Right-wing media are trying to scare you into voting in person during a pandemic - 2020-05-22
Right-wing media are trying to scare you into voting in person during a pandemic May 22, 2020,
As the coronavirus pandemic is making traditional in-person voting at crowded polling locations into a public health risk, some state election officials and House Democrats have taken steps to expand mail-in ballots, a plan that would take funding and preparation but which could successfully minimize the dangers. But right-wing media personalities are still arguing for in-person voting during the crisis, unleashing a series of attacks on vote by mail efforts -- the latest evolution in a longstanding pattern of right-wing media fearmongering against increased access to voting and common-sense election reforms.
Right-wing outlets have a history of pushing misinformation about voter fraud and promoting methods of voter suppression, including purging voter rolls and voter ID laws. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have continued this pattern by claiming that extending mail-in ballots to all registered voters will result in widespread fraud; arguing that Democrats will intensify this problem through the practice of ballot harvesting; and claiming that the only way to cast a ballot safely and securely is to vote in person amid a public health crisis.
False claim: Allowing people to vote by mail poses a high risk of fraud
