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BPC Issues Guidance to States for Expanding Voting by Mail for November Election

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Ari Goldberg

Washington, DC – The Bipartisan Policy Center today released a report outlining the challenges facing state election officials as they expand voting-by-mail options during a public health crisis and prepare for high voter turnout in November.

Matthew Weil, BPC’s Director of The Elections Project, said:

“Given the coronavirus crisis, there’s no doubt that voting will look very different this year. We expect more than half of all votes cast in November to be done via mail. And since there’s high voter interest in a presidential election year, it’s important that states are prepared to meet the challenge.

This report outlines the policy, implementation, and capacity issues that must be addressed on an extraordinarily short timeline. It’s geared to state-level policymakers, including secretaries of state, who are the most common chief election official.

“But it’s also meant for state election boards, governors, and legislators who will have a say on changes to voting in their states. These executive and legislative branch leaders must confront thorny policy problems in the very near-term if voting rules will be clear in November.”

Upcoming reports from the BPC Elections Project will focus on the challenges of registering to vote and counting ballots in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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