Stacey Abrams: ‘We Must Expand Use of Vote by Mail,’ Ballot Harvesting

The United States “must expand use of vote by mail,” according to activist and failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who released an analysis of Wisconsin’s controversial April primary election and concluded that safer in-person voting “depends on reducing crowds by maximizing participation in vote-by-mail” and the addition of ballot harvesting.

Abrams, a prospective running mate for Joe Biden (D), is advancing the Democrat Party’s scheme to gradually introduce universal vote-by-mail in the United States, using the coronavirus pandemic and recent election in Wisconsin as a catalyst for the movement.

“The Wisconsin primary showed the challenges for our democracy amid #COVID19. We must expand use of vote by mail and make in-person voting safe,” Abrams wrote on Wednesday, providing a joint-analysis detailing key takeaways from the state’s primary:

The Wisconsin primary showed the challenges for our democracy amid #COVID19. We must expand use of vote by mail and make in-person voting safe.

Check out the joint analysis below from Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair @benwikler and me. #wipol https://t.co/ygcQ5SIxJV

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) April 29, 2020

Wisconsin proceeded in holding in-person elections during the pandemic after the state’s Supreme Court overruled Gov. Tony Evers’ (D) executive order halting in-person voting until June 9.

According to the AP, over 50 people who either worked the polls or voted that day have tested positive for the coronavirus. However, the outlet notes that it remains unclear if that is how or where they contracted the virus, as “several of the 52 people who have tested positive and were at the polls on April 7 also reported other ways they may have been exposed to the virus,” according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

“Because of that, it’s unclear if those people contracted the virus at the polls,” the AP noted.

Nevertheless, Abrams and Democrat allies outlined key takeaways from the Wisconsin election, one of which heavily focuses on mail-in voting.

Safer in-person voting, Abrams’ document states, largely depends on the vast expansion of vote-by-mail, as that will reduce the number of individuals showing up to the polls to vote in-person.

“In Wisconsin, suppressive mail voting rules—such as requiring a scanned government-issued ID with an application or requiring that a witness sign a mailed ballot—ended up forcing voters who wanted to vote at home to go to the polling place instead,” the document states.

“We need to follow expert guidance on making mail voting efficient and accessible during an emergency,” it continues, demanding a ballot to be mailed to every voter and allowing ballot harvesting.

Proposals include:

• Mailing every voter a ballot, or at least making the request process seamless.
• Prepaying return for ballots
• Eliminating burdensome witnessing or notarization requirements, and ensuring that procedures are in place to cure signature issues or other administrative errors.
• Allow for community groups to assist voters with the return of completed and sealed ballots.
• Requiring all ballots postmarked by election day be counted, and have procedures in place to deal with ballots that come in without postmarks (e.g., look to the date of the voter’s certification as evidence of date mailed; include presumption that any ballot received within three days of election day was mailed on time).

Abrams’ demands come as Democrat Party leaders increase their calls for universal mail-in voting. The Democrat Party’s presumptive nominee, Joe Biden (D), criticized Wisconsin’s primary, contending that it “should have been all mail ballots in.”

Major progressive party players — like Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and the Democratic National Committee — have ramped up their cries for universal mail-in voting during the pandemic, as liberal dark money groups continue in shadowy efforts to politicize the coronavirus pandemic and use it as a means to attain long-desired leftist policy proposals.