Leading Off
●Coronavirus: As the coronavirus pandemic grows worse, schools and public services have shut down as authorities urge people to distance themselves from others to avoid spreading the disease. Thanks in large part to Donald Trump lying to downplay the crisis for his own self-interest, the virus threatens to create major disruptions in many aspects of life and endangers the lives of countless Americans. But holding November's elections on time is essential to ensure the legitimacy and stability of our political system in the face of the ongoing public health crisis and the economic crisis it is causing, which is why voting by mail is an indispensable tool for ensuring voting is safe.
Congress and every state that has not yet done so should adopt universal voting by mail to ensure our elections keep running. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced a bill on Wednesday that would provide $500 million in emergency funding to help states mitigate election disruptions and mandate that they offer mail voting in November.
Louisiana officials took a very different tack, announcing on Friday that they would postpone their April presidential primary to June 20, but this isn't a viable option for many states, nor is it a desirable one. Postponing or canceling November's general elections could produce a constitutional crisis and cripple Congress once its current term expires on Jan. 3. Elections still took place even amid the Civil War, and absentee voting itself was an innovation born of necessity during the war in several Northern states that didn't want to disenfranchise the soldiers who were fighting to save the Union.