WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Monday that Democrats will push for a vote-by-mail provision in Congress' next coronavirus relief package.
In an interview on MSNBC’s LIVE with Stephanie Ruhle, Pelosi said that it's important to protect the “life of our democracy” as the coronavirus crisis continues.
“In this next bill, we will be supporting vote by mail in a very important way -- we think it’s a health issue at this point,” Pelosi said.
Democrats have been for weeks pushing mail-in voting before May and June primary contests— over a dozen of which have been postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus— and as they look ahead to the November election.
President Donald Trump, however, opposes the idea and has urged Republicans to fight the effort.
A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that a majority of voters — 58 percent — are in favor of allowing voters nationwide to cast their ballots by mail.
It’s unclear when Congress will consider another aid measure since lawmakers are now back in their districts. Lawmakers last week passed another relief bill to re-fund the Paycheck Protection Program and to send more money to hospitals.
And as some states begin to reopen their economies, Pelosi said Monday that officials must think about whether it “jeopardizes the lives of the American people.”
“We have to handle it with care,” she said.
