Senator Jeff Merkley: Attacks On Vote-By-Mail Have No Place in Employee Free Choice Debate

June 4, 2009 -- Washington, DC – In recent days, opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act have turned their fire toward a voting method that has been used successfully in Oregon for over a decade: vote-by-mail. Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today laid out the facts for these new opponents of vote-by-mail.

“Unfortunately, opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act have chosen to target vote-by-mail as part of their misguided attempts to make it harder for workers to choose whether or not they want to form unions. This simply shows that they are grasping at straws to derail this important legislation without regard to the facts or the proven history of vote-by-mail.

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“Incredibly, one opponent even went so far as to say that, ‘You can’t sidestep coercion by moving it from the parking lot to the living room.’ I would challenge him to make that statement to the people of Oregon who have happily made their electoral decisions in the comfort and security of their living rooms and kitchens for a decade.

“Of course, these attacks are merely a smokescreen designed to block legislation that will empower workers and help our middle class. But casting derision on vote-by-mail is hardly the way to honestly debate the Employee Free Choice Act.”

Source: Senator Jeff Merkley