Pre-election virus spike creates concerns for polling places

anxiety is gripping the country as the 2020 campaign barrels down the home stretch. But election watches a counseling patients. The election is causing people all over the country from different political points of view to have a lot of anxiety. And there's just a certain amount. We're just gonna have toe wait and see how the process plays out. It's the first time a presidential election has been held in the throes of a deadly pandemic, which has sparked an unmatched shift to early voting by mail or otherwise. President Donald Trump's repeated suggestions that this election is beset by fraud the first time a sitting president has sought to undermine faith in the electoral process is contributing to the anxiety even amidst the pandemic, even amidst foreign cyber enabled threats. I think Donald Trump has been a serious threat to the integrity of these elections. He's particularly volatile and he's particularly uninterested in sort of legal bounds again, the election is not up to him, but he, um, conveys the sense that anything can happen when in fact that's not really true. Paradoxically, voters in some ways are benefiting from the coronavirus pandemic striking in the spring most places that we're holding elections have had to hold an election already under under the pandemic, and so they're much better prepared than they were in March, April, May in June. More than 80 million voters have already had their say, and that's leading to expectations that days or weeks might pass before the outcome is known. I think it's absolutely critical that Americans understand that we may not know on election night or even for a day or two thereafter, exactly who, what and that Americans understand that there is nothing wrong with that. That's not a sign of our system failing us. That's not a sign of this. Election is about being a failure. While Americans have become accustomed to learning who will be the next president on election night, it would be far from unprecedented if they don't until 1937 presidents were inaugurated in March, partly because it took so long to report and count the vote. And the 2000 election was not resolved until December 12th, when the U. S Supreme Court made George W. Bush the winner by ruling that Florida must stop counting votes and thankful that we were able to resolve our electoral differences. Tracy Brown, Associated Press

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 ahead of 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 superspreading event across the state and country," he said.At a news conference this past week, 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.In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers sought to assure voters in the critical swing state that going to the polls would not be risky, even as officials announced more than 5,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases on 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 states that are pivotal to the presidential race.“If you were worried about voting at the polls on Election Day, you’ve probably already voted,” said John March, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia.Like many other states, Iowa this week reported its highest number of average daily new cases and hospitalizations to date.In Cedar Rapids, public health officials called a news conference Friday to express alarm at the spike in cases in Linn County, including a single-day high reported Thursday of more than 200. 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 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.Several other voters who were awaiting test results or wanted to avoid the line for health reasons also used it, and county auditors were preparing for a major increase in the rarely-used option Tuesday.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 this week assisting voters and will get tested again Sunday. 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.”County auditors have small full-time staffs and rely on experienced polling place workers to run smooth elections. They say they are worried that any of those workers who test positive before Tuesday will be replaced with less experienced people, which could lead to long lines.In Davenport, Iowa, Scott County Auditor Roxanna Moritz asked her employees several days ago to self-quarantine to avoid the possibility of catching the virus before Tuesday.Moritz said she has received several calls this week from people who have tested positive or are hospitalized with coronavirus seeking advice on how to vote. One woman was crying over the situation.Her staff is working with hospitals to deliver ballots to patients and is promoting curbside voting for those infected at early voting locations and on Election Day. She said curbside voting is labor intensive and risky.“Some of my poll workers are a little bit concerned because they are older individuals,” she said. “Still, I would rather do curbside than have them (voters) go to the polls.”Moritz said she has been relieved by the high number of early voters in her county, which will ease the burden on Election Day. Still, she said she worries that crowded polling places could become a source of spread for the coronavirus.At a public library in Davenport on Friday, poll workers were sanitizing voting stations and pens between users. People waiting in line outside the library were wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart.Lenore Benton-Bey, a Davenport retiree, said the socially distanced crowd didn’t bother her: “I’ve got a whole bottle of hand sanitizer in the car,” she said.__Associated Press writers Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee; Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; and Geoff Mulvihill in Davenport, Iowa, contributed to this report.

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 superspreading event across the state and country," he said.

At a news conference this past week, 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.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers sought to assure voters in the critical swing state that going to the polls would not be risky, even as officials announced more than 5,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases on 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 states that are pivotal to the presidential race.

“If you were worried about voting at the polls on Election Day, you’ve probably already voted,” said John March, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia.

Like many other states, Iowa this week reported its highest number of average daily new cases and hospitalizations to date.

In Cedar Rapids, public health officials called a news conference Friday to express alarm at the spike in cases in Linn County, including a single-day high reported Thursday of more than 200. 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 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.

Several other voters who were awaiting test results or wanted to avoid the line for health reasons also used it, and county auditors were preparing for a major increase in the rarely-used option Tuesday.

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 this week assisting voters and will get tested again Sunday. 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.”

County auditors have small full-time staffs and rely on experienced polling place workers to run smooth elections. They say they are worried that any of those workers who test positive before Tuesday will be replaced with less experienced people, which could lead to long lines.

In Davenport, Iowa, Scott County Auditor Roxanna Moritz asked her employees several days ago to self-quarantine to avoid the possibility of catching the virus before Tuesday.

Moritz said she has received several calls this week from people who have tested positive or are hospitalized with coronavirus seeking advice on how to vote. One woman was crying over the situation.

Her staff is working with hospitals to deliver ballots to patients and is promoting curbside voting for those infected at early voting locations and on Election Day. She said curbside voting is labor intensive and risky.

“Some of my poll workers are a little bit concerned because they are older individuals,” she said. “Still, I would rather do curbside than have them (voters) go to the polls.”

Moritz said she has been relieved by the high number of early voters in her county, which will ease the burden on Election Day. Still, she said she worries that crowded polling places could become a source of spread for the coronavirus.

At a public library in Davenport on Friday, poll workers were sanitizing voting stations and pens between users. People waiting in line outside the library were wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart.

Lenore Benton-Bey, a Davenport retiree, said the socially distanced crowd didn’t bother her: “I’ve got a whole bottle of hand sanitizer in the car,” she said.

Associated Press writers Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee; Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; and Geoff Mulvihill in Davenport, Iowa, contributed to this report.

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