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At least 10 killed after vehicle drives into crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans; AARP Connecticut looks to 2025 legislative session to help residents; Rural towns face proposed postal delays in 2025; SD's Native population sees 'double whammy' of health barriers.

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Political experts examine the future for Democrats. Economists consider what will happen during Trump's first year back in the White House and advocates want Biden to pardon 'deported veterans.'

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2024 was a year complicated by fraught elections, good and bad environment news and uncertainty for rural agriculture. The Yonder Report reviews stories that topped our weekly 2024 newscasts.

Voting Rights Groups Praise Sen. Harris’ 'VoteSafe Act'

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Friday, April 17, 2020   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Voting rights groups are praising the 'VoteSafe Act of 2020,' introduced in Congress yesterday by California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris.

The bill would set aside $5 billion to expand voting by mail and early voting ahead of the November presidential election. Matt Barreto, professor of political science at UCLA and faculty director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project, says California already allows permanent, no-excuse absentee voting and early voting - so it isn't out of the question for other states.

"Some of the more rural counties have already transitioned to 100% vote-by-mail, and do automatically send out ballots to all voters," says Barreto. "So, we're already seeing that in parts of California."

President Donald Trump believes voting by mail would hurt GOP candidates, but a recent UCLA study shows that no party gains an advantage, and red states like Utah and Arizona have used mail-in ballots for years. In addition, the study found that the incidence voter fraud is so minuscule as to make it a nonissue.

The bill would also require all states to allow 20 days of early voting. Baretto points out that the COVID-19 crisis had made it unsafe for voters to wait in long lines, crowd into polling places and touch voting machines used by hundreds of other people.

"The more options we give, that means that there's less people that have to go to the polls on Election Day and risk their health," says Barreto.

He notes that making voting more convenient is especially helpful to low-income voters who may not be able to take time off work to wait in voting lines.

Sen. Harris' bill would also provide grants for states and explore ways to allow curbside voting, to share wait times at polling places, and to make elections more accessible for voters with disabilities.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Foundation of New York.


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