To the Editor:

Long lines, limited polling place hours, inconvenient polling locations, not getting time off work and the COVID-19 virus all make one of our most sacred rights — voting — a hurdle for many Americans.

All states need to offer no-excuse mail-in absentee voting to every eligible voter to ensure that everyone has the ability to vote.

Last week, a Texas state judge said that he’ll issue an order allowing all Texans to vote absentee due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, less than an hour after the attorney general’s office threatened criminal prosecution for groups recommending voters concerned about contracting the virus request absentee ballots (Texas is one of a number of states that requires voters to present an excuse in order to vote absentee). While the Texas order is certain to be appealed, just this past weekend, Gov. Cuomo of New York issued an executive order to lift all “mandatory excuses” to vote absentee in that state. 

Many states are embracing voting reform. Virginia, for example, recently established automatic voter registration through the state Department of Motor Vehicles, meaning all eligible DMV customers will automatically be registered unless they opt out (at least a form is offered in North Carolina). Virginia also made Election Day a state holiday, removed the excuse requirement to vote absentee, allowed voters to permanently receive an absentee mail ballot in all future elections, extended the close of polling on Election Day an additional hour and established alternative in-person voting methods such as curbside voting.

Some states have already acted quickly to allow residents to vote at home by sending ballots or absentee ballot applications by mail to all their citizens but in 15 states, voters still need to submit an excuse to be able to vote at home. Just this month, absentee voting in Wisconsin went from 5 to 71 percent. Our own state is among only five others to have no-excuse absentee voting, joined by Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Florida. Kentucky Gov. Beshear’s recent executive order says that all voters “should use mail-in voting.” Utah Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a bill to conduct Utah’s June 30 primaries entirely by mail and cancel in-person voting, except for those with disabilities. All 53 North Dakota counties say they will conduct the state’s June 9 primaries entirely by mail, following an executive order from Republican Gov. Doug Burgum.

We need to act now to ensure that all voters can safely participate in our elections this November. If we act together, we can win the funding and reforms we need to protect our vote.

Ralph Andrew

Waynesville