters to get their ballots while maintaining social distancing.
MIchigan
The Michigan Court of Claims ruled that ballots postmarked as late as Nov. 2 must be counted as long as they arrive before the deadline for certifying the results of the election. The deadline for certification is 14 days after the election. The ruling would only apply to this upcoming election and is likely to be appealed by state Republicans.
A bill that would allow county clerks to start preprocessing ballots one day before Election Day passed through a state house panel. Both Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have called on the legislature to pass such a bill to ease the Election Day ballot count burden.
Nevada
A Nevada judge rejected a lawsuit from the Trump campaign. The legal claim sought to roll back changes made by the state legislature that makes it easier for people to return their mail-in ballots and for elections officials to count the ballots.
Texas
Post offices in the Houston area will have voter registration materials available to the public. There had been an ongoing dispute about whether it was permissible to set out the materials for anyone to take.
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U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, is a consumer group that stands up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society.
U.S. PIRG affiliates: Arizona PIRG, CALPIRG, CoPIRG, ConnPIRG, Florida PIRG, Georgia PIRG, Iowa PIRG, Illinois PIRG, MASSPIRG, Maryland PIRG, PIRGIM, MoPIRG, MontPIRG, NCPIRG, NHPIRG, NJPIRG, NMPIRG, Ohio PIRG, OSPIRG, PennPIRG, RIPIRG, TexPIRG, WashPIRG, WISPIRG.
U.S. PIRG is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to getting things done.
U.S. PIRG and its state affiliates are working to make sure that every eligible American voter has the ability to participate in democracy, even during a pandemic. We have called on states to ensure safe elections in November, with emergency expansion of vote by mail, sanitized and socially distant polling places and other measures. This weekly update highlights the work we’re doing on the COVID-19 voting front, and other important developments in the news.
