Coronavirus spike creates worries for polling places
Potentially infected people could cast vote curbside
IOWA CITY, Iowa – A surge in coronavirus cases across the country, including in key presidential battleground states, is creating mounting health and logistical concerns for voters, poll workers and political parties before Election Day.
In Iowa, where both presidential campaigns are competing feverishly, county officials said they were preparing for scores of confirmed or potentially infected people to vote curbside. It’s an option typically used by disabled people that must be available outside every polling place.
Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker, in Cedar Rapids, encouraged people to cast their ballot but said they should take safety precautions at polling places to protect themselves and their neighbors.
“We can’t afford to have Election Day serve as a super-spreading event across the state and country,” he said.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said his office had distributed 145,000 gloves, 200,000 masks and 11,000 social-distancing markers for use by voters and poll workers.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers sought to assure voters in the crucial swing state that going to the polls would not be risky, even as officials announced more than 5,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases Friday.
“For those who are voting in person now, I believe it’s safe,” Evers said, adding that polling places have adequate supplies to protect voters.
Across the country, Republicans worked to downplay any concerns that health risks will keep some of their voters home, after Democrats heavily promoted mail-in and early in-person balloting to their voters.
Republicans are counting on a huge Election Day turnout among their supporters to offset the big leads in early voting among Democrats in key states.
Iowa last week reported its highest number of average daily new cases and hospitalizations to date.
In Cedar Rapids, public health officials reported a single-day high reported Thursday of more than 200 in Linn County. They urged residents to avoid gatherings while advising those who visit polling places to wear masks, stay 6 feet apart and wash their hands afterward.
Linn County Auditor Joel Miller said a woman who acknowledged she was positive for the coronavirus voted curbside Thursday at a mall where early voting is taking place, the first known infected voter in the county. Poll workers gave her a face shield and gloves and isolated everything she touched, he said.
Under curbside voting, residents call a phone number for assistance from their vehicle and a bipartisan poll worker team is sent to help them cast ballots.
Miller, 65, said he is concerned about contracting the virus after spending hours last week assisting voters. He said he was worried about the virus spreading at polling places Tuesday, noting that voters cannot be required to wear masks.
“Heck yes I’m concerned. I’m going to have 500 people working on Tuesday. I don’t want it on my conscience that somebody caught COVID at a polling place and got sick,” he said. “It could happen. It could happen to me.”