WASHINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic could permanently alter the shape of US elections, with the nation’s former attorney general recommending people be able to cast their votes from home.
Eric Holder, who served as Attorney General from 2009 to 2015, said voting should also last for several days, after the COVID-19 pandemic wreacked havoc on the Democratic primary.
“We have to provide safe and healthy polling places so that the poll workers and those who want to cast a ballot in person have opportunities to do that while they’re protecting themselves, Holder said in an interview with Time Magazine.
“You want to expand the number of voting days. Get creative about this,” he continued, calling for a “sea change” in thinking about how elections take place.
Wisconsin voters last week were forced to head to the polls despite the deadly COVID-19 crisis in what was described by pundits, including former president Barack Obama, as a “debacle.”
“Allow people to access their primary American right by voting at home. It’s not as if this is an untried concept. Oregon has been doing this for years,” Holder told Time.
“Coronavirus gives us an opportunity to revamp our electoral system so that it permanently becomes more inclusive and becomes easier for the American people to access,” he added.
