Title
a. Adopt a Resolution recommending modification of voting procedures for the Presidential Election on November 3, 2020, due to the COVID-19 national emergency; and,
b. Approve a letter from the Board of Supervisors to the Governor of the State of California requesting a State Executive Order to conduct the November Election by mail.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Adopt a Resolution recommending modification of voting procedures for the Presidential Election on November 3, 2020, due to the COVID-19 national emergency; and,
b. Approve a letter from the Board of Supervisors to the Governor of the State of California requesting a State Executive Order to conduct the November Election by mail.
SUMMARY:
Monterey County and the State of California are under a state of emergency due to COVID-19 for an indefinite period. During this time, citizens have been ordered by both the County and the State to shelter in place (SIP) and to only venture in public for essential tasks related to necessities: food, medicine, and health. The SIP is inconsistent with a significant part of California's voting model, which requires polling places for in-person voting and poses significant risks to the health and safety of citizens, voters, poll workers, and staff.
Many of our polling places and poll workers have indicated that they will not serve in November due to the virus and the state of emergency. As a demographic, our poll workers are older and part of the vulnerable population. In the week leading up to March 3, 2020 approximately 190 poll workers resigned, and others expressed significant concern about COVID-19. Medical experts indicate that it is likely that the virus will remain active or re-emerge this fall during the election season posing a persistent risk to citizens.
In light of the fact that there might be a new surge of the COVID-19 pandemic to come in the fall-winter of 2020, with the election scheduled for Novem...
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