CHICAGO -- With fewer than 90 days until the November election, the partisan divide over vote-by-mail appears to be growing in Illinois.
To ensure the safety of voters during the pandemic, a law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker directs local election offices to send vote-by-mail ballot applications for 2020 to voters who cast a ballot in the 2018 general election.
In a new federal lawsuit, the Cook County Republican Party argued the law is a partisan voting scheme designed to harvest Democratic ballots.
Ami Gandhi, senior counsel for the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, disagreed.
"This law expanding vote by mail this year simply means that a large number of eligible voters will get applications to vote by mail," Gandhi said. "That doesn't mean that there will be random ballots flying around in the mail for voters who did not request them."
The litigation called for the laws to be blocked, and was filed against Pritzker, the state Board of Elections and local election leaders.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted voting by mail has potential for widespread fraud.
A New York Times analysis found a record number of American voters, 76%, can vote by mail for the 2020 election.
Illinois is among the eight states where a vote-by-mail ballot will automatically be sent to registered voters.
Gandhi contended with the continued need to socially distance to prevent the spread of COVID-19, vote-by-mail is crucial to ensure voters' rights are respected.
"It's not acceptable to intimidate voters into a false choice of either having to abandon their right to vote or go to a polling place if they feel unsafe doing so due to the pandemic," Gandhi said. "Voters should have a choice of whatever voting option is safe and comfortable and healthy for them."
Other election reforms signed into law by the governor allow for the use of secure drop-boxes for ballot collection and raises the standard for verifying the vote-by-mail signature verification process.
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Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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The Nevada state primary is coming up June 11 and one voting-rights group wants to make sure all Nevadans have the information they need to make their voices heard. They are looking for more people to help.
Silver State Voices is among the organizations behind the national, nonpartisan Election Protection program.
Noé Orosco, program manager for Silver State Voices, said the goal is to place trained, nonpartisan volunteers at polling locations throughout Nevada, who can help voters with a variety of questions from accessibility to voting requirements.
"I think it's super important, because at the end of the day, we are just trying to ensure that anyone who is able to vote is able to cast their ballot," Orosco explained.
Orosco noted the Election Protection program also has hotlines available in English, Spanish, Arabic and Asian languages. All are administered by a coalition of partners who can also provide useful information in a variety of languages.
Silver State Voices is recruiting more volunteers in Clark and Washoe counties, and Orosco stressed it is a great way to be civically engaged.
As the general election in November inches closer, various concerns and questions could come up at polling locations. Orosco said Silver State Voices and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada strongly believe it's important to get volunteers trained and ready before sending them into the field.
"Because we wouldn't want you to think that now that you are a volunteer and someone is having a very legal question, that you try to resolve the issues for them because that is not what we are there for," Orosco pointed out. "We're just there to ensure that if there are any complications, we reroute folks to the hotline or maybe even to the elections workers at those polling locations."
He added as the June primary approaches, it will start to warm up in Nevada. Volunteers will be distributing snacks and water at polling locations with long wait lines -- of 30 minutes to an hour or more -- a courtesy which has been challenged in court in other states.
Disclosure: Silver State Voices contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy and Priorities, Civic Engagement, Health Issues, and Human Rights/Racial Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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More than 50% of voting-age women in Nevada are people of color, and a new poll found they do not feel heard or seen by most policymakers.
The poll was commissioned by a cohort of civil rights groups, called "Intersection of Our Lives." It showed, despite feeling disenfranchised, women of color view voting as an important avenue to accomplish the changes they want to see.
Roshni Nedungadi, chief research officer and founding partner of HIT Strategies, helped conduct the poll. She said rising costs of health care, fair housing and the need to close the "pay gap" are all important issues to women of color. Another big issue is abortion care.
"We also found, very clearly, that AAPI, Black, and Latina women strongly support abortion care and they really do care about communities being able to find and afford abortion care," Nedungadi reported.
Nedungadi noted more than three in four women polled said more should be done to ensure people have adequate access to abortion care. And the poll found a solid majority of women of color, especially Black women, believe it is important for the government to take action to address high rates of maternal death.
Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners, called the poll data "game changing" and said it is inexcusable many elected officials around the country do not know what matters to women of color. She is convinced the poll results will help them. But Lake pointed out one thing she noticed in interpreting the data is the high level of pessimism being felt by women.
"One of the things that's so different from 20 years ago is so many things are not different from 20 years ago," Lake observed. "We need to hurry history here. We should've made more progress. We should not be looking at taking away rights."
Lake added while cost of living, reproductive rights and race and gender-based discrimination are all issues that will heavily influence the way women vote in November, another huge voting priority is addressing gun violence. She contended politicians cannot ignore women of color as voters if they want to win the election.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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A new poll for AARP Pennsylvania revealed candidates must focus on issues critical to voters age 50 and older ahead of the November elections.
The influential voting bloc makes up more than half the state's electorate, and 85% told pollsters they are "extremely motivated" to cast their ballots.
Bill Johnston-Walsh, state director of AARP Pennsylvania, said voters age 50+ will be key in determining who wins in November.
"Voters age 50+ are the largest voting bloc in Pennsylvania and the country," Johnston-Walsh explained. "They consistently show up to the polls, and we anticipate that this year will be no different."
Johnston-Walsh added in the 2020 elections, older voters accounted for 55% of all Pennsylvania voters, and in the 2022 midterms, they made up 62% of the state's voters. He noted they expect those numbers to grow this year for the general election.
Bob Ward with the public-opinion firm Fabrizio Ward said voters age 50+ prioritize economic issues and will back candidates who protect Social Security and support family caregivers.
"When we look at it from an electoral standpoint, it is not surprising that older voters are more likely to vote for the candidates who say they will make sure workers get the Social Security they paid into," Ward observed. "The big picture here among voters 50+ is that economic issues are paramount."
Jeffrey Liszt, partner at Impact Research, said Pennsylvania voters, particularly 31% of those ages 50-64, have a high rate of family caregiving responsibilities and voice concerns about services.
"Over 40% of these family caregivers are spending more than 20 hours a week caring for a loved one, which is why it's such an important issue for them," Liszt explained. "That's why more than three-quarters of voters 50-plus say that they will reward candidates who provide more support for family caregivers."
A significant portion of older voters, 63%, also expressed concerns about their personal financial circumstances, citing the rising costs of food and utilities as reasons for financial strain.
Disclosure: AARP Pennsylvania contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy and Priorities, Consumer Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families, and Senior Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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