Tierney Sneed for TPM:
The pandemic stands to bring a major surge of mail-in and absentee voting, both in the remaining spring and summer elections, and in the general election this fall.
But the system — critical for keeping voters safe and slowing the spread of the coronavirus — is not without its shortcomings, and those shortcomings can disproportionately affect minority voters.
As election officials scramble to expand their absentee programs, voter advocates are pressing them to preserve adequate in-person voting options, pointing specifically to the obstacles faced by voters of color. They are also noting the ways that vote-by-mail systems — particularly, if implemented sloppily — tend to disenfranchise minority voters at a higher rate than white ones.