Thread by @DavidPepper

THREAD ON OHIO ELECTION

I couldn’t be more proud of the unity we are seeing in Ohio

From @GovMikeDeWine to @DrAmyActon to @EmiliaSykesOH to @KennyYuko to Mayors and Commissioners, we’ve been at the forefront of the Coronavirus response, filling in the void left by Trump

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But we still have a major challenge before us: Tuesday’s election.

Let me say first, that @FrankLaRose , Boards of Elections and parties have worked incredibly hard to triage the many challenges presented by the crisis, including making polling locations as sanitary as...

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...possible, encouraging early voting, relocating sites where vulnerable populations live, finding new poll workers.

It’s been a Herculean task by so many. I've been proud to watch the yeoman's work so many are doing.

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But here’s the dilemma. And I don’t say this lightly:

I believe events have overtaken the state’s ability to run this election in the standard way that accomplishes the dual goals of fairness and minimizing community spread.

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But I also think cancelling or outright postponing an election sets a dangerous precedent.

Here are the problems:

Things are moving so fast. Thousands of people who had no reason to request an absentee ballot even days ago might now desperately want one....

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They want to vote. But they are seeing restaurants and bars closing tonight. They are seeing schools close

They are scared

They are medically vulnerable

They may have caught a cold, or worse, and are being RIGHTFULLY told to stay in. And they are doing so, as they should!

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Individually, these folks should not be deprived of the opportunity to vote because things have changed so quickly beneath their feet. Or because they are afraid to.

And if large numbers of these folks don’t vote, it potentially has an impact on outcomes.

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Here’s the other dilemma. Tx to @GovMikeDeWine , almost every major opportunity for community spread will have been shut down by early this week

And while election sites aren’t bars, restaurants or mass events, we’d certainly not want a carrier of Coronavirus going to one

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And I’ll speak for myself here, but I wouldn’t want my 80+ parents going to one either, especially not at peak hours.

Especially when we’re still learning quickly how much we DON’T know about this virus.

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So the proposal I am encouraging, in good faith and in non-partisan fashion, is to do everything in our power to extend the “vote by mail” option to Ohio voters—not by much, but by enough time to accommodate voters caught up in this rapidly evolving crisis.

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Extend the deadline for requesting a “vote by mail” ballot to Tuesday or Wednesday.

That gives anyone who is newly uncomfortable, feeling newly vulnerable, or shut-in because they feel sick, the ability to request a mail-in ballot instead of voting in person.

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Then I would encourage that the deadline for a ballot to be postmarked be extended by a short amount of time (e.g., perhaps a week), giving all of those voters the ability to receive it and send it in—or drop it off by car if that’s possible.

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These ballots would be arriving around the same time as military or overseas ballots (although with a different postmark).

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The benefit of this proposal is 4-fold:

1) Democracy must go on - postponing or cancelling elections outright is a dangerous precedent; this still ties it to the March 17 election day, and there is still near-term closure

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2) This accommodates thousands of voters who, for entirely understandable reasons, are fearful of voting on election day in person—who only days ago may not have had this level of fear. They shouldn't have to choose between participating in democracy and their peace of mind

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3) This gives people who are feeling ill, or actually have the Coronavirus—who have been told to quarantine in place and are DOING WHAT THEY'RE TOLD—an ability to still vote.

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4) By giving folks this option, this minimizes (as much as possible) the likelihood that those who feel sick or are most vulnerable, who also happen to be dedicated voters, will go to the polls on election day.

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In other words, it helps “flatten the curve,” as we’re all trying to do.

It also might minimize the lines of those who do go, and maximizes the efforts of the BOEs to keep things clean and safe, which also helps flatten the curve.

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Imagine the benefit of being able to announce, right now: "If you now feel sick, don't go to the polls, but request your vote-by-mail ballot, and send it in by X-day"

That would reduce the risk of community spread, and would be more fair.

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I know this proposal is a dramatic change at a late moment. And we're certainly out of perfect solutions.

I get that

But it's no more dramatic than what schools and parents and restaurants and bars and workers are all grappling with at this exact moment (Actually, easier)

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Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

I believe there are highly compelling reasons--the same emergency circumstances that justify the dramatic steps the Governor has taken elsewhere--to justify this.

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We’re the state of John Glenn & Neil Armstrong. Of the Wright Brothers. Of Jesse Owens & Annie Oakley & Toni Morrison

We achieve tough things

I hope/trust the Gov, Sec of State & legislative leaders can find a way to accomplish something along these lines

Flatten the curve!