[EL] safe voting in the COVID-19 pandemic

[Ashley Houghton]

Thanks for this, Ron -

We've been updating a landing page on FairVote.org with various responses
to the pandemic, including various coalitions' and organizations' analyses
of election reforms during Covid-19. Our goal is to support the broader
movement of orgs driving powerful work and keep track of the various
analyses out there.

https://www.fairvote.org/ensuring_safe_and_fair_elections_in_a_pandemic

We've added FSFP's resource to the site and plan to continue to uplift
coalition/organizations' efforts on a case-by-case basis.

Ashley

On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 2:13 PM Ron Fein <rfein at freespeechforpeople.org>
wrote:

> Free Speech For People has published a *report
> <https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FSFP-Report-on-Safe-Voting-04-07-2020-11.pdf> *entitled:
> “Safe Voting During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” in collaboration with *Dr.
> Joia Mukherjee*, a physician, clinical researcher, and educator trained
> in Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and public health at
> the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health,
> and *Mark Ritchie*, an election management expert, advisor to the U.S.
> Election Assistance Commission, and Minnesota’s Secretary of State from
> 2007-15. The report identifies voting machines themselves as possible
> vectors of infection in the novel coronavirus pandemic, and examines the
> consequences and possible remedies. While some states have already begun
> postponing primary elections, the guide outlines four legal and policy
> changes every state should make to ensure a safe, accessible, and
> trustworthy election.
>
> The chaos preceding the Wisconsin primary proves how essential it is for
> state officials to proactively put in place modifications to ensure all
> voters can safely cast a ballot. The lines forming in Wisconsin cities
> today are evidence that we must provide other options for voters to prevent
> unnecessary contact and clustering which can accelerate COVID-19 infection.
>
> The next scheduled primary is in Ohio (now rescheduled for April 28).
> While election administrators are taking steps to reduce threats of virus
> transmission, there is still substantial work to be done. For example,
> voters in some of the state's most populous counties–including Franklin
> County (Columbus), Summit County (Akron), and Montgomery County
> (Dayton)–require all voters to repeatedly reuse difficult-to-disinfect
> electronic voting machines. If the machines are in fact sanitized after
> each voter’s use, consistent with infectious disease control best
> practices, these cleaning practices could lead to long lines that may
> create an increased risk of person-to-person transmission.
>
> The guide lists four main categories of legal and policy changes necessary
> for a safe, accessible, and trustworthy election:
>
>    - *Make vote-by-mail easy.* All voters should have the opportunity to
>    vote by mail, or to complete their ballots at home and drop them off at a
>    drive-through or walk-through dropoff location. The processing of mail-in
>    ballots must be handled in a way that protects poll workers from virus
>    transmission.
>
>    - *Minimize person-to-person contact at polling places.* Early voting
>    should be expanded as much as feasible, to help limit the number of people
>    who must vote on any one day, and the number of polling places should be
>    increased. Voters should not be required to wait in long lines to vote.
>    Polling places should be configured to allow at least six feet of distance
>    between all voters and poll workers.
>
>    - *Minimize contact with commonly-used surfaces.* Polling places
>    should be designed to ensure that voters are not required to touch common
>    surfaces that are not disinfected. All voting-related equipment must be
>    cleaned and disinfected regularly. Paper ballots are safer than voting
>    machines and less likely to spread the novel coronavirus because fewer
>    people must handle each ballot. The use of voting machines should be
>    absolutely minimized, and used by only those voters who require them for
>    accessibility purposes.
>
>    - *Design and manage polling places to protect the most vulnerable
>    populations.* The location and staffing of polling sites should be
>    carefully arranged to protect the most vulnerable populations, including
>    older adults.
>
> “Election officials should begin implementing these recommendations now,
> and continue to consult with public health experts to devise plans that
> limit transmission of the novel coronavirus without interfering with
> voters’ ability to cast their votes,” the authors write, “Our democracy
> demands no less.”
>
> Read the full report
> <https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FSFP-Report-on-Safe-Voting-04-07-2020-11.pdf> for
> a detailed explanation for why each of these measures is necessary for
> ensuring a safe, accessible, and trustworthy election.
>
> https://freespeechforpeople.org/free-speech-for-people-publishes-guide-for-safe-voting-during-covid-19-pandemic/
>
> All the best,
> Ron
>
> ------------------
> Ron Fein
> Legal Director
> Free Speech For People
> 1320 Centre St. #405
> Newton, MA 02459
> 617-244-0234 (office)
> 857-523-0242 (cell and Signal)
> rfein at freespeechforpeople.org / @ronfein
> www.freespeechforpeople.org
>
> Free Speech For People is celebrating ten years of fighting for our
> democracy! #FSFPTurnsTen
> www.freespeechforpeople.org/anniversary
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Ashley Houghton
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