Experts warn of 2020 'meltdown' as election funding faces rocky path through Congress

Worse yet, these experts say that a lack of clarity and resources to distribute and receive ballots on time may lead to legal disputes that challenge the legitimacy of the election itself.With Trump inflaming partisan tensions by claiming — without evidence — that his opponents are “trying to steal the election” from him, American democracy is already a tinderbox, and ill-prepared election systems could be a match.This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of ServiceWeiser said states will have to overhaul their election infrastructure to adjust to the primary methods by which ballots are cast, or “it’s not going to go well.” She said the $3.6 billion in the HEROES Act is in the ballpark of what's necessary to equip states in time.“Failures of Congress to allocate the resources is not an option I want to contemplate. A McConnell aide said the GOP leader believes states should run their own elections free of federal mandates and noted that Congress approved $400 million in assistance in the CARES Act.Arguing against the bill on the House floor on Friday, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said, "Changing election laws won't speed up developments of treatments or cures."Matthew Weil, the director of the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said numerous states are moving to expand absentee voting so Americans can cast mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic.“We’re going to see more vote-by-mail in this presidential election than we’ve ever seen before,” he said.