State Accountability Update: Securing Voting Rights During Coronavirus

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As the human toll of the coronavirus pandemic continues to mount, the past few months have made it clear that the ongoing outbreak is also a threat to our democratic institutions and the basic right to vote. American Oversight’s State Accountability Project is seeking records from multiple states to understand the impact that coronavirus is having on election access and administration — and to expose efforts by political interests to exploit the catastrophe for partisan gain.

We have ongoing investigations in states including:

Wisconsin. The primary election in Wisconsin on April 7 exposed the challenges that a state can face while administering an election during a public health crisis. Complaints to the Wisconsin Elections Commission include concerns about the health and safety of poll goers and workers (including a lack of personal protective equipment), confusion about registration and how to apply for or submit ballots, and failure to receive ballots. Our request is asking for data on voter complaints received before and after the election and for any policies created to resolve those complaints.

Texas. Coronavirus concerns led to hundreds of poll closures in Texas during that state’s primary election, and as a result, many voters — and specifically a disproportionate number of Black and Latino voters — were forced to wait in multi-hour lines to cast their ballots. We submitted requests to multiple counties in Texas seeking information regarding voting machine allocation by polling place to understand how polling placement decisions were being made.

Georgia. In 2019, Georgia amended state law to permit absentee ballots to be sent to voters detained in jail. The coronavirus pandemic has drastically increased the overall number of absentee ballot applications from across the state, which now total over one million ahead of the June 7 primary. Our request seeks records regarding absentee ballot request forms for detained voters who have not been convicted of a felony or are completing sentences for misdemeanors and how those processes have changed due to Covid-19.

States that are adapting to the coronavirus outbreak and considering solutions for safe and accessible elections, including efforts to promote voting by mail in Michigan and Nevada, are being put to the test. President Trump has made his position on voting during the coronavirus crisis abundantly clear: states that attempt to provide easier access to ballots risk losing federal funding because of baseless claims of voter fraud. We have shown the extent to which this administration has gone to prop up the president’s previous voter fraud lies. Now, we are working to expose new threats to voting rights while ensuring this administration and its allies do not exploit coronavirus to undermine our elections.

American Oversight’s comprehensive investigation into the Trump administration’s response to coronavirus is focused on uncovering the truth and bringing transparency to the recovery process. We are seeking answers to critical questions, from misleading public statements and the lack of federal assistance to states, to testing delays and industry influence. The public has a right to know who stands to gain and at what cost. Last week, American Oversight eclipsed 550 open records requests as part of our ongoing investigation.

Thank you for sharing our commitment to transparency, voting rights, and fair elections. Please be safe as more states take steps to ease restrictions and re-open this week. We will keep fighting for accountability.

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The American people have a right to a transparent and ethical government. We're holding the Trump administration accountable—because Congress won't.

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