Salem, Oregon – Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has once again stood up to support voting by mail for everyone in the country. He has reintroduced a bill that would make it possible for every American to vote from home. The Vote at Home Act, which was recently introduced in Congress, wants to bring the model that has been utilized in Oregon for a long time to the rest of the country. This will allow every eligible voter to safely and easily cast their ballot without leaving their home.
The main purpose of Wyden’s plan is to get rid of problems that many Americans have at the polls. The new law says that all registered voters would get their ballots in the mail weeks before Election Day. There would be prepaid return envelopes, so it would be easy to send ballots back without having to pay anything. The bill also states that states must set up places where people can drop off their ballots if they don’t want to send them in.
The law includes a big change: automatic voter registration at state DMVs. This means that everybody who gives their information when they get or renew their driver’s license will be registered to vote, unless they choose not to. Wyden and his supporters say that this plan will help get millions of people who aren’t registered to vote on the rolls, which will make the democratic process stronger.
Senator Wyden is pushing for vote-at-home legislation again after a series of state-level steps that voting rights advocates say might make it harder to vote. People have criticized recent actions in Congress, like the House’s passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, since they could keep millions of people from voting if they change their name or don’t have a passport.
Wyden said that these kinds of attempts were inappropriate since many Americans can’t afford to take time off work or wait in large lines to vote. He said that voting should not be a privilege for people who have flexible schedules, reliable transportation, or government-issued passports, but a basic right that everyone should have.
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Val Hoyle, a member of the House from Oregon, also introduced a bill that goes along with it. She said that Oregon’s own experience shows how mail-in voting may help, stating that it not only gets more people to vote but also leaves a paper trail for extra protection.
“Voting is a Constitutionally protected right and I’ll fight to make sure every eligible voter can make their voice heard. I am proud to introduce legislation with Senator Wyden that does exactly that,” Hoyle said.
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The Vote at Home Act also addresses the practical costs involved. The federal government would pay the United States Postal Service to handle all ballots. This would make it easier for voters to get their votes and would take some of the financial load off of the states.
Before the last presidential election, all 50 states allowed people to vote from home. In the 2020 election, almost half of all federal ballots were cast from home as rules were changed to make voting easier for everyone. Wyden’s bill would make such temporary measures permanent. Its goal is to help people with health issues, demanding jobs, or family commitments get the help they need.
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A group of Senate Democrats have joined Wyden as co-sponsors, signaling a unified push to expand voting access. Wyden and his colleagues want to set a new national standard as the measure moves forward. This standard will make sure that every voice can be heard, no matter where voters live or what problems they have on Election Day.
The text of the bill is here.
