Ever since Oregon pioneered universal vote-by-mail—it began as an option for local elections in 1981 and became mandatory in 2000—the idea seemed a brilliant cure for low turnout and Election Day hassles. Today, some 77 percent of Americans have the option of requesting mail-in ballots. But the sponsors of vote-by-mail did not reckon with a variety of ordinary postal screw ups and lost ballots, much less the pressures of a pandemic, the deliberate destruction of the Postal Service by Donald Trump, plus all of the opportunities for Republican mischief that will come from not knowing the winner for weeks after Election Day. New York and New Jersey, both governed by Democrats and with no evidence of deliberate voter suppression or fiddling with the count, provide sickening previews of what we can expect in November. New Jersey’s Democratic primary was July 7—four weeks ago. Several counties have yet to report final results. The New York Democratic primary was held June 23. As Brittany Gibson has reported in the Prospect, six weeks later two key Congressional races have yet to be called because of a backlog of mail-in ballots. Six weeks from Election Day is December 15. That’s one day after
the Electoral College meets state by state to declare the winner. There is no easy remedy. One need is for far more poll workers. Another absolute imperative is to fully fund the Postal Service, including plenty of money for overtime. I’ve been assured by a top aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi that though postal funding has not gotten much publicity in the coverage of negotiations over the next relief bill, it is at the top of her list. Let’s hope so. I don’t know about you, but I’m planning to put on my mask and vote in person.
