[EL] Open letter from public health and election experts

[Michael Latner]

Hi Jesse,
I agree, at least on the first two points, and would add many other recommendations that have been made by several members on this list, if there was space. The goal of the letter is to illustrate a broad consensus between health and election experts, in a short letter. Certainly if you sign on, I would encourage you to discuss publicly and offer more explicit/additional suggestions after the public release. I will be writing about the open letter and encouraging people to explore the reports from various committees/organizations as part of the public release.
ML

From: "Richman, Jesse T." <JRichman at odu.edu>
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2020 at 7:58 AM
To: "mlatner at calpoly.edu" <mlatner at calpoly.edu>, "law-election at department-lists.uci.edu" <law-election at department-lists.uci.edu>
Subject: Re: Open letter from public health and election experts

This letter is missing some crucial elements in my opinion.

In order to minimize voter confusion and to keep lines short it is essential that states and localities maintain all ordinary in-person polling locations.  Closing locations because of the pandemic generates unnecessary confusion, makes planning more difficult, and increases the risk of catastrophic lines.  This should be resisted.

States and localities need to begin the process of recruiting and training a new generation of poll workers, as the older individuals who often work the polls are among the most vulnerable.

It pays insufficient attention to the age distribution of vulnerability to the pandemic.  While a full vote-by-mail roll out might be preferable, a minimum point of departure should be full vote by mail for registered voters over 60 or 65.

Jesse Richman
Associate Professor
Old Dominion University
________________________________
From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> on behalf of Michael Latner <mlatner at calpoly.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 8:36 PM
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu <law-election at department-lists.uci.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] Open letter from public health and election experts


Apologies the link to the letter did not paste:
https://secure.everyaction.com/9pz2rlM7LEaei2oBf-DmbQ2<https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.everyaction.com%2F9pz2rlM7LEaei2oBf-DmbQ2&data=02%7C01%7Cjrichman%40odu.edu%7Cbdd72006e78c44db96ba08d8131fd7ee%7C48bf86e811a24b8a8cb368d8be2227f3%7C0%7C0%7C637280374772310246&sdata=tNQY%2B5kTlR7ycGLL15KY7RMVYEJZlkk%2FdNWb3FueoyU%3D&reserved=0>

Thanks again!

ML



From: "mlatner at calpoly.edu" <mlatner at calpoly.edu>
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 5:14 PM
To: "law-election at department-lists.uci.edu" <law-election at department-lists.uci.edu>
Subject: Open letter from public health and election experts



Dear Election-Law listserv recipients,

I am writing to invite you to sign on to an open letter from public health, political science and election law professionals and organizations nationwide urging Congress and states to take action on ensuring a safe and secure national election amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The open letter is not in support of any candidate nor party, but seeks to keep voters as safe as possible while exercising their right to vote by clarifying the public health need for science-based solutions such as online voter registration, early voting, vote-by-mail, and strategic polling placement. It also aims to spotlight the necessity for voting reforms that ensure equitable access to the vote, especially for marginalized communities facing compounded burdens of unaccountable governance and policies and longstanding barriers to the ballot.

An open statement that brings together experts in the fields of health, political and election science, and public administration can make a powerful evidence-based case for these critical measures. Our hope is that this letter and its use puts the scientific voice to work to bolster the expertise and experience of voting access advocates as the forefront of this work. I sincerely hope you will consider adding your name as a signatory to the letter.

Thursday, June 24, is the deadline for signatures to be part of the initial release. Let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

See the list of hundreds of experts<https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fspreadsheets%2Fd%2F1iVBoUC5m2KddVfWZf_Pz4UJdDaaXX3hIcXpGyKscvME%2Fedit%3Fusp%3Dsharing&data=02%7C01%7Cjrichman%40odu.edu%7Cbdd72006e78c44db96ba08d8131fd7ee%7C48bf86e811a24b8a8cb368d8be2227f3%7C0%7C0%7C637280374772320245&sdata=%2F1oJU765b%2FH4DL6ZveZFgbp0hbnFqC%2FD%2Fld24MOHwBs%3D&reserved=0> who have already signed the letter.

Sincerely,

Professor Michael Latner

Kendall Science Fellow, Center for Science and Democracy, Union of Concerned Scientists

Faculty Scholar, Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy

Political Science Department

California Polytechnic State University

@mlatner

Mikelatner.com



Notice:  The information contained in this message, as well as any attachments, may be confidential or protected from use or disclosure by law (i.e., Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C._2510-2521). It is only intended to be read by the person to whom it was originally sent. Any distribution, use or copying beyond this is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email. Do not forward or copy this message.








-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200618/6e74e2a7/attachment.html>