Crunch Time on Vote By Mail

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FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | July 2, 2020freadshot

“The coming fight for the money to effectively administer the upcoming election is a battle that must be won if we are to prevent chaos in November.”

We are approaching crunch time on whether the states and the Postal Service will receive from Congress the essential money they need to effectively administer the massive increases in voting by mail expected this November.

The HEROES Act, passed by the House in May, provides $3.6 billion for the states to administer the 2020 elections and $25 billion for the Postal Service which is predicted to run out of money by the end of September. Throughout this Congress, Senate Majority Leader McConnell has prevented the states from receiving the adequate federal funding needed to manage the voting in November.

Meanwhile – surprise, surprise – President Trump’s consigliere, Attorney General William Barr, is now parroting Trump’s attacks on voting by mail, while providing no evidence to back up his spurious claims.

Trump is continuing his attacks, alleging that widespread voter fraud will occur in voting by mail in November, with no factual basis to support his wild ravings.

Trump’s false allegations are apparently designed both to suppress the November vote and to lay the groundwork for attacking the legitimacy of the presidential election results.

When Congress returns from its recess on July 20, there will only be a couple of weeks to resolve the major differences in the relief bill in what will be a three-way negotiation between House Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, and the White House. Each has different priorities for the bill.

One top priority for Speaker Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is obtaining the money needed to conduct safe, secure, and fair elections in November.

Senate Republicans may be getting closer to providing a significant amount to support the states, although not the $3.6 billion in the HEROES Act. As always, the wild card here is the erratic, irresponsible, narcissistic President and whether he will make an all-out effort to block the money.

The coming fight for the money to effectively administer the upcoming election is a battle that must be won if we are to prevent chaos in November.

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