Democratic politicians and groups are beginning to push voters to vote in person or hand deliver their absentee ballots as concerns grow over what a flood of mail-in ballots may mean for the election.
Democrats are more likely to vote absentee or mail-in historically than Republicans, and that difference has been amplified this year with the outbreak of the coronavirus as well as a Democratic legal push to loosen voting laws in a number of states, including many swing states.
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is running for Senate against GOP Sen. Cory Gardner, as well as Democratic candidate for Senate in Idaho Paulette Jordan, are both encouraging voters to turn in their mail-in ballots in person. A number of Democratic-aligned organizations have shifted their messaging to include or primarily push in-person voting, according to Axios.
Black PAC and The Collective PAC have both shifted voter outreach strategies to encourage more in-person voting rather than mailing of ballots.
“We’re shifting away from making plans to vote by mail to voting early in person,” The Collective PAC founder Quentin James told Axios.
Voting by mail has become increasingly risky this year due to a high demand for absentee and mail-in ballots. During presidential primaries alone this year, hundreds of thousands of ballots cast by mail were lost, effectively disenfranchising over half a million voters. Read more…
