We Must Vote in November. This Is How to Ensure That We Can.

(This op-ed was first published in The New York Times on March 26, 2020.)

Voting Technology 2

Voters should not have to choose between casting a ballot and risking their health. They should not have to endure confusion over the location of polling places or the availability of vote-by-mail. Yet voters might face exactly those problems in November if we do not act now to protect the election from Covid-19.

To safeguard the inclusivity and legitimacy of our elections, the federal government should provide resources that states should use in a credible, bipartisan fashion.

We must act now. Elections — American democracy itself — should not be among the pandemic’s victims.

 

(Continue reading the op-ed on The New York Times’ page here.)

Bob Bauer, a law professor at New York University, Ben Ginsberg, a partner at Jones Day, and Nathaniel Persily, a law professor at Stanford University, were members of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration of 2013-14.