Voting in person: Is it safe?

In-person voting for the 2020 elections has now begun in several states, and while casting ballots by mail has been the big story of this coronavirus-influenced election season, the long lines and hours-long wait times at many polling stations make it clear that plenty of Americans still plan to show up and vote the old-fashioned way.For information and advice about safety at polling places, we turned toDr. Annabelle de St. Maurice, UCLA Health ’sco-chief infection-prevention officer and an assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. An expert on epidemiology and viral infections, she has  written about  safety concerns around in-person voting and is a co-author of a UCLA Voting Rights Project white paper on voting during the pandemic. Here ’s what she told us.Overall, how safe is it to vote in person?  Voting should be low risk if polling places are following the properpublic health recommendations.In California, the state has developed detailed health guidance for polling places to keep voters safe. Precautions, including physical distancing, wearing masks, attention to hand hygiene —washing and sanitizing— and the frequent cleaning and disinfecting ofvoting equipment like machines, keyboards and computers.What precautions are in place for poll workers?  According to California electionguidance for poll workers, election officials are required to undergo COVID-19 training, which includes instructi...

Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - October 21, 2020 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news