Switching remaining U.S. primaries to vote-by-mail not so easy

Voting rights groups and the head of the Democratic National Committee want the states with remaining primary elections to offer voting by mail as a way to ensure that voters can safely cast their ballots amid the coronavirus outbreak. A quick and easy fix? Not always. For states that don’t already have vote-by-mail or that greatly restrict it, such a change could require amending state law. It also would require major changes to state and county voting and tabulating systems. Buying the equipment and software to track ballots and read the signatures on them could cost millions. And that’s not to mention deciding who pays for return postage — individual voters or taxpayers?

So far this year, one state has moved quickly to mail ballots statewide for the November general election. The top election official in Arizona, where about 80% of voting is already by mail, asked the Legislature on Wednesday to give counties permission to mail ballots to all registered voters.

Other states are being more limited in scope: Maryland postponed its primary but decided to hold next month’s special congressional election by mail. On Wednesday, West Virginia election officials said they would make fear of getting the coronavirus a valid excuse for getting an absentee ballot for its May 12 primary. And the Democratic Party in Wyoming, which already was sending all its members ballots, has canceled the in-person portion of its presidential caucus.

As in Wyoming, the Democratic caucuses and primaries in Alaska, Hawaii and Kansas were already to be held largely by mail this spring. So far, none of the states postponing their primaries — Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland or Ohio — has said they will mail ballots statewide.

In the absence of official action, some political and voting rights groups are vowing legal challenges. On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee and Wisconsin Democratic Party filed a lawsuit seeking to force the state to extend the deadline to register to vote online or by mail.