Stimulus Checks Prove Vote-by-Mail Should Be Allowed, Virginia Senator Says
Senator Mark Warner has thrown his support behind mail-in ballots and has cited the stimulus check [...]
Senator Mark Warner has thrown his support behind mail-in ballots and has cited the stimulus check as the reason. In a tweet sent on July 7, the Democratic lawmaker cited all the things that the government trusts the Post Office with, including stimulus checks, social security cards, passports and even the IDs used to vote.
The issue of mail-in ballots has become a renewed topic of conversation as the coronavirus pandemic continues, which many argue could prevent voters from traveling to the polls. Of course, there's been sharp opposition to the matter, namely from President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly claimed it'll lead to unprecedented voter fraud without evidence. All 50 states already provide a mail-in ballot to any registered voters, although roughly one-third require an excuse of some kind. A small number even mail an absentee ballot to voters automatically.
If the Trump administration believes it’s safe to mail stimulus checks, SS cards & checks, passports, birth certificates, and the ID used to register to vote, then why not the ballot to cast your vote?
Voting by mail should be implemented nationwide. https://t.co/XT0DI8MRXO
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) July 7, 2020
Back in June, Trump tweeted that mail-in ballots would lead to the "most RIGGED" election in U.S. history "unless this stupidity is ended." He also claimed that the nation voted in-person throughout both world wars, again without evidence, but added that "now they are using COVID in order to cheat by using Mail-Ins!"
The president's tweets about mail-in voting have also prompted Twitter to label them with fact-check, deeming it as potential harmful information to the upcoming 2020 election. "There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent," Trump tweeted in May, which was one of the first marked with a fact-check disclaimer. "Mail boxes [sic] will be robbed, ballots will be forged and even illegally printed out and fraudulently signed."
He also went after California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he accused of "sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there," and that these kinds of acts "will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote." He also said that mail-in voting would lead to a "rigged" election, nor was he a fan of the fact-check labels themselves.