Voting in a Pandemic

From the Document: "State and local election administrators across the country are planning for voting in primaries and the November general election during the rapidly evolving COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic. These officials are guided by the deeply held belief that every eligible voter be afforded a safe opportunity to vote. Election administrators are drafting realistic contingency plans for voting in real-time. They do not, however, have the power to implement these plans without state policymakers who may need to adjust, at least temporarily, state requirements to make voting work during a public health crisis. Policymakers need to understand the full breadth of issues that can arise throughout the remainder of the primary season and the general election campaign if election administrators are not given the room to be flexible and meet voters where they are."

From the Summary: "This report addresses frequently asked questions and policy developments surrounding 'election emergencies'. For the purposes of this report, election emergencies are defined as unexpected, rapidly developing, external events that could substantially interrupt normal voting, election administration, or campaigning. Examples include sustained natural disasters, major disease outbreaks, or certain attacks on election systems. There appears to be no modern precedent for a nationwide emergency in the United States, such as COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019], affecting elections and voting. Election administrators do, however, routinely prepare for various contingencies. Prominent examples of recent election emergencies in the states include the 2001 terrorist attacks; Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005-2006; and an H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic in 2009. Effects from each episode varied substantially."

From the Summary: "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated the systems and assets used to administer elections as a critical infrastructure subsector in 2017. The federal elections policy framework--including infrastructure protection--has generally assumed in-person voting at official polling places as the primary means of elections administration. Therefore, infrastructure security efforts have focused on reducing risk to existing systems and assets such as voter registration databases, voting machines, polling places, and elections storage facilities. However, recent elections cycles have witnessed increased use of alternatives to in-person voting. Public health concerns about the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have accelerated consideration of remote voting options as many voters have sought to avoid the possible health risks of crowded polling places. Elections authorities have invested in new physical and cyber infrastructures to reduce in-person interactions throughout all phases of the election cycle, including but not limited to the casting of ballots on Election Day. These efforts have focused on universal mail voting--the only form of remote voting in wide use. (Some states provide for electronic marking and return of ballots in certain limited cases.) The rapid pursuit of expanded mail voting and development of accompanying infrastructures during the pandemic has presented near-term technical, logistical, administrative, and security challenges to the election infrastructure subsector (EIS)."

From the Document: "As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there have been concerns about the potential impact on the 2020 federal election cycle. Some states have delayed primary elections, and, in other jurisdictions, officials have moved polling places away from high-risk populations. As the public health crisis continues, new questions are emerging about the safety and accessibility of voting in the remaining federal primaries and the November 3 general election. These concerns are coupled with questions about how to maintain election integrity. [...] In this Sidebar, absentee voting generally refers to state laws that permit eligible voters to request and cast ballots by mail without physically going to the polls on Election Day. All-mail voting generally refers to state laws that provide for automatic mailing of ballots to all eligible voters. This Sidebar outlines the legal landscape for state and federal election laws, examines recent challenges to state laws in response to the pandemic, and briefly discusses select legislation introduced in the 116th Congress."

From the Document: "As jurisdictions across the country look to expand voting by mail and equip polling places for COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019], election officials, industry suppliers, and experts have made it clear that jurisdictions must plan ahead and procure the necessary supplies as soon as possible to avoid bottlenecks in the supply chain. This memorandum details the supplies jurisdictions should consider purchasing for polling sites and for the various steps in the vote-by-mail process. It also lists some vendors offering those supplies."

From the Document: "On March 27, President Trump signed into law a $2 trillion economic relief package that included $400 million in grants to help states run their elections during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. This was an important first step. Unfortunately, we now know this is not enough. In this document we examine the difference between the March 27 federal investment in the electoral process and what will be needed to ensure safe and healthy elections for 2020. We focus on Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. These five states have diverging election administration systems and needs, from the number of elections each will hold this cycle to their requirements for absentee voting. Two common themes stand out. First, what Congress has provided so far is not enough to run safe and secure elections in 2020. Our review shows that the March 27 grants will likely cover anywhere from less than 10 percent of what Georgia officials need to around 18 percent of what Ohio officials need. Second, local election jurisdictions bear the heaviest burden of protecting voters and workers during the election. In two of the states we examined, local governments must cover over 90 percent of the costs needed to ensure safe and secure elections this year. In all five states, they will bear the overwhelming share of such expenses."

