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Former first lady Michelle Obama will back legislation to expand voting-by-mail as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on how states hold primary elections across the country, according to a report on Monday.
“There is nothing partisan about striving to live up to the promise of our country; making the democracy we all cherish more accessible; and protecting our neighbors, friends and loved ones as they participate in this cornerstone of American life,” the former first lady said in a statement given to Axios.
Legislation introduced last month in Congress by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) would require all voters to mail in or drop off paper ballots if 25 percent of states declare a state of emergency because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
All states allow some type of voting by mail, but many come with certain limitations.
Michelle Obama — who, with her husband, former President Barack Obama, has mainly stayed on the sidelines of the 2020 Democratic presidential contest — spoke out last week when people, many wearing masks, stood in blocks-long lines to cast their votes in Wisconsin after the state Supreme Court refused to allow the election to be postponed.
“Today, Wisconsin voters had to choose between making their voice heard and keeping themselves and their family safe. No American should ever have to make that choice,” Michelle Obama wrote on Twitter. “We must do better to ensure voting is safe for all voters.”
Longtime Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, chairman of the board of the When We All Vote voting advocacy organization supported by Michelle Obama, said the voting lines in Wisconsin were “deeply, profoundly concerning.”
The When We All Vote group will encourage people to contact their representatives to support expanding vote-by-mail efforts.
President Trump has made multiple statements opposing mail-in voting, calling it “corrupt.”
