Unique precautions taken for vote

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Ballots cast in person Tuesday in Maryland’s special congressional election between Democrat Kweisi Mfume and Republican Kim Klacik will be quarantined for about 24 hours after polls close before being counted. The move is being made to protect election workers from the coronavirus, as its spores potentially could survive on the ballots for hours.

That is one of the safety measures being taken for an election that will have only three places for inperson voting, as officials are urging voters to mail in their ballots for the race to decide who will serve the rest of the term of Elijah Cummings, who died in October.

In hopes of avoiding the lines seen in this month’s Wisconsin primary, roughly 484,000 ballots were mailed to registered voters in the district. More than 77,000 already have been turned in.

Precautions due to the coronavirus in this election have thrust the candidates into unknown campaign territory.

The majorityblack district that includes a large portion of Baltimore as well as parts of its suburbs in Baltimore and Howard counties is heavily Democratic, with more than four Democrats for each Republican.

Mfume, a former NAACP head who held the U.S. House seat for five terms from 1987 to 1996, said he’s not taking anything for granted.

“It probably concerns me more, because I recognize how elections can be close — even when you don’t think that they are going to be,” Mfume said.