Nevada Passes Mail-In Ballots Law Despite Trump’s Lawsuit Threats

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has signed a bill allowing residents to vote by mail in November, as the coronavirus makes voting in-person more dangerous.

This move signs into law a piece of legislation passed by state lawmakers Sunday.

President Donald Trump had previously threatened Nevada with a lawsuit over the issue. He launched a range of critiques at the state’s choice, saying mail-in voting would prevent Republicans from winning the state, election fraud would increase and already overstretched United States Postal Service would not be able to handle the onslaught of ballots.

Per the new law, mail-in ballots will be automatically sent to Nevada voters.

Now, Nevada has joined the ranks of seven other states that will automatically be sending out mail-in ballots to residents. Two states, California and Vermont, have made the change in an effort to adapt to COVID-19 challenges, while five others, Colorado, Oregon, Hawaii, Washington and Utah, had such policies in place before the onset of the pandemic.

The new Nevada law not only guarantees mail-in ballots for each resident, but implements a number of new measures to help protect voters during the pandemic. The law requires the state to establish at least a certain number of polling places in an effort to minimize long lines that Nevada voters might have to stand in.

On the federal level, moves have also been made to increase vote by mail options for the November election.

Republicans and Democrats typically disagree on this issue, which has taken on more urgency as COVID-19 could make in-person voting dangerous.

Most recently, Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a bill that would require a ballot to be sent to all voters in emergency circumstances. Senate Republicans have expressed disapproval of this.

According to Politico, Republican power in the Senate will probably prevent the Democratic-backed bill from being signed into law.

The Trump administration itself has presented perhaps the most dramatic response to mail-in voting, though it is reportedly inconsistent.

In Nevada’s case, Trump has criticized the practice and threatened lawsuits to block mail-in voting.

He even threatened an executive order to combat states’ moves to allow mail-in voting. He similarly criticized Michigan’s attempt to expand mail-in voting.

The president called Nevada’s new law an “illegal late night coup,” calling Sisolak a “clubhouse governor” who “made it impossible for Republicans to win the state.”

Trump has repeatedly expressed fears that mail-in voting favors Democrats over Republicans, though experts assert that the practice does not give an advantage to one political party over the other, Politico notes. 

In contrast, Trump expressed support for mail-in and absentee voting in Florida, explains Spectrum News, Bay News 9. He had even previously filed a lawsuit against Florida in an effort to require the state to increase access to mail-in voting.

The news source quoted a tweet from the president, in which he reportedly said: “Whether you call it vote by mail or absentee voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True. Florida’s Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail!”

Allegedly, that tweet was published just hours after his critique of mail-in voting in Nevada.

Trump has not opposed absentee ballots, despite his inconsistent but no less fervent opposition to mail-in ballots, Politico says.

Despite his statement equating the two in the case of Florida, Trump previously deemed absentee ballots more acceptable than mail-in ballots because citizens must “go through a process to get and use them,” quotes the news source. Politico goes on to note that voting rights experts view mail-in voting and absentee voting as virtually the same.

On the issue of voter fraud, Trump has issued inflammatory statements about how mail-in voting could open up opportunities for election fraud. However, experts have stated that overall, election fraud is very rare in the United States, and mail-in voting is associated with only a small increase in possible fraud risk.

Finally, Trump has also asserted that the United States Postal Service could not handle all of the mail-in ballots.

He previously criticized the utility and capacity of the post office, calling it a money pit. Politico points out that the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is a significant donor of President Trump, and has taken steps to make drastic cost-saving cuts to the post office.

Do you think the expansion of mail-in voting is appropriate in light of the pandemic? Let us know in the comments.

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