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51 State Democratic Party Chairs Sign Letter Urging Protection of U.S. Elections from COVID-19

03/31/2020

Today, 51 State Democratic Party Chairs from across the United States, the Territories, and Democrats Abroad released a letter urging swift action from federal and state elected officials to protect our voting infrastructure from the coronavirus. The full text of the letter and a list of signatories can be found at the following link and in the body of this press release: https://dfl.org/defending-democracy

“In the United States of America, voters should never have to choose between protecting their health and casting their ballots,” said Ken Martin, President of the Association of State Democratic Committees, Vice-Chair of the Democratic National Committee, and Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. “Today, the leaders of 51 State Democratic Parties are calling on our elected officials to enact a set of reforms that will guarantee the freedom to vote does not end up as yet another casualty of this loathsome virus.”

“The reforms we are proposing are not radical, they’ve already been tested by states across the country and they work,” added Martin. “It’s time for lawmakers to listen to the results from years of trials in our laboratories of democracy and enact these reforms nationwide.”

“In Washington State, we had record-breaking turnout in our presidential primary election with nearly 2.3 million votes cast — despite Seattle being one of the early epicenters of this outbreak in the U.S. — because our Democratic majorities in the state legislature have already passed nearly all these reforms,” said Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party and Vice Chair of the DNC’s Western Region Caucus. “We’ve long recognized in Washington that nothing should stand between an American and their right to vote and this pandemic is no exception.”