Gov. Phil Murphy discusses mail-in voting, previews the Democratic National Convention
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Democratic National Convention co-chair, joins Chris Wallace with insight on 'Fox News Sunday.'
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called for additional funds for the U.S. postal system after he announced that all registered voters in his state will be sent mail-in ballots, and the USPS warned that it may not have the resources to properly handle the volume that November's election could yield.
“I support unequivocally more money for the postal service,” Murphy told "Fox News Sunday."
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In an interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday, the president acknowledged blocking funding to the U.S. Postal Service to prevent mail-in voting in the upcoming presidential election. He has expressed concern that sending ballots to all voters -- rather than having them apply for absentee ballots -- exposes the system to fraud.
When asked if he believes Trump and the head of the USPS were playing politics with the postal service, Murphy, a Democrat, said he could not say.
Murphy explained that New Jersey will be using a “hybrid option” that includes sending ballots to all registered voters that can be mailed in, providing ballot drop-off boxes in locations around the state, and having traditional in-person voting.
Murphy said “we liked what we saw” when the state used a similar approach during the May primary. Host Chris Wallace pointed out that in some cases ballots went to the wrong people and some did not get ballots at all, and that a local election in the city of Paterson resulted in criminal charges against several individuals for fraud.
Murphy argued that the Paterson incident could be viewed as a positive because people “tried to screw with the system and they failed.”
When asked what safeguards are in place to prevent fraud, however, Murphy did not give a specific answer.
“We’ve got checks and balances for all of that,” the governor said without elaboration. As far as everyone having the ability to submit ballots, he said, “We all want to make sure that every vote counts.”
Murphy is the co-chair of the Democratic convention, which begins Monday with prominent figures delivering addresses remotely. He said now is the time to put bitter politics aside and focus on unity instead.
"We’ve got to put the 'us versus them' in the rearview mirror and come together in common purpose," Murphy said.
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The governor shrugged off concerns that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's choice to have Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as his running mate could be a mistake because she is not far enough to the left.
"I think she is a fantastic choice," he said.
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