Opinion | Amy Klobuchar: Trump Votes by Mail. Why Can’t Everyone?

What we’re proposing is neither radical nor untried. About a quarter of voters already cast their ballots by mail. In fact, all states offer some form of it. Five states — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington — vote almost entirely by mail. And these are states that have elected Republicans and Democrats alike; there’s nothing partisan about full participation. At the same time, both Democratic and Republican governors and secretaries of state have recently taken actions to make voting by mail more accessible during this pandemic.

It’s troubling that many states still insist on making it hard to mail in a ballot. Sixteen states require voters to provide an excuse to obtain an absentee ballot (though several have lifted that requirement for November); six states also require more than one witness, or a notary, to validate a mail-in ballot. Imagine trying to drum up witnesses — much less a notary — in the thick of a public health crisis. We need to do away with the hurdles and the back flips once and for all.

In addition to providing reforms and necessary funding to states to ensure safe voting by mail, our legislation would require every state to offer at least 20 days of early voting at polling locations. This is so important in a pandemic because it shrinks the lines at the polls. It’s critical to those Americans who have disabilities, need language assistance or don’t have easy access to mailboxes even in the best of times.

Reform won’t come without a cost. We are pushing for ample funding to help states immediately prepare for mail voting, in addition to the $400 million Congress has already approved for that purpose, as well as for more early, in-person polling locations and protecting the health and safety of poll workers.

As we debate the next federal legislative relief package for Covid-19, here is what we know for sure: Failure to prepare for this pandemic has cost so much. Lives have been lost. Businesses large and small — representing lifetimes of hard work — now stand boarded up.

Yet there were so many signs it was coming.

November is coming too. We need make sure all of America doesn’t suffer what Wisconsin just did.

And if you want to know what it’s like to vote in a healthy, safe and secure way — from the comfort of your own home — just ask President Trump. He’s been doing it for years.

Amy Klobuchar is a Democratic senator from Minnesota and a former presidential candidate.

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