On Wednesday’s broadcast of SiriusXM’s “Dean Obeidallah Show,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said Republicans and President Donald Trump’s opposition to mail-in voting was an attempt to stop “people of color from participating in the upcoming 2020 general election.
Obeidallah asked, “Mail-in ballots — you use this in Oregon. You have people on the right saying, ‘Oh, it is wrought with fraud.’ Tell us how has it been in your state?”
Merkley said, “It is incredible we have been doing it since the year 2000.”
He continued, “We have had essentially no scandals.”
He added, “It stops so many forms of voter suppression and voter intimidation. The Republicans are trying to stop poor people from voting, they’re trying to stop college students from voting, people of color from voting, Indian tribes from voting. So many different ways you can attempt to make it hard. Well, this says you know what, you can’t use all those tricks. You can’t understaff it. You can’t create a four-hour wait in line. You can’t move the polling place at the last second and get with away that. That’s why I’m really pushing for a guaranteed mail-in ballot, no excuses this November across the country.”
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