Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice

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The Briefing

Count on President Trump to say the quiet part out loud. Last week, the president joined Fox & Friends to attack failed efforts by Democrats to include vote-by-mail, among other election protection items, in the stimulus package.

“The things they had in there were crazy,” he complained. “They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

It’s startling, and unseemly at best, to hear the leader of the world’s first constitutional democracy talk about widespread voting in such partisan fashion. Voting is how we keep ourselves a free nation governed by the rule of law. And due to the coronavirus, the only way to ensure that all Americans can vote safely in the November election is for states to give their citizens the option of voting by mail. Seventeen states, right now, lack that easy step. (Polling sites are needed too, as a necessary complement to mail ballots.)

Republican leaders in Congress and Trump, however, are pushing back against this option. They argue fraudulent mailed-in ballots will contaminate the election. “I think a lot of people cheat with mail-in voting,” Trump said last week during his nightly coronavirus briefing.

He’s wrong, and security concerns can be easily addressed.

States have multiple tools to ensure a secure vote. The first is the mail ballot envelope, where the voter must include private information and a signature to be matched against the voter rolls. Those envelopes should come with smart barcodes — think FedEx — to track an envelope during transit. If a voter says they never received the envelope, another can be sent to her and the original will be flagged as compromised and not counted. Many voters choose to drop off ballots at secure polling sites and government offices. States can also position secure drop boxes in accessible locations, watched over by security cameras when outside of government offices, to protect ballots from tampering. And post-election audits can identify any irregularities.

But even if all 50 states have a vote-by-mail option ahead of the November election, polling locations must remain open

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In-person voting is essential for many communities. Take Native Americans, for example. Many reservations do not have addresses recognized by the U.S. Postal Service and therefore residents must rely on P.O. boxes far from their homes for mail. Some voters also rely on assistance — whether it’s translation or specially designed machines for those with disabilities — to cast their ballots.

Today, the Wisconsin vote is giving us a terrifying preview of what November could look like nationwide if vote-by-mail isn’t an option. Last night, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Gov. Tony Evers’s executive order to delay the state’s primary and local elections until June to protect Wisconsinites’ right to vote and their health. And now, in real time, we’re seeing how difficult it is to do in-person voting during a pandemic.

Like the rest of the nation, the average age of Wisconsin’s poll workers is over 60. Considering the coronavirus hits this population hardest, the state has found it impossible to recruit enough poll workers on such a short timeline. In response, counties drastically cut back on polling locations. The result, according to news reports, is amusement park length lines at time when social distancing is critical to flattening the virus’s curve.

Wisconsin must not be the harbinger of what’s to come in November. We have time and the plan (laid out

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by the Brennan Center and supported by hundreds of civic and community organizations and over 1,000 political scientists) to make sure the 2020 election is free, fair, secure, and also safe. As my colleague Wendy Weiser told

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the Associated Press this morning, “Americans should not have to choose between their health and their right to vote.” Since our founding, neither war nor pestilence has ever prevented Americans from voting. We cannot let the coronavirus break that streak.

Democracy

Getting the Count Right

The stakes for getting the census count right are significant, and it is proceeding despite the pandemic. Will the Census Bureau keep your data safe? How well — or poorly — have past censuses done at counting everyone? How will the results of the Census affect the distribution of political power? How might litigation and the courts influence the count or how the numbers are ultimately used? And how might the coronavirus affect the Census process and the final numbers? This primer by the Brennan Center’s Census team offers an in-depth look at the major questions and concerns surrounding this year’s count. Read More

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And another thing: fill out the Census online, by mail, or by phone

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to reduce the need for in-person census takers to go door-to-door during this contagion.

Don’t Let Democracy Be a Victim of the Virus

All of the in-person grassroots efforts that make our democracy a truly robust one — knocking doors, attending rallies and meetings, gathering signatures, and even standing at busy intersections holding signs — are now threatened by social isolation guidelines. An election campaign without an in-person component is one that inevitably diminishes the voices of ordinary Americans, so it’s important to ensure that grassroots democracy isn’t another victim of the crisis.

“In the end, the idea of ordinary people coming together to make change ...starts to seem futile. Even amid all the challenges we face right now, we shouldn’t let that happen,” writes Brennan Center Fellow Zachary Roth. // Read More

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2020 Census: What’s at Stake for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Even though Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the United States, a recent study found that they’re less likely than any other demographic group to say they intend to participate in the 2020 Census. Undercounting Asian Americans in the census is a problem that has persisted for decades, and it’s one “that could undermine efforts by Asian Americans to secure funding, mobilize political power, and gather critical information from their communities,” writes the Brennan Center’s Tim Lau. // Read More

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Justice

Prison is No Place for a Pandemic

Yesterday, the Brennan Center sent a letter to every governor in the nation. We urged them to use their full executive authority to release as many people from incarceration as is conducive to public safety for the duration of the pandemic, focusing on individuals who are low-risk and are especially vulnerable to infection.

As the Brennan Center’s Lauren-Brooke Eisen, Ames Grawert, and Taryn Merkl explain to all 50 governors, “The almost 2 million people behind bars at the county and state level, plus the thousands of employees who work in correctional institutions, face an even greater risk of illness and death than the general public.” // Read More

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Constitution

Responsible Coronavirus Surveillance Is Possible

Mass surveillance methods are being touted as a way to save lives around the world during the current pandemic, allowing authorities to track and curb the spread of the disease. This surveillance doesn’t have to come at the expense of civil liberties if the right controls are put in place. “Any program must be strictly time-limited,” the Brennan Center’s Faiza Patel tells the Intercept. “Our physical safety is paramount, but at some point we will emerge on the other side of this crisis.” // The Intercept

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News

Lauren-Brooke Eisen on the coronavirus and prisons // Baltimore Sun

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Michael German on the FBI’s investigation of nonviolent activists opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestine // The Intercept

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Max Feldman on the need for more funding for elections // Fox 10 TV

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Liz Howard on funding the 2020 election // Phoenix NPR

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Sean Morales-Doyle on the victory for voting rights in Florida // AP

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Lawrence Norden on funding the November elections // Star-Ledger

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Joseph Nunn on whether the president can declare martial law in response to the coronavirus // The Hill

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Myrna Pérez on the resources needed to protect the 2020 election // Guardian

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Michael Waldman on voter turnout this year // Washington Post

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Joanna Zdanys on the importance of funding public financing in New York // City & State

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Have an issue you'd like us to cover? Feedback on this newsletter? Email us at [email protected]

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The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to reform, revitalize – and when necessary defend – our country’s systems of democracy and justice.


Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
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