From the Introduction: "As States grapple with the difficult task of holding elections during the novel coronavirus pandemic, election administrators are exploring and implementing technology to enhance capacity to deliver blank ballots electronically. The expansion of vote by mail in many states necessitates a remote accessible ballot marking option for voters with disabilities. This paper examines these procedures and available technologies, and offers specific recommendations to limit the security and privacy risks introduced with electronic blank ballot delivery and remote electronic ballot marking."

From the Abstract: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has spawned an avalanche of litigation regarding the appropriate ways to adapt, apply, and administer election rules amid the pandemic. Due to the increased demand for mail voting, plaintiffs in more than 43 states across the country have filed more than 200 cases challenging nearly every aspect of the absentee balloting process, asserting claims under a variety of state and federal laws. This report outlines the many legal challenges to absentee and mail voting systems brought against states since March, largely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While most cases seek to expand the availability of or loosen restrictions associated with mail voting, some cases challenge the expansion of absentee voting, arguing that mail-in voting leads to fraud and thereby dilutes the influence of genuine voters."

From the Description: "The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has presented a severe threat to state election plans in 2020 for primaries and for the general election. To conduct an election during a potentially continuing threat from COVID-19, states need to consider how to conduct voter registration and provide voting options. Several voting and registration options are available to states to ensure the safety of elections despite the pandemic. These options are outlined in this report, taking into account the factors that officials will have to examine in determining how to conduct the election safely; the advantages and challenges of each approach; and levels of risk regarding safety, integrity, access, and logistics. This report is part of RAND's Countering Truth Decay initiative, which is focused on restoring the role of facts, data, and analysis in U.S. political and civil discourse and the policymaking process."

From the Summary: "The 2020 General Election is just over a month away. As the ongoing coronavirus pandemic jeopardizes the safety of in-person voting and President Trump raises unfounded objections to absentee voting, the American promise of free and fair elections is under threat. This report outlines 20 things that individual voters, employers, local governments, and state governments can still do now to secure the upcoming election."

From the Document: "The 2020 primaries saw a dramatic shift in the use of mail and absentee ballots. In Kentucky, absentee ballots usually represent less than 2% of votes in Kentucky. The 2020 primary saw record turnout of an estimated 1.1 million voters with an estimated 75% casting their ballot absentee. Similarly, 1.75 million mail ballots were requested in New York, 11 times more than usual. The Michigan presidential primary saw a 97% increase in absentee ballot requests over their previous level from 2016. It is clear that jurisdictions will see record rates of mail and absentee voting in 2020. [...] A dramatic increase in mail or absentee ballots can lead to numerous challenges related to processing ballots, and further amplifies the need for a positive working relationship with the postal service and vendors. Increased use of mail and absentee ballots in the primary and lessons learned from states that conduct all elections by mail have helped to identify some of these potential issues before November."

From the Webpage: "[This is] a 50-state breakdown of what policies states already have and still need in order to best protect the November 2020 election from the Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic. [...] The Brennan Center has laid out steps election administrators should undertake to ensure that voting is accessible, safe, and secure in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. [...] Voters and advocates can assess how their state stacks up and where change is needed."

From the Executive Summary: "While not required by the CARES [Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security] Act, the PRAC [Pandemic Response Accountability Committee] developed this report on the top challenges identified by Inspectors General for the federal agencies involved in the response to the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic as part of CIGIE's [Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency] efforts to make the work of the federal Inspector General community more transparent and accessible to the public. Based on the PRAC's review of submissions by 37 OIGs [Offices of Inspector General] overseeing agencies involved in the pandemic response, Inspectors General reported a wide range of challenges, including many related to specific agency programs. However, the submissions also reflected areas of common concern among agencies of different sizes and with disparate agency missions: [1] Financial management of CARES Act and other funds, [2] Grant management, [3] Information technology security and management, and [4] Protecting health and safety while maintaining effective operations."

From the Document: "The absentee ballot drop box is an increasingly popular option for voters to submit completed mail ballots to election officials without using the mail. While some states have successfully used ballot drop boxes for years, the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has expanded the practice throughout the country, particularly as election officials have expressed concern about the U.S. Postal Service's capacity to reliably deliver absentee ballots on time. Although states like Tennessee still prohibit the use of ballot drop boxes, citing the risk of voter fraud without clear evidence, overall at least 35 states have used or plan on using ballot drop boxes this year, and their use in the upcoming election will likely be the largest of any election in American history."