How to Conduct Safe Elections during a Pandemic
Legitimate and safe elections are essential for having a government that the people trust.
How can states prepare for conducting safe elections if we experience something like the COVID-19 pandemic again? And how do voters think about preparedness, safety, and integrity if that happens again?
Many experts think that if it happens again, there will still be a need for public interventions, such as aggressive sanitizing protocols, social distancing, or limited occupancy in indoor settings, to protect the public and limit the risk of spread.
Many states have made policy changes to reduce gatherings, minimize personal contact, or limit access to high-risk areas. It is important not only to consider public health and safety, but also to weigh how new voting processes may affect election integrity and access.
Sure, there will always be threats to U.S. elections, like cyberattacks or disinformation campaigns, but COVID-19 confronted us with entirely new considerations and risks.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented a severe new threat to the 2020 state elections for primaries and the general election, and to be honest, we were not prepared at all!
Reduce exposure risk
Many states and also the District of Columbia offer early voting, which reduces the risk of infections through improved social distancing, and there are also states that offer limited early voting for individuals with qualifying conditions.
In case of a new pandemic, states that offer this approach will be better positioned to deal with safety concerns in elections since they can shift to remote election protocols early and better implement and support social distancing.
There are also states that don’t offer early voting, automatic registration, or mail-in options. These are the states that will have to deal with serious challenges when shifting to remote voting processes if required.
Registration options vary by state
Eight states and D.C. have automatic and online voter registration as well as same-day registration. This makes them ready to register new voters right away and safely, without the need for any person-to-person interaction. This offers all voters multiple options to vote while minimizing personal health risks.
There are 6 states that have no provisions whatsoever in place to deal with alternative options in case we will be confronted again with a serious pandemic. Their registration processes and protocols are still conducted in-person and as stand-alone actions, causing higher infection risks or reduced voter turnout.
Most states have an absentee or mail-in voting option in place that is available to all eligible voters. States that do not provide these options usually favor an in-person voting process, which will likely result in serious sanitation and social distancing challenges.
There are also a few states and D.C., where very flexible remote-voting protocols are in place, featuring no-excuse mail-in options, no notary or witness requirement, and allow the voters to return the ballots as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.