Vote-by-Mail Hangs by a Thread With Trump Raging, Deadlines Near

  • Opposition from Trump, Republicans in Congress stalls funding
  • Coronavirus will cause record demand for mail-in ballots
A voting booth in Milwaukee in April.Photographer: Thomas Werner/Bloomberg
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Election officials have just weeks left to ensure that their states can handle a surge of mail-in votes in November in the face of fierce opposition from President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress.

With just a little more than five months to Election Day, localities and states need to decide soon whether to buy new equipment to help sort, verify and count mail-in ballots -- if they can afford it -- or rely on staff to manually handle the crush of incoming mail.