The full extent might not yet be known, but there’s no argument that the COVID-19 pandemic will complicate the November 2020 elections.
The election in November will cover everything from the office of the President to municipal and school board elections postponed from the spring. Elections Administrator Jennifer Anderson gave an overview during Tuesday’s meeting of the Commissioners Court of the county’s voting population and measures being taken to ensure the health and safety of poll workers, employees and voters.
The snapshot showed that as of April 22, the county had 143,586 registered voters, including 26,345 over the age of 65. Some of the 3,931 registered voters over the age of 65 filed an application to vote by mail. Another 61 applied to vote by mail because of a disability.
In November 2016, the last Presidential election, 63.17 percent of the county’s registered voters cast ballots. Anderson said with a 60 percent participation rate, more than 86,150 residents will vote in November; that number increases to 100,510 at a 70 percent participation rate and to 107,690 at a participation rate of 75 percent.
In that 2016 general election, she said, the county mailed out 8,425 ballots and of those, 6,669 (79 percent) were returned. In the 2018 elections, the county sent out 10,094 ballots and 8,829 were returned (87.5 percent). Anderson projected that 14,079 ballots will be mailed out. At a participation rate of 85 percent, that would indicate 11,964 will be returned.
Though Congress is poised to consider legislation regarding voting by mail in November, Anderson conceded that might not leave much time for local election authorities to prepare.
In addition to the normal protocols of more cleaning, social distancing and other factors, Anderson said November will present additional challenges including larger workspaces, disaster funding to cover essentials like disinfection, possibly offering county employees the ability to take time off and work polls, and speaking with campuses where polling places are located about giving students the day off to reduce the risk of an infected voter coming into contact with the students.
