By Natalie Festa, CCL Student Staff
When the County Clerk asked them for help with the current situation, the team was not surprised since they all had previous experience working with the clerk’s office on different voting and election-related issues. “Not only are voters at risk of contracting and spreading the virus when congregating at polling locations on and before Election Day, but also the poll workers who assist voters are among the most vulnerable populations to contract the virus. Half of poll workers in the U.S. are over the age of 60,” the group stated in their project proposal.
To adequately prepare for these circumstances, the team will undertake a research program in collaboration with the Harris County Clerk. The research aims to identify ways to conduct safe and efficient elections that protect voters and poll workers from the coronavirus, as well as to develop voter education programming to help inform voters of their options and the best practices to vote safely.
While voting by mail may be a successful way to lessen the risks associated with traditional, in-person voting, shifting millions of voters to this model would be difficult and perhaps exclusive to particular populations of voters. In Texas, only 6% of votes in the 2016 presidential election were cast by mail. Due to these challenges, the team supports a multi-method approach to the election, one that incorporates both mail and in-person voting.