Statement from Jana Morgan, Director of the Declaration for American Democracy – a coalition of 160 organizations from the labor, racial justice, voting rights, faith, environmental, women’s rights, good government, and many other important communities – in response to President Trump’s erroneous comments around mail-in voting and suggestion to delay the election:
“The facts are simple. The president does not have the authority to delay the presidential election. This authority lies with Congress and would take a change in federal law.
These comments are reckless and false, especially at a time when we should be working towards ensuring Americans have a safe way to vote come November. Absentee voting, which the president agrees is ‘good,’ and universal mail-in voting are one in the same, despite what he repeatedly says. His disinformation campaign about vote-by-mail is meant to sow distrust in our political system and encourage voter suppression amidst a global pandemic.
If the president wants a proper, secure and safe election, there is a simple solution. He should urge Senate Republicans to invest more than the zero dollars for protecting our election we saw in the HEALS Act released earlier this week. Americans want more options for ways to safely vote in November; the Senate should immediately adopt the reforms outlined in the HEROES Act, passed by the House two months ago to deal with these very concerns, and allocate the $3.6 billion needed to secure our elections. Time is running out to act.”
