The 2020 election has officially begun with early in-person voting kicking off Thursday in Minnesota and South Dakota. Five more states — Michigan, New Jersey, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming — opened polling locations Friday.
But as Americans head to the polls, election integrity threats remain. A survey of the nation's IT professionals found concerns about election security and preparedness. Similarly, the FBI told Congress that Russia's out meddling again — this time focused on spreading misinformation rather than hacking.
Meanwhile, the Postal Service got sued by Colorado after sending a one-size-fits-all postcard across the country about voting by mail — with information that's incorrect, misleading or just doesn't apply in many states.
Louis DeJoy quickly apologized, just as a federal judge signaled he didn't trust the postmaster general's word and blocked all the operational and policy changes that have slowed the mail this summer.
For voting rights advocates, there was a run of good news out of the nation's courthouses. Pennsylvania's top court said mailed votes could get delayed in the mail three days and still be counted. A federal judge blocked Michigan's unique law against paying to get somebody else to the polls. Another federal judge made getting an absentee ballot in Louisiana slightly easier.
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And South Carolina decided to open mail voting to everyone, leaving just five states requiring a non-Covid reason to vote absentee.
More stories of note:
- The vote-by-mail surge is headed for a bottleneck as just 16 states can start counting mail ballots before Election Day.
- Ohio won't be covering the cost of stamps for absentee voters.
- After a court ruling, Wisconsin will move ahead with mail ballot distribution — without the Green Party ticket, though.
- Also in Wisconsin, the state found only 19 instances of suspected voter fraud out of 5.2 million votes cast in the state's last three elections.
Voting ends in 44 days. Are you ready?
— Sara Swann