2020 Election Landscape Being Altered by the Pandemic
The pandemic has, as of April, altered the U.S. election landscape with many states delaying primary elections and forcing the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to change its convention from July to mid-August to protect public health and ensure that everyone can engage in the voting process.
The CCP virus pandemic has altered over two dozen states democrat presidential primary elections and is requiring state policymakers to think ahead to ensure fair and safe elections in November. In many states, laws are being introduced to guarantee that voting is efficient and effective despite social distancing measures being in place for an uncertain length of time.
Many states, to work around the social distancing requirements, have moved to mail-in ballots for their presidential primaries, and other states have postponed their primaries with polling places open for those who choose to vote in person. Delaying elections give states time to educate the public and put an alternative voting measure in place.
“Our election processes and infrastructure will continue to be tested by the coronavirus. Policymakers and election officials must ensure that every eligible American has access to the ballot box because the essence of democracy is that every eligible voter must have the opportunity to participate. Elections have endured in other times of crisis, and they will in 2020,” said Trevor Potter, President of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and a former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission.
State officials are making complicated decisions to juggle public health with voting rights. States will have to put measures in place to ensure safe access to voting, both for primary and general election voting dates. Some of these measures include access to on-line and same-day voter registration, expanded early voting, expanded vote-by-mail and absentee ballot programs, and the recruitment of poll-workers from less at-risk populations.
In a 2017 Task Force on Emergency Preparedness for Elections report by the National Association of Secretaries of State assessed States emergency voting procedures.
The task force found 12 states had a law that specifically authorized the suspension, delay or postponement of an election in an emergency, which would be made by the governor or chief election officer or a combination of the two. In many cases, the emergency voting is implemented following a declaration of a state of emergency made by the governor.
New York State has a series of bills that will allow voters to vote via absentee ballots and by mail to address concerns of a pandemic.
In a March 28 tweet, Governor Cuomo wrote , “NEW: We will move our presidential primary to June 23rd. Public health is our number one priority, and we will carry out this vital democratic process at a safer date.”
New York City has become the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. New York reported that the state had tested 220,880 individuals, with 15,694 new people tested on March 31.
Like New York State, over a dozen states have made decisions to postpone or change their voting to mail-in to help mitigate the spread of the CCP virus.
The other states that have yet to hold their presidential primary include Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota (June 2 primary), Puerto Rico (April 16), Alaska (April 4), Georgia (May 19), Hawaii (April 4), Wyoming (April 17), Kansas (May 2), Kentucky and Oregon (May 19), Wisconsin (April 7), Louisiana (June 20), West Virginia and Nebraska on (May 12).
Chairman J.R. Romano of Connecticuts Republican party told the Epoch Times that Connecticut has complicated absentee ballot rules and no efficient mail-in ballot system to ensure voters can cast their vote in the upcoming elections.
“Its a difficult process, with many steps for a voter to get an absentee ballot and as far as on-line ballot that can be downloaded—not everyone has access to printers.”
