About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 Christopher R. Deluzio, et al., Ensuring Safe Elections: Federal Funding Needs for State and Local Governments during the Pandemic 1 (2020)

handle is hein.brennan/enssfel0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Ensuring Safe Elections Federal Funding Needs for State and Local Governments During the Pandemic Christopher R. Deluzio, Policy Director, University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security Elizabeth Howard, Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice David Levine, Elections Integrity Fellow, Alliance for Securing Democracy Paul Rosenzweig, Resident Senior Fellow, R Street Institute Derek Tisler, Fellow, Brennan Center forJustice PUBLISHED APRIL 30.2020 he coronavirus pandemic has changed voting behavior and poses an extraordinary challenge to state and local officials as they seek to ensure that elections in 2020 are fair, safe, and secure. As national policymakers consider how people should vote in light of the pandemic, elections themselves have already changed. Millions of voters are requesting mail ballots, far more than would have been the case otherwise. Many fewer are updating their registrations at government offices. Instead, they register online or find other ways to sign up. Governments face the unforeseen cost of investing in personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitation supplies to reduce the risk of illness and even death to their workers and voters.' Even if no rules change, the 2020 election will be costly. Congress has already provided some help. On March 27, President Trump signed into law a $2 trillion economic relief package that included $400 million in grants to help states run their elections during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. This was an important first step. Unfortunately, we now know this is not enough.2 In this document we examine the difference between the March 27 federal investment in the electoral process and what will be needed to ensure safe and healthy elec- tions for 2020. We focus on Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. These five states have diverging election administration systems and needs, from the number of elections each will hold this cycle to their requirements for absentee voting. Two common themes stand out. First, what Congress has provided so far is not enough to run safe and secure elections in 2020. Our review shows that the March 27 grants will likely cover anywhere from less than 10 percent of what Georgia officials need to around 18 percent of what Ohio officials need. Second, local election jurisdictions bear the heaviest burden of protecting voters and workers during the elec- tion. In two of the states we examined, local governments must cover over 90 percent of the costs needed to ensure safe and secure elections this year. In all five states, they will bear the overwhelming share of such expenses. The measures that we appraise in this document are critical. They come from our discussions with numerous election officials in each of the five states we examined. States need help developing the infrastructure necessary to support changed voter behavior (e.g., more voters choosing to register online or to vote by mail); Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most