Mail, masks, marches — an election like no other
Surging participation, COVID-19 fears and presidential claims have many voters reeling, and election officials scrambling as Election Day nears
STAMFORD – The anomalies in Tuesday’s presidential election are too many to count.
A few: A skyrocketing number of citizens registering to vote. A record-setting volume of early and mail-in votes. Mail delivery slowed by controversial changes at the U.S. Postal Service. Pre-election allegations by the incumbent president of fraud, and a call to supporters to “watch” the polls.
Signals in some states from armed “militias” that they will answer the call.
Police preparing to respond to activities designed to intimidate voters at the polls.
Precautions made for inperson voters as spread of the coronavirus escalates.
Election results that might not be known for days, perhaps longer.
Grassroots groups preparing post-election protests as
President Donald Trump indicates he might not accept the results.
There has not been an election like it in recent American history.
In Connecticut, voters still have a lot of questions. Elections officials are working to answer them as they deal with a rapidly approaching Election Day. There is still much to be done to prepare,
and details to check that, until this year, they wouldn’t even have imagined.
Mail it in
In Connecticut, many concerns still revolve around absentee ballots, a method used by only about 6 percent of voters in a typical election. This year the state relaxed the rules to protect people against COVID-19 at the polls.
“So we went from almost no one being allowed to vote by mail to everyone,” said Gabe Rosenberg, general counsel for Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, whose office oversees elections. “It means many people have never done it before and they don’t know how.”
The mail-in package, which requires juggling the ballot between two envelopes and signatures in certain places, “can be daunting,” Rosenberg said.
Something else is new for voters. Because of the mail slowdown, they are asked to use ballot drop-off boxes. Stamford has four boxes that will be available until polls close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
For those who want to vote in person but worry about catching COVID-19, polls will be sanitized and social-distancing rules en
forced, Stamford election officials have said.
Use of masks, however, can only be encouraged.
Maskless voting
“You can’t deny someone their constitutional right to vote, so we have given local election officials options to employ if someone comes without a mask,” Rosenberg said. “The official can offer to keep the person’s place in line while the person goes to their car to get a mask, or they can hand out paper masks to voters who don’t have them.”
If a voter refuses to wear a mask, “they can complete the ballot outside and a poll worker will put it in a privacy sleeve and walk it to the tabulator to be counted,” Rosenberg said. “Or the poll worker can seal the ballot in an envelope and hand-count it at the end of the night. If all else fails, the poll moderator can have the person vote inside in a segregated area with limited exposure to others.”
Connecticut allows people who aren’t registered to vote to do so on Election Day. In Stamford, that will happen in the lobby of the government center at 888 Washington Blvd. Citizens must provide a birth certificate, driver's license, passport or Social Security card; college students need to show a student ID.
“You register and vote right there, in one step,” Rosenberg said.
The effort in Connecticut, though not without snags, has been to make it easier to vote. It is not the case in some states where there are efforts to limit mail-in voting, use of drop boxes and poll access.
Armed and unauthorized
In a handful of states, limits on voting could be exacerbated by self-described militias. Militias are more prevalent in swing states, where voter support of Democrats and Republicans is about even.
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, which reports political violence around the world, is tracking more than 80 self-described militias across the U.S.
“Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Oregon are at highest risk of increased militia activity in the election and postelection period,” according to an ACLED report, “while North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, California, and New Mexico are at moderate risk.”
The report cites no particular risk for Connecticut, though the state allows gun-permit holders to openly carry a weapon.
But that is difficult to do at polling places, Rosenberg said.
“Most polls are at schools, and
federal law prohibits guns on school property,” he said. “Some polls are on state property, and guns are not allowed there. For polls that are in municipal buildings, the town determines whether guns are allowed. For polls at a church or other private property, the owner can bar people with guns.”
Do not intimidate
Only voters, poll workers, and designees of the secretary of the state are allowed within 75 feet of the entrance to a polling place, according to state law.
“Outside the 75 feet, regular laws apply,” Rosenberg said. “If someone is creating a disturbance designed to intimidate people not to vote, they are breaking the law.”
Stamford Police Chief Tim Shaw said off-duty police officers will be hired for each of the city’s 23 voting districts, as with all elections, and others will be available for whatever needs arise.
“We are going to hire extra officers due to the expected high volume compared to years past,” Shaw said.
“People are nervous because of news from other states, but we have fewer problems in Connecticut,” Rosenberg said. “We’re not a swing state — we’re mostly blue — so the temperature here might be a little lower.”
Trump’s call for “poll watchers” during the first presidential debate will not fly in Connecticut, Rosenberg said.
Watching ‘not a thing’
Besides state or municipal election workers, only party checkers are allowed in polling places, and they must be appointed by the political party chairs and approved by the registrars of voters, Rosenberg said. The checkers track who’s voting and relay the information to party operatives so they can get out their supporters who haven’t yet cast a ballot.
“The poll-watching Trump is talking about is not a thing in Connecticut,” Rosenberg said.
Now a coalition of grassroots groups, including several in Stamford, are “watching” Trump.
It’s because the president has refused to confirm that he will accept the outcome of the election and continues to question its legitimacy, said Michelle Abt of the Stamford chapter of Indivisible, a nationwide pro-democracy organization that opposes Trump.
“If he tries to suppress the vote or if he refuses to concede after losing, millions of Americans will be mobilized through nonviolent protests,” Abt said. “We will be out on the streets to protect the results of the election.”