Today, the Center for Media and Democracy has joined with more than 200 other concerned groups to call on Congress and state officials to take immediate action “to adopt and fund a number of key policies to ensure both the public’s safety and the orderly conduct of the 2020 primary and general elections in light of the current threat posed by COVID-19.”
“If states and localities act swiftly, we can create an elections system that operates safely, efficiently, and accessible to all,” the letter says. “In times of crisis, our nation comes together for the sake of the country and our collective communities. We are in a state of national crisis now; that is why it’s all the more important that we band together to safeguard both our health and our democracy. We must not sacrifice one for the other.”
The sign-on letter was organized by The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights.
The groups’ recommendations for preserving the safety and integrity of the 2020 elections include:
- Accessible online voter registration (OVR) in all states.
- Same-day voter registration for all voters in this election.
- At least two weeks of early in-person voting to reduce long lines and administrative stress on Election Day.
- Providing mail-in ballot options to all registered voters (not just those on absentee voter lists).
- Making any necessary modifications to ensure that in-person is still available and follows guidance from the Centers for Disease Control.
- Aggressive voter education campaigns to ensure voters understand the changes and to counter disinformation.
A full copy of the letter can be found here.
Free and open elections create democracy. In a time of danger both to our health and to our democratic system, we need to do all we can to prevent those who would profit from not hearing the true voice of the people from interfering with or attempting to cancel the November election for their own political purposes. We are not a monarchy or a dictatorship, but we are in danger of moving in that direction with the rise of capitalist fascism in our federal government all the way to the White House. We fought a Revolution to free ourselves from a king–now we need to resist submitting ourselves from a narcissistic, ignorant fool.