Democrat Senator Demands $3.6 Billion in Taxpayer Money for Vote-By-Mail Scheme
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) pushes mail-in voting plan for coming elections
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A Democrat senator is demanding that the federal government hands over $3.6 billion in taxpayer money to fund a mail-in voting scheme.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) made the call for billions in tax dollars during a Sunday interview with MSNBC’s “Kasie DC.”
Coons argues that Democrats need the whopping $3.6B in funding because the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is creating the need for mail-in voting for elections in 2020.
The Delaware senator noted that diplomats and people in the military vote via mail.
He also pointed to President Donald Trump's request for an absentee ballot for the upcoming election.
Sen. Coons insists that, if some states can vote entirely by mail, then it should not be an issue while there are shelter-in-place orders.
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“It would ask us to give some flexibility to states in terms of match requirements and some dramatic additional resources, $3.6 billion,” Coons argues.
“We’ve heard both Republican and Democratic secretaries of state, heads of state, parties, and local election officials calling for this," the Democrat continues.
"In every election, hundreds of thousands of Americans vote by mail from overseas.
"Folks in our armed forces and our diplomatic core, President Trump has requested an absentee ballot for this election.
"If it’s good enough for our troops and diplomats and our president, I don’t see why a vote-by-mail shouldn’t be a feature for every election in this state by November if people request it.”
"It shouldn’t be a partisan issue," he added.
"Look, there are five states that conduct it entirely by mail.
"Utah is one, Oregon is another. Utah is heavily Republican, Oregon is majority Democrat, in terms of who they send to Congress.
"So, I don’t think that you can predict what the partisan outcome will be based on whether folks have the ability to cast their votes by mail."
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"A number of states have developed thorough security measures to make sure that they can track every single ballot, and they can confirm that the person casting that ballot is, in fact, the registered voter by signature match and by other measures," Sen Coons continued.
"We ought to be able to do this to vote securely, if necessary, by mail if there is an ongoing pandemic problem with us in the fall.
"And, frankly, the lack of planning around several aspects here, around being able to vote by mail, around being able to have enough testing tracing resource us available too public health organizations around our country is a lot of why this pandemic keeps being such a challenge for us.”
WATCH:
"We shouldn't put the average American, and in particular seniors or those who are immunocompromised, in a position of having to choose between their sacred right to vote and keeping themselves and their family safe," Sen. Coons says in call for $3.6B in vote-by-mail funds. pic.twitter.com/pfH1EpwWc2
— Kasie DC (@KasieDC) April 20, 2020
