The recent 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Wisconsin primary had the unfortunate consequence that thousands of voters who had timely requested absentee ballots, but had not yet received them by Election Day, had a choice of not having their votes counted or violating a state stay-at-home order and risking their health (and potentially their lives) by going to vote in person.
The current pandemic highlights the need in the upcoming presidential election to give everyone the option of voting by mail.
Republicans in Congress are opposed to this, citing the potential for increased voter fraud. This is a pretext. The real reason is that increased turnout will hurt Republican candidates.
Utah should be a model for the rest of the country. We have had fraud-free, high-turnout vote-by-mail elections. Maybe our congressional representatives and senators can put country over party and show their colleagues they have nothing to fear by making it easier for every citizen to vote.
Ira Rubinfeld, Salt Lake City