Isolating after a positive coronavirus test? The CDC says you can still vote in person.

ph1l · Nov 3, 2020

This gives new meaning to the word "quarantine!"

Cough early and cough often.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/03/cdc-covid-19-vote-election/

Isolating after a positive coronavirus test? The CDC says you can still vote in person.

The CDC issued guidelines on Sunday saying voters diagnosed with covid-19 or in quarantine for being in close contact with the virus can still vote in person. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post)
By
Andrea Salcedo
November 3, 2020 at 6:25 a.m. CST
PLEASE NOTE

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Every day, tens of thousands of Americans learn they are infected with the novel coronavirus. On Monday alone, another 86,154 new cases were confirmed.

Everyone with covid-19 is supposed to isolate at home to prevent further spread of a disease that has already killed at least 230,000 Americans, but new cases are appearing as voting for the presidential election reaches its final stretch.

Follow the latest on Election 2020
Can voters who test positive for the coronavirus still come to the polls on Tuesday?

Yes, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which on Sunday published new guidelines noting that sick voters still have the right to cast a ballot.

“Voters have the right to vote, regardless of whether they are sick or in quarantine,” the CDC says on their website. Under federal law, turning someone away from a polling site is considered illegal and an act of voter intimidation.

The guideline could add another layer of tension for those voting in person on Election Day, as some states prepare the National Guard for potential post-election unrest — all in the middle of the worst public health crisis in a century.

But for Americans who recently learned they have covid-19, voting in person might be their only option. Those who received their test results in the past few days, as reported by The Washington Post’s Neena Satija, already missed deadlines to request an absentee ballot in most states.

Options dwindle for voters diagnosed with covid-19 as Election Day draws near

This was the case of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who was quarantining after having close contact with Rep. Drew Ferguson (R), who tested positive last Friday, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kemp had requested an absentee ballot that same day, but it was unlikely it would arrive in the mail on time.

Had the CDC not updated its guidelines on Sunday, Kemp would not have been able to vote in person without violating the coronavirus guidelines from the CDC’s Atlanta office, according to the Journal-Constitution.

The CDC does recommend that those infected or exposed to covid-19 wear a mask to the polls. But the rules on pandemic safety at polling sites vary widely from state to state and depend on the decisions of local elections officials. Some states with mask mandates have exempted polling places from the rules altogether.

In the West Texas town of Big Spring, a couple told The Post in a report published on Sunday that they were the only people wearing masks when casting their vote at the county courthouse. But another woman who voted at her neighborhood community center in central Houston told Post reporters each poll worker sat at separate tables, with enough distance and shielded by plexiglass.

The CDC’s new guidelines also ask sick voters and those in quarantine to stay at least six feet away from others at polling sites, to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before and after voting, and not to wipe down any voting equipment unless asked to do so.

“You should also let poll workers know that you are sick or in quarantine when you arrive at the polling location,” the agency added.

The agency also suggests voters bring their own supplies, including a black ink pen, an extra mask, hand sanitizer, tissues and water.

Although the agency has said those who have or may have covid-19 are allowed in the polls today, another of the agency’s guidelines updated last week excludes poll workers.

“Poll workers who are sick, have tested positive for COVID-19, or have recently had a close contact with a person with COVID-19 should stay home,” the agency’s guidance said.

That guidance also recommends jurisdictions set alternative voting options like designated polling sites or curbside voting for sick voters to minimize exposure.

On Monday, staff members of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners dressed in white protective suits handed ballots in downtown St. Louis to covid-19-positive voters, who voted from the inside of their vehicles, the St. Louis-Post Dispatch reported.

In addition, the CDC suggests polling sites should post signs to discourage anyone with symptoms from entering the polling location.
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gwb-trading · Nov 3, 2020

ph1l said:
This gives new meaning to the word "quarantine!"

Cough early and cough often.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/03/cdc-covid-19-vote-election/
More...

What idiotic guidance.... all states have driven-up assistance voting for those with medical conditions. Anyone with COVID should be urged to stay in their vehicles and not risk infecting everyone at the polls.

jem · Nov 3, 2020

I agree with the CDC.
I realize many of you don't.
But, at some point this is a whose right's get sacrificed type question.

Your right to be healthy vs the sick person's right and responsibility to vote.
Since there are ways for the healthy to protect themselves...
to me this easily balance towards the right to vote.

ph1l said:
This gives new meaning to the word "quarantine!"

Cough early and cough often.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/03/cdc-covid-19-vote-election/
More...

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Isolating after a positive coronavirus test? The CDC says you can still vote in person.

ph1l

gwb-trading

jem