Voting in person Nov. 3? Expect drive-thrus, sports arenas

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Voting will look a little different this November. States are turning to stadiums, drive-thrus and possibly even movie theaters as safe options for in-person polling places amid the coronavirus pandemic and fears about mail-in ballots failing to arrive in time to count.

The primary season brought voters to an outdoor wedding-style tent in Vermont and the state fairgrounds in Kentucky. The general election on Nov. 3 is expected to include voting at NBA arenas around the country, part of an agreement owners made with players to combat racial injustice. Large venues and outdoor spaces allow for social distancing that helps prevent the spread of the virus, though there are questions about keeping people warm as the weather gets cold and the possibility that fewer traditional neighborhood polling places could lower voter turnout.

Election Day is expected to bring a surge in mailin voting, but some people may feel more comfortable casting their ballots in person amid concerns about recent mail delays following a series of operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service and President Donald Trump stoking unfounded claims of voter fraud.

Several states conduct their elections almost entirely by mail, and mail-in voting is well established in others.

In June, Utah broke voter turnout records despite not opening traditional polling places because of the virus. In-person voting will be back in November, but rather than only

using schools, churches and public buildings like usual, clerks also are permitted to set up drivethru or outdoor polling places.

The family that owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz also has a chain of movie theaters and offered three as voting sites in November.

One suburban Salt Lake City county ran a primary polling place where voters drove through an indoor convention center to pick up their ballots, completed them in their cars and then dropped them off in an outdoor parking area. Davis County Clerk Curtis Koch said the system will be in place for the general election, too.

Chad Berbert, a 46-yearold Republican, said he’ll probably vote by mail in the fall, but he’s glad officials are offering alternative voting methods.

“The more options for voting in terms of mechanisms or ways that people can exercise their franchise I think is helpful,” said Berbert, who lives in Layton, Utah, and works at a management consulting firm.

Less than 1% of Utah voters chose in-person options in June, according to election officials. But in states where voters are less familiar with mail-in voting, unorthodox in-person options will provide a safe alternative, said Charles Stewart, a political science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.