Nancy Pelosi defends pushing $3.6B voting-by-mail package

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended two costly provisions included in House Democrats’ recently passed $3 trillion coronavirus relief package, arguing that the $3.6 billion for voting-by-mail and a $25 billion bailout for the Postal Service would provide safety and convenience to Americans.

Speaking during a Wednesday evening appearance on MSNBC, Pelosi (D-Calif.) stressed that the House package, which is expected to be killed in the Senate, was aimed at making voting and shopping easier and less risky.

“We’re now calling it ‘Voting at Home’ because that’s really what it’s all about — enabling people to vote at home,” the California Democrat told the network.

Pelosi said the proposal would allow for the implementation of same-day voter registration and the distribution of absentee ballots for all voters. She added that those with disabilities or health concerns would also benefit from the proposal.

Referencing Wisconsin being left unable to postpone their recent primary elections, Pelosi called in-person voting in the era of coronavirus “dangerous.”

“Standing in those lines, for that amount of time, going to places that are enclosed, is dangerous to your health,” she said before asserting that voting-by-mail was “more Democratic.”

“It gives people more options, it removes obstacles and barriers to voting, which is what we want to do,” she continued.

While Democrats have been backing the mail-in-voting push, President Trump and his GOP allies have railed against the practice.

“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans,” the commander-in-chief tweeted in early April.

That same week, Trump again slammed the scheme when asked during the White House daily coronavirus briefing about being critical of the process when he personally voted by mail.

“Mail-in voting is horrible, it’s corrupt,” he said of submitting ballots by mail.

“Because I have to be in the White House, I won’t be able to go to Florida to vote,” but there is a difference between “somebody out of state and does a ballot and everything sealed, certified and everything else.”

Trump went on to defend his position further, saying “dumping” existed in mail-in voting.

“I think if you vote, you should go, and even the concept of early voting is not the greatest…You look at what they do where they grab thousands of mail-in ballots and they dump it. I’ll tell you what. I don’t have to tell you. You can look at the statistics. There is a lot of dishonesty going on with mail-in voting, mail-in ballots.”

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