Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden said November’s election can’t be postponed and that there’s going to have to be some kind of solution that balances public health risks with Americans’ constitutional right to vote.
“We’re going to have to conduct the election on November 3rd,” Mr. Biden said in an interview that aired Tuesday on NBC. “We have to make our democracy as well as dealing with the disease function — we can do both. We should be thinking now ahead.”
Mr. Biden had been asked what happens if it’s not safe for people to vote in November.
“Have all the experts, both political parties and academia laying out what it would take to have voting by mail,” he said. “I’d much prefer to have in-person voting, but it depends. It depends on the state of play, but we cannot delay or postpone a constitutionally required November election.”
Voters in Wisconsin were heading to the polls on Tuesday despite a stay-at-home order and guidance from federal officials saying people should avoid going out in public if they can amid the coronavirus outbreak. The state Supreme Court had blocked a last-minute move from Gov. Tony Evers to try to delay in-person voting.
Mr. Biden has built an almost insurmountable delegate lead over Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont in the 2020 Democratic presidential race.
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The former vice president and other Democrats have called to expand vote-by-mail options, though Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel warned against that push this week.
Some analysts have said expanding vote-by-mail is a potential solution to holding elections amid the COVID-19 outbreak, but that a universal vote-by-mail scheme could disproportionately limit certain populations from voting, like Native Americans who live on reservations and people with disabilities.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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