STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Vice President Harris campaigned in front of some very different kinds of crowds. She spoke Friday in a Pennsylvania county that voted for Trump in 2020. And then, on Saturday night, she addressed the Congressional Black Caucus. The Trump campaign had been lighting one fire after another. JD Vance, the vice presidential nominee, defended spreading false stories about immigrants eating pets.
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JD VANCE: If I have to...
DANA BASH: But it wasn't just a meme, sir.
VANCE: If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do, Dana.
INSKEEP: Senator Vance said the stories came from his Ohio constituents. Some of those constituents had to evacuate schools Friday over threats in Springfield. Also over the weekend, former President Trump wrote on social media, quote, "I hate Taylor Swift," and he attacked mail-in voting, as he has in the past, this time saying the postal service is unready to handle the ballots. The postal service says it is ready.
And all that brings us to our next discussion because people in some states are able to vote now by mail, and early voting comes elsewhere in the coming weeks. David Becker is following all this. He's executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. Good morning, sir.
DAVID BECKER: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: Around how many eligible voters will have access to early voting and mail-in ballots ahead of election day?
BECKER: Well, more than ever before - it's going to be as easy to vote as it's ever been in the United States. Ninety-seven percent of all voters will have access to early in-person voting. That's the highest percentage ever. Voters in every single state except Mississippi, Alabama and New Hampshire - and 36 states, plus D.C., will allow voters to vote by mail without an excuse at all. So the vast majority of voters will have availability of both, and almost everyone will have availability for early in-person voting.
INSKEEP: Do I have this right? I think Oregon, and maybe elsewhere, you can be mailing in your ballots even now. Is that right?
BECKER: Yeah. Ballots are starting to go out in some states this week. We'll see, now that the ticket has been set - the entire ballot up and down has been set, even with some issues, for instance, in North Carolina and Michigan about whether or not RFK Jr. is going to be on the ballot. I think we've resolved all those, and now the ballots have been set. We're going to start seeing them printed and going out this week, next week, to those that have requested them and also, importantly, to military and overseas voters.
INSKEEP: Of course, there was a huge increase in mail-in balloting in 2020 because of the pandemic. And I'm wondering if mail-in balloting is going to be like working from home - something that persists, at least to some degree. Is there going to be more mail-in balloting again this year?
BECKER: So what we saw is a general trend line to more early and mail voting. About 40% of all voters in 2016 voted earlier by mail. That spiked to 69% in 2020. Now, of course, that was somewhat related to the pandemic. And what we've seen since 2020, in 2022 - some settling back down of that to a level that's still well above 50%. So I think what we're going to see is the trend line still continues. Voters like it when they have the options of voting when they choose, how they choose, whether it's at home or whether they go early in person at a time and place of their choosing. And also, it's good for security because when we spread voting out over a variety of methods over many days, our system is much more resilient against things like a cyberattack but also, like, weather or traffic or power outages, the normal things that might happen on any given day.
INSKEEP: In the 30 seconds or so that we've got, you just said it's good for security. As we heard, former President Trump is once again questioning mail-in balloting in different ways. Is this a secure way for me to send in my vote?
BECKER: It's absolutely a secure way for you to send in your vote. It's important to make a plan. Go to vote.gov. You can check out drop-down menu for your state. Go to your state and get information. Get your ballot as early as possible, and return it as early as possible. And if you're worried about the postal service, you can find a drop box. You can drop it off in an election office. Or another great way to vote is early in person. I really encourage people to vote early in person.
INSKEEP: David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. Thanks so much.
BECKER: Thanks so much, Steve.
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