NEWS TO KNOW
1. New York Board Of E******ns Finishes Counting Absentee B****ts…FIVE WEEKS after E******n Day
If anyone wants a sneak peak into what E******n Day Month? may look like, take a look at New York. "More than a month after b****ts were cast in the New York primary, the board of e******ns just finished counting all absentee b****ts. In some races, those v**es were the deciding factor. Suraj Patel is one of many candidates who waited anxiously for the results. Ultimately, he was defeated in the 12th Congressional District. Patel is accepting the outcome but says the absentee process desperately needs reforms. "We know that nearly 25% of people who actually went through the trouble of requesting a b****t, getting it, v****g and dropping it in the mail will not have their b****ts counted," he said. Patel has boxes filled with copies of invalidated absentee b****ts. The issues are wide-ranging, from where the post office stamped the b****t to v**ers forgetting to sign it. Not to mention some who said online that they requested an absentee b****t but never received it."
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/07/29/new-york-primary-absentee-b****t-results/2. Postal Service backlog sparks worries that b****t delivery could be delayed in November We already know many of the limitations of the US Postal Service. However, less than 100 days from the e******n, they are already admitting a backlog - this is only one reason why we are urging v**ers to v**e in person on e******n day. It is the only way to ensure that your v**e is counted. "The new policies have resulted in at least a two-day delay in scattered parts of the country, even for express mail, according to multiple postal workers and union leaders. Letter carriers are manually sorting more mail, adding to the delivery time. Bins of mail ready for delivery are sitting in post offices because of scheduling and route changes. And without the ability to work overtime, workers say the logjam is worsening without an end in sight. As states look to dramatically expand the use of mail-in b****ts this fall, postal workers across the country said the changes could lead to chaos in November. "I’m actually terrified to see e******n season under the new procedure," said Lori Cash, president of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Local 183 in Western New York."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/postal-service-backlog-sparks-worries-that-b****t-delivery-could-be-delayed-in-november/2020/07/30/cb19f1f4-d1d0-11ea-8d32-1ebf4e9d8e0d_story.html3. Pennsylvania’s mail b****t problems kept tens of thousands from v****g in a p******c primary
Pennsylvania continues to reflect the overwhelming problems with expanded v**e by mail. "Before May 12, almost 90% of v**ers who requested mail b****ts ultimately v**ed, and the vast majority did so by mail. But many mail b****t applications, almost two out of five, were processed within three weeks of the e******n. And for those v**ers, only about 76% ended up v****g. That’s a significant difference: Without that drop-off, about 92,000 more Pennsylvanians would have v**ed in the primary, according to the Inquirer analysis."
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/e******n/pa-mail-b****t-deadlines-disenfranchisement-20200730.html4. Poll: More Than Half Of Young People Lack Resources To V**e By Mail
A recent survey shows that "more than half of v**ers under the age of 35 say they don't have the resources or knowledge they need to v**e by mail in November.
The poll was conducted by Global Strategy Group for NextGen America, a group that is focused primarily on engaging and turning out young v**ers." Data also show that minority v**ers all too often get the short end of the stick under a universal mail in structure - they tend to move more often and may not have their most updated address in the v**er rolls. Never mind that liberals champion v**e by mail as a great equalizer of v****g rights. The facts show that such a claim could not be farther from the t***h.
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/30/896993401/poll-more-than-half-of-young-people-lack-resources-to-v**e-by-mail