Coronavirus prompts new polling places to protect elderly — live primary updates – By Rebecca Morin and William Cummings (USA TODAY) / March 10 2020
Follow along today for live updates from primaries across the country.
Voting-rights officials said the coronavirus outbreak has had a cascading effect on the primary season, with election officials in states such as Ohio and Illinois that vote March 17 beginning to shift polling places away from senior-citizen homes.
Ohio officials at 88 boards of elections worked to relocate polling sites at residential senior facilities, according to Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. For example, Franklin County will have 16 different polling places, she said.
“Those 11th-hour polling changes impact over 21,000 voters,” Clarke said on a call organized by Election Protection, a coalition of voting-rights groups that monitor election problems. “Those are all voters who need to be fully notified about the polling site changes to assure that their right to vote is not compromised next Tuesday.”
The changes raise concerns about potentially discouraging senior citizens from voting if they have trouble finding or traveling to new polling places.
“These 11th-hour polling site changes are also happening in Illinois, where they are moving out of senior citizen centers and finding new locations,” Clarke said.
Health officials have warned that the elderly are more at risk of complications from coronavirus. The leading Democratic candidates – former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders – each canceled campaign rallies in Cleveland because of concerns about coronavirus. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued call for more poll workers. And in Florida, election officials in Palm Beach County reported an uptick in mail-in ballots and a dip in poll workers. Officials are working to stock polling places with cleaning supplies, she said.
Continue to article: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/03/10/march-10-primaries-joe-biden-bernie-sanders-fight-michigan/5002972002/
