California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Friday to ensure every registered voter in the state is automatically mailed a ballot ahead of the November general election. “Mail-in-ballot is important,” Newsom said. But he added that the executive order “is not an exclusive substitute to physical locations.” Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who is pushing for a 50-state vote-by-mail plan ahead of the general election, said this order makes California “the first state in the nation to respond to COVID-19 by taking this action of sending every voter a ballot in the mail in advance of the November election.” Padilla said the state will “not force voters to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote.” Padilla also said postage for those mail-in ballots will be prepaid, so voters don’t have to scramble last minute for a stamp. “I think that is huge,” Padilla said. “There is no safer, physically healthier way to exercise your right to vote than from the safety and convenience of your own home,” he added. Padilla also insisted this “is not a vote-by-mail only election.”
But the Republican National Committee issued a statement highlighting what it described as voter fraud that could result from vote-by-mail. “While we have always supported absentee voting, California is a case study in why automatically sending this many ballots is a problem,” the RNC statement said. “Just last year, a court found that L.A. county had 1.5 million ineligible voters on their registration lists, meaning there were 112% more registered voters than adults living in the county. We are weighing our legal options to ensure the integrity of the election.” Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh made a similar argument, calling it a “thinly-veiled political tactic” by Newsom to “undermine election security.” “There’s a vast difference between people voting absentee by mail because they can’t be at the polls on Election Day versus mailing everyone a ballot,” Murtaugh said. “Sending everyone a ballot – even those who didn’t request one – is a wide open opportunity for fraud.”
CBS News campaign reporter Musadiq Bidar reports local counties have until the end of this month to provide the state with clarity on their plans for in-person voting requirements. Newsom said if those plans are not in by May 30, a second executive order might be needed to resolve issues. California already allows vote-by mail but voters have to specifically make a request for the ballot. This executive order makes it so that every voter is automatically mailed a ballot without having to make that request.
During the March 3, 2020, presidential primary, more than 75% of California voters received a vote-by-mail ballot. Under this executive order every registered voter who is currently living in California will receive a ballot 29 days prior to Election Day. Military and voters living abroad will be mailed their ballots 45 days before Election Day. Padilla is now urging voters to make sure their registration information is up to date.
FROM THE CANDIDATES
JOE BIDEN
On Friday afternoon, Joe Biden delivered an “economic address” responding to the newest unemployment stats via the progressive news platform NowThis. He started by wearing a face mask, seemingly a symbolic gesture as he was inside his Delaware home, CBS News campaign reporter Bo Erickson reports. At the top of the speech, Biden proceeded to take off the mask off and criticized President Trump’s handling of both the public health and economic response to the pandemic. Biden said the economy is “all made worse because it didn’t have to be this way. Donald Trump utterly failed to prepare us for this pandemic and delayed taking the necessary steps to safeguard us from the near worse-case economic scenario we are now living.” Biden also inserted some barbs toward Mr. Trump, saying that after the pandemic, the economy will need to work for everyone and ensure “everyone gets a fair shot, not just the Mar-a-Lago crowd.” Biden also said “Trump-onomics” means “no strings” and “no oversight” during the pandemic financial assistance. The presumptive Democratic nominee said he would be releasing in a few weeks a full plan to revive the economy, and on Friday, he repeated stump speech objectives about the middle class being the “backbone of America.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP
Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday morning, just as the vice president was getting ready to fly to Des Moines, Iowa. Air Force Two was delayed an hour, according to pool reports, and six other staffers were asked to deplane and get tested out of an abundance of caution. Miller was not initially identified as the staffer but shortly after the news broke, Mr. Trump told reporters during a meeting with Republican members of Congress that “a young woman, Katie,” tested positive. “It is a press person,” the president added. Soon after, CBS News confirmed Katie Miller, press secretary to the vice president, and wife of White House adviser Stephen Miller, as the staffer in question. CBS News campaign reporter Musadiq Bidar says this leads to the possibility that the entire West Wing of the White House has now been directly or indirectly exposed to the coronavirus. Mr. Trump said “she hasn’t come into contact with me,” but added that she “spent time with the vice president.” Earlier in the day, a senior administration official told pool reporters “the person was not on the plane and not scheduled to be on the trip” to Des Moines. According to the print pool reports, the senior administration official said “the vice president and the president have not had contact with this person recently.” The official added that about 10 people in Pence’s circle are tested regularly. In Iowa, Pence met with faith leaders to encourage churches to reopen responsibly. Pence told faith leaders in Des Moines he’s “grateful” they are “thoughtfully and carefully” stepping back into the exercise of beliefs on the basis of “faith and not fear.” The vice president also held a roundtable on securing the food supply with Hy-Vee supermarket employees.
