Lawmakers react to Walz; early voting to begin

Lawmakers react to Vice President Kamala Harris’ VP pick, and early voting for the general election will begin in September.

Harris picks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate

Kamala Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate on Tuesday, giving the vice president a popular figure in Midwest politics and an effective communicator on the Democratic ticket as she looks to defeat former President Donald Trump in November.

Walz, 60, who was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018, has been touted by Democrats as an effective communicator for the party. He has been widely credited with starting the messaging strategy that has taken off within the Harris campaign of branding Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as “weird.” 

“One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep. It’s personal,” Harris wrote in a post on Instagram. “He grew up in a small town in Nebraska, spending summers working on his family’s farm. His father died of cancer when he was 19, and his family relied on Social Security survivor benefit checks to make ends meet. At 17, he enlisted in the National Guard, serving for 24 years. He used his GI Bill benefits to go to college, and become a teacher. He served as both the football coach and the advisor of the Gay-Straight Alliance.”

Harris went on to say that Walz’s background “informs his record,” hailing his bipartisan work on infrastructure investments in the state, as well as his efforts cutting taxes for working families and passage of law guaranteeing paid family and medical leave.

“He made Minnesota the first state in the country to pass a law providing constitutional abortion protections after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and as an avid hunter, he passed a bill requiring universal background checks for gun purchases,” she added. “But what impressed me most about Tim is his deep commitment to his family: Gwen, Gus, and Hope. Doug and I look forward to working with him and Gwen to build an administration that reflects our shared values.”

Walz called it the “honor of a lifetime” in a post of his own on social media.

“I’m all in. Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school,” said Walz, a former educator. “So, let’s get this done, folks!”

Democrats give Walz pick glowing reviews while Republicans attack him as extreme

Democrats are praising Vice President Kamala Harris’ pick of Tim Walz as her running mate, while Republicans are attacking the Minnesota governor as a liberal extremist.

All five of the other finalists Harris was reportedly considering quickly threw their support behind Walz.

“I know that Governor Tim Walz is an exceptionally strong addition to the ticket who will help Kamala move our country forward,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, one of those finalists, said in a statement, adding he will attend Tuesday’s rally for Harris and Walz in Philadelphia.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who was also in the running, added in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Vice President @KamalaHarris and Governor @Tim_Walz are going to move us forward. They’re already building a campaign to unite our country.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, an Indiana native, said he’s excited for what Walz’s “Midwestern voice, military experience, and common-sense values will bring to our winning ticket.” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Walz “is a proven leader who brings to public service the big heart and hard work of a Midwesterner.” And Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called Walz “a great friend and a great choice.”

Hours before Harris and Walz were set to take the stage in Philadelphia, Ohio Sen. JD Vance held an event of his own in the City of Brotherly Love where he slammed the nascent Democratic ticket as the wrong choice for America.

Vance blasted Harris as a “disaster as vice president,” seeking to blame her for both wars in Ukraine and Gaza and “chaos in the world financial markets” — though the stock market rallied back Tuesday after suffering its worst day in two years on Monday — and told supporters that “we have got to kick her out of the United States government” rather than “give her a promotion.”

The Ohio lawmaker took questions from reporters after introducing two speakers who sought to tie addiction and crime to the Biden administration’s immigration policies — one woman who lost her daughter to an accidental overdose, another who said her brother “battles with addiction” and blamed Democrats for exacerbating the fentanyl crisis and crime in Philadelphia. (A report from the Center for American Progress from June found that Philadelphia is actually seeing the largest decline in gun violence this year among all major American cities.)

U.S. government data undercuts the claim that people seeking asylum and other border crossers are responsible for drug trafficking. At a hearing last year, James Mandryck, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection deputy assistant commissioner, said 73% of fentanyl seizures at the border since the previous October were smuggling attempts carried out by U.S. citizens, with the rest being done by Mexican citizens.

Vance also sought to contrast his willingness to speak to members of the media to that of Harris, a line of attack from Republicans since she began seeking the Democratic presidential nomination after President Joe Biden stepped aside.

“For 16 days and counting, the American media has been unable to ask her a question,” Vance said. “Now, agree or disagree with me and (former) President (Donald) Trump, nobody would dispute that. We will go anywhere, and we will talk to anyone, and we will answer any question.”

Postal Service prepares for vote-by-mail across the country

One reason for presidential debates to be held in early September is because that’s when the voting begins.

Some states will begin sending out mail-in ballots early next month.

In Florida, mail-in ballots for November will start being sent by the end of September.

“Both voting by mail and voting in person, at an early vote center, or on election day. They are all secure methods of voting,” Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center Kim Wyman said.

Wyman has worked with the postal service on mail ballot elections in Washington State for more than 30 years. She says more and more people are taking advantage of the mail-in option.

“I think what’s really changed in the last probably 10 years is there is a technology that is really aiding the USPS, and allowing voters to track their own ballot,” she said.

The United States saw a surge in vote-by-mail during the 2020 election, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The postal service delivered at least 135 million ballots to and from voters, a 10th of a percent of its total mail volume. It reports it has more than enough capacity to handle all election mail in 2024.

Many voters who began voting by mail during the pandemic have said they plan to keep mailing in their ballots.

“I think Republicans are kind of coming around to that idea (that) mail-in ballots aren’t going to hurt them,” said University of Arizona political science professor Samara Klar. “In fact, they’re probably going to help them.” 

Former President Donald Trump has changed his tune about mail-in voting from his original stance in 2020.

“Voting is an honor. It shouldn’t be something where they send you a pile of stuff and you send it back,” he said at the time.

In the present, he urged supporters to vote by mail.

“If you want to save America, get your friends, get your family, get everyone you know and vote,” Trump said this year. “You got to vote early. Vote absentee. I don’t care how you vote.”

Rules for voting by mail vary from state to state.

Eight states and the District of Columbia automatically send all registered voters a ballot in the mail. They can choose whether to fill it out and mail it back, or vote in person on election day.

Some other states offer “no-excuse” absentee voting, where any registered voter can request a mail-in ballot, and they don’t have to have a reason.

The remaining states require voters to request a mail-in ballot, and give a valid reason in order to get one.

“In some states you have to have a written excuse, and it has to meet certain criteria to qualify,” Wyman said. “And in other states, you just have to have some reason why you can’t be at the polling place during election day or in the early voting period.”

If you plan on mailing in a ballot, the Postal Service recommends voters to send it at least one week before their state’s deadline. Experts suggest voters checking with their state or local election offices to see what the requirements are in their state.