Election officials in Arizona are planning to send an application for a mail ballot to every voter who has not signed up to receive one, which proponents argue is one way of ensuring fears of the new coronavirus do not dampen participation in the 2020 election.
President Donald Trump has assailed similar plans in other states, but he hasn’t spoken out about the plans in Arizona.
A growing number of Arizonans have embraced voting by mail over the past several years, but promoting the option has gained new urgency in recent months as the new coronavirus pandemic has prompted election officials to rethink polling places with social distancing and sanitation in mind.
Trump, however, blasted election officials in Michigan and Nevada this week, arguing that such steps are unnecessary and making the unfounded claim that voting by mail is rife with fraud.
“Mail-in ballots are very dangerous. There’s tremendous fraud involved and tremendous illegality,” the president told reporters at the White House on Wednesday, threatening to cut certain funding for Michigan if it proceeded.
Trump’s own campaign has encouraged voters to cast ballots by mail, however, and Republican voters in Arizona have embraced the practice.