Mr. Trump told reporters during a GOP Conference Friday he thinks COVID-19 will “go away” without a vaccine. “I feel about vaccines like I feel about tests,” the president said. “This is going to go away without a vaccine. It’s going to go away and we’re not going to see it hopefully after a period of time. You may have some flare-ups, I guess.” Trump campaign officials met at the White House with the president on Thursday ahead of an eight-figure ad blitz targeting Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee. Senior campaign officials confirm to CBS News campaign reporter Nicole Sganga the Trump campaign is exploring ways for the president to return to the campaign trail as states reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic. No campaign events have been formally announced. Mr. Trump has made clear he misses large rallies and hopes to return to the trail ahead of the November election, telling Fox News on Sunday, “I would hope that within maybe the last couple of months, we’ll be able to do rallies in various states.” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale announced on Twtter that new campaign branded masks will be available to supporters soon. On Friday, Mr. Trump said he does not know if a sexual allegation made against Biden is true. “That’s a battle he has to fight,” Mr. Trump told Fox News. “I’ve had many false accusations made. I can tell you that many – and maybe it is a false accusation, frankly, I hope it is for his sake.”
Mr. Trump said Friday he has seen the tape of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man who was shot while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested a father and son on Thursday, charging them with Arbery’s murder and aggravated assault. Mr. Trump called the tape “heartbreaking,” adding that he has seen pictures of Arbery. “You know, my heart goes out to the parents and the family and friends,” Mr. Trump said. “Yet we have to take it – law enforcement is going to look at it and they have a good governor in the state.” The president did not indicate federal law enforcement are involved in the case at this time.
AD WARS
PAC ATTACK
The pro-Biden Super PAC Unite the Country launched a new ad today called “Deserve.” CBS News political unit associate producer Sarah Ewall-Wice says it kicked off their $10 million investment ahead of the Democratic National Convention that is scheduled to take place in Milwaukee in August. In the one-minute spot, Biden’s voice can be heard under a montage of old family pictures recalling how when he was a kid, his dad had to tell him he would have to leave the family in Pennsylvania to find work in Delaware. Biden has shared many times on the campaign trail the story of his dad losing his job. “For the rest of our life, my dad never failed to remind us that a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about your place in the community. It’s about being able to look your child in the eye and say, ‘honey, it’s going to be ok,’ and know it’s true,” Biden can be heard saying. The ad also highlights Biden’s role in leading the 2009 Recovery Act. According to Kantar Media tracking, Unite the Country has spent more than $10.5 million on ads since mid-December through late April.
CONGRESSIONAL COVERAGE
IN THE HOUSE
A poll by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in battleground districts showed more approval for how House Democrats have been handling the pandemic reports CBS News political unit broadcast associate Aaron Navarro. In the internal poll, for districts with incumbent Democrats 45% of respondents said they approve of the job of their Member of Congress, 25% disapprove and 30% didn’t know enough to give a rating. The poll was conducted in 41 districts Trump won in 2016 and 16 districts Clinton won, where the battle for the House in November could play out.
The poll also gauged what issues and messages mattered most to voters, and found that the message of Republicans trying to take away healthcare resonated the most. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump said during a briefing that they want to “terminate health care under Obamacare.” The Supreme Court is set to hear a case led by Republican states this fall on whether to repeal parts or all of the Affordable Care Act. The DCCC poll found that 62% of respondents in districts with Republican incumbents had raised doubts about their lawmaker’s handling of COVID-19, due to the ongoing battle against the ACA.
STATE-BY-STATE
ARIZONA
Years before Biden was the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee and Mark Kelly was the best-funded Senate candidate in the country, Republicans say they were already ramping up their operation to defend Arizona. The state is now a key battleground where Democrats, citing promising polls and a recent Senate victory, hope to score a win in a state that last elected a Democrat to the White House nearly three decades ago. Arizona Democrats claim they are planning their largest ever ground operation this cycle. But Mr. Trump’s team already has more than 30 staff on the ground, with thousands more Arizonans trained through their volunteer program. “The RNC understands, and the president understands, that Arizona is a top priority state and the resources are following,” Greg Safsten, executive director of Arizona’s Republican Party, told CBS News campaign reporter Alex Tin this week as Mr. Trump made his second visit to the state in under three months.
NEVADA
Clark County, which includes Las Vegas and is by far Nevada’s most populous county, announced changes to expand access to their upcoming primary. This led Democrats to declare victory and abandon their motion against the Nevada Secretary of State over the June contest. But now Republicans have accused them of a “power grab” and a “shady deal” and a GOP official told the Las Vegas Review Journal that they could sue the county “into oblivion if we have to” over the changes. “Americans deserve to have confidence in their elections, and we will not stand idly by while Democrats try to sue their way to victory in November,” GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. The threat came as Republicans have touted doubling their litigation budget to $20 million, waging court battles over a raft of coronavirus-related election changes around the country. “Republican threats will never break our commitment to fighting on behalf of Nevada voters,” Molly Forgey, spokesperson for the Nevada State Democratic party, tells CBS News campaign reporter Alex Tin in a statement.
