Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, concern about the safety of in-person voting has circulated widely. Democrats have advocated for the institution of a nationwide vote-by-mail system that would at least come into force if virus outbreak-induced stay-at-home orders affected large swaths of the voting population, but Republicans have dubiously claimed that the simple step of protecting and even expanding ballot access would pose some kind of grand threat to the sanctity of democracy or whatever. The reality is — voting amidst a virus outbreak is dangerous, and this week, Hillary Clinton advocated for her followers to push for expanded vote-by-mail options in their states.
She linked to an article outlining the 19 Coronavirus cases and counting that have been linked to in-person voting in Wisconsin, which held an election just recently, right amidst the height of the pandemic. Democrats including Governor Tony Evers attempted to delay in-person voting, but Republicans on the state and national Supreme Court overturned his plan. Now, people are sick.
Hillary posted:
‘People shouldn’t be forced to choose between their health and their vote. Make sure your legislators know you support vote by mail options for this fall.’
People shouldn't be forced to choose between their health and their vote.
Make sure your legislators know you support vote by mail options for this fall. https://t.co/fxuxmglu7l
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 24, 2020
The irony of Republican complaints is that Donald Trump himself voted by mail in the Florida Republican primary held in March. There is no evidence for the Republican claims of threats of widespread fraud in vote-by-mail arrangements, just like there’s no evidence for their claims of widespread fraud in in-person voting arrangements. Although it’s been swamped by Trump’s other ridiculousness, Trump freely claimed that millions of illegal votes were cast in the 2016 election. There is not a shred of evidence on earth backing this up. While Trump and his GOP shills wind themselves up with these conspiracy theories, people trying to vote suffer — and it’s worth noting, turnout in the contested Wisconsin election was sharply low, threatening the election as a whole.
Check out Twitter’s response to Hillary…
