■ Coronavirus complicates the recruiting process for Orange County Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles.
Finding enough pollworkers for next week’s elections was already a challenge for Orange County but extra constraints brought by concerns over coronavirus is nothing to sneeze at.
The COVID-19 virus, believed to be spread through coughs, sneezes and other person-to-person contact, complicated the recruiting process for Orange County Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles, who must staff 247 voting precincts with a minimum of five people at each site for Tuesday’s presidential primary and some local races.
Cowles said he managed to recruit enough people to run the county’s polling places, but fears of the virus deterred some poll workers from precinct work while others are unavailable because the election coincides with spring break for public schools.
“Just understand what I’m competing against,” he said.
Many veteran poll workers were unable to work next week because of family-care obligations during spring break, which begins Friday for Orange County Public Schools.
“Many of the grandparents who often work for us will be at home taking care of the grand-kids while parents work,” Cowles said.
Others have hired on with the U.S. Census’ 2020 door-to-door count, which kicks off soon in Central Florida.
Cowles’ office signed up 2,500 temporary poll workers for the March 17 election.
No cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have yet been reported in Orange, Osceola, Seminole or Lake counties.
Florida health officials have confirmed 15 cases in the state, resulting in two deaths.
COVID-19 spreads like the flu, via droplets from coughing and sneezing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The droplets can land on objects and people can get infected if they touch those surfaces and then touch their eyes, nose or mouth. Symptoms appear between two to 14 days after exposure.
The virus does not appear to be affecting earlyvoting turnout, Cowles said.
“We’ve not heard concerns from voters at the precincts or afterwards,” he said.
Turnout is tracking closely with 2016 when about 103,000 Orange County voters showed up at the polls on Election Day for the Presidential Preference Primary.
About 24,000 of Orange County’s 609,415 registered voters have cast a ballot at the early-voting sites.
Another 38,000 people have voted by mail, according to the Elections Supervisor’s website.
In 2016, both major parties had competitive primaries.
But both parties might have their minds mostly made up before Florida votes.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the top contenders for the Democratic Party, are separated by fewer than 100 delegates today as primary elections are staged in six states — Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington. Biden passed Sanders in the delegate race last week and leads 664 delegates to 573.
President Donald Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee, but three others are on the ballot in Orange County — former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld and Mexican-American businessman Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente Guerra.
Cowles’ permanent staff is relatively small — just 49 people. The Property Appraiser’s Office, by contrast, has about 150.
Except for the Sheriff’s Office or perhaps the Convention Center, no other county operation’s staffing level fluctuates like his, the elections supervisor said.
Cowles will hire as many as 3,800 temporary workers for the General Election in November.
He said some prospective poll workers have asked if they can wear a respiratory mask inside the precinct while on the job.
“We have no problem with that,” Cowles said.
His administration has invested in hand-sanitizer and disinfecting wipes to clean counters and tablets commonly handled at polling sites.
Cowles said he also has encouraged poll workers to bring their own.
Voters may also bring their own pen or pencil to mark a ballot if they’d prefer not to handle the instrument in the voting booth.
Cowles said any registered voter interested in a job as a poll worker must attend an orientation session, which begin in April.
To sign up or learn more, call the Elections Supervisor’s office at 407-836-2070.