This one is going to be a pip.
In a world where people are wearing masks and shields, and practicing social distancing, we are about to have an election.
Early voting starts July 17 and runs until August 1st. Election Day itself is August 6th.
Whenever you vote, the polls will look different, says Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips.
“The first thing you’ll notice,” she says, “... is all our tables and machines are socially distant. There will be a plexiglass shield between the voter and the worker. There will be single use pens. Voters don’t bring their own. There will be disposable styluses, so the voter won’t need to touch the machine.”
Linda Phillips has had to chance to watch the mistakes made in other early voting states. She says they hired more poll workers than normal.
“We have extra staff in case more people drop out at the last minute. I think we planned as well as we possibly can. We’ve considered as many contingencies as we possibly can.”
Now, let’s talk about masks. They will give you a mask, if you show up without one.
Phillips says, “Technically a voter who refuses to wear a mask does not lose their right to vote. We can think of them as being stupid humans,” Phillips says, “... but they have to be permitted to vote.”
If you want to know where the 26 early voting polls are located, CLICK HERE.
(SHELBY COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION NEWS RELEASE) - Things will look different when voters arrive at polling locations tomorrow morning at the start of Early Voting.
To provide the highest level of safety for both voters and election staff, Administrator of Elections Linda Phillips has implemented many changes.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, changes were necessary to protect both voters and poll workers,” said Linda Phillips, administrator of elections for the Shelby County Election Commission. “Safety has been foremost in mind when we designed our plan for the opening of the polling locations tomorrow at 11.”
The layout of voting machines inside polling places has been reconfigured to provide adequate space for social distancing. Each polling place will have an acrylic barrier between the voter and the poll worker at the check-in point. All poll workers have masks, face shields, and gloves.
“In light of the city ordinance requiring the use of facemasks, we are hoping everyone wear their own, but we will have some available if voters need them,” she said.
- Single-use pens will be available for voters who do not bring their own. Disposable stylus will prevent voters from the need to touch the voting machine screen.
- Additional voter access cards have been purchased for cleaning and having time to dry between uses.
- There will only be only one worker per table at check-in, to provide for adequate social distancing. Additional tables have been purchased to allow enough room for social distancing.
- Each polling place will have American-made hand sanitizer available.
- The use of EPA-registered disinfectant will be used to clean frequently touched services.
- Voters concerned about touching surfaces also may use provided plastic protectors for hands and arms.
- Poll workers will be required to wash their hands often, with a sufficient supply of soap and paper towels provided.
“There may be lines,” Phillips said. “Everyone will be 6-feet apart inside the polling locations, so it’s possible that some people may have to wait outside.”
For a complete list of Early Voting locations and hours of operations, visit shelbyvote.com, or paste this link into the address bar of your browser: https://www.shelbyvote.com/sites/default/files/documents/Early%20Voting%20Locations%20for%20Web%20Aug.%202020.pdf