2020年的总统大选给全美各地的城市带来了一项全新的挑战:如果选民感染了新冠病毒,如何帮助他们投下神圣一票。
美国疾病控制与预防中心(CDC)表示,病毒检测呈阳性的选民仍然可以亲自投票,只要他们遵循目前的健康指导意见,包括戴口罩、保持社交距离,并在投票前后给手消毒。该机构还建议患病选民让投票工作人员知晓自己的病情,以保证他们的安全。
尽管美国的新冠确诊病例仍以每周数十万人的速度持续上升,但许多城市都找到了帮助感染者参与总统大选的投票方式。
南达科他州苏福尔斯市
在包括苏福尔斯在内的几个城市,一个名为“病人投票”(Patient Voting)的无党派组织吸引了一大群志愿者帮助人们在病床上投票。
当地医学院的学生与志愿者一起造访该市医疗机构帮助选民投票。志愿者走进当地选举部门,为病人申请缺席和紧急选票,并将这些选票送到他们手中,然后将选票投进投票箱。
纳什维尔
纳什维尔搭设了一条病毒感染者服务热线,允许在缺席投票截止日期后病毒检测为阳性的选民拨打电话,并为此作出了特殊安排。
随后,选举委员会的工作人员对选民进行追踪访问,安排时间让他们把车停靠在县选举委员会办公室外进行投票。投票站工作人员还准备了安全设备,以便选民在选举日当天在办公室外进行路边投票。
圣路易斯
圣路易斯也为新冠病毒检测为阳性的选民设立了路边投票点,由该市选举委员会的工作人员负责运营。
《圣路易斯邮报》发布的照片显示,身穿全套防护装备的工作人员正在圣路易斯市中心收集病患的选票。他们驻扎在选举委员会办公室外的两个帐篷里。
密苏里州堪萨斯城
堪萨斯城也建立了类似的路边投票点,但种种问题导致许多选民在选举日排了好几个小时的长队。
堪萨斯市选举委员会专门为残障人士和新冠病毒感染者设立了投票站,但据《堪萨斯城星报》报道,技术问题和出人意料的高投票率造成了大面积的投票延误。
埃尔帕索
埃尔帕索已成为新冠疫情的热点地区,仅在选举日就报告新增病例1,000多例。自疫情爆发以来,该市的死亡病例不断上升,迄今已超过600例。尽管整个城市的医疗设施早已不堪重负(本周一,埃尔帕索紧急调用了第四辆停尸车),但该市仍然精心安排,竭力帮助病毒感染者顺利投票。
病毒检测呈阳性的选民不仅可以要求在任何投票站进行路边投票,还可以前往全市7个免下车投票点进行投票。那些住院治疗的选民必须得到医生的许可,才能让朋友或家人给他们递送紧急选票。(财富中文网)
译者:任文科
2020年的总统大选给全美各地的城市带来了一项全新的挑战:如果选民感染了新冠病毒,如何帮助他们投下神圣一票。
美国疾病控制与预防中心(CDC)表示,病毒检测呈阳性的选民仍然可以亲自投票,只要他们遵循目前的健康指导意见,包括戴口罩、保持社交距离,并在投票前后给手消毒。该机构还建议患病选民让投票工作人员知晓自己的病情,以保证他们的安全。
尽管美国的新冠确诊病例仍以每周数十万人的速度持续上升,但许多城市都找到了帮助感染者参与总统大选的投票方式。
南达科他州苏福尔斯市
在包括苏福尔斯在内的几个城市,一个名为“病人投票”(Patient Voting)的无党派组织吸引了一大群志愿者帮助人们在病床上投票。
当地医学院的学生与志愿者一起造访该市医疗机构帮助选民投票。志愿者走进当地选举部门,为病人申请缺席和紧急选票,并将这些选票送到他们手中,然后将选票投进投票箱。
纳什维尔
纳什维尔搭设了一条病毒感染者服务热线,允许在缺席投票截止日期后病毒检测为阳性的选民拨打电话,并为此作出了特殊安排。
随后,选举委员会的工作人员对选民进行追踪访问,安排时间让他们把车停靠在县选举委员会办公室外进行投票。投票站工作人员还准备了安全设备,以便选民在选举日当天在办公室外进行路边投票。
圣路易斯
圣路易斯也为新冠病毒检测为阳性的选民设立了路边投票点,由该市选举委员会的工作人员负责运营。
《圣路易斯邮报》发布的照片显示,身穿全套防护装备的工作人员正在圣路易斯市中心收集病患的选票。他们驻扎在选举委员会办公室外的两个帐篷里。
密苏里州堪萨斯城
堪萨斯城也建立了类似的路边投票点,但种种问题导致许多选民在选举日排了好几个小时的长队。
堪萨斯市选举委员会专门为残障人士和新冠病毒感染者设立了投票站,但据《堪萨斯城星报》报道,技术问题和出人意料的高投票率造成了大面积的投票延误。
埃尔帕索
埃尔帕索已成为新冠疫情的热点地区,仅在选举日就报告新增病例1,000多例。自疫情爆发以来,该市的死亡病例不断上升,迄今已超过600例。尽管整个城市的医疗设施早已不堪重负(本周一,埃尔帕索紧急调用了第四辆停尸车),但该市仍然精心安排,竭力帮助病毒感染者顺利投票。
病毒检测呈阳性的选民不仅可以要求在任何投票站进行路边投票,还可以前往全市7个免下车投票点进行投票。那些住院治疗的选民必须得到医生的许可,才能让朋友或家人给他们递送紧急选票。(财富中文网)
译者:任文科
The 2020 election presented a whole new challenge for cities across the nation: how to get voters to cast their ballots if they were infected with the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that people who test positive for the virus could still vote in-person, as long as they followed current health guidance including wearing a mask, social distancing, and sanitizing their hands before and after they vote. The CDC also recommended that voters who are sick let poll workers know of their condition to keep them safe.
Though U.S. coronavirus cases continue to rise by hundreds of thousands every week, cities across the nation found ways to help sick people cast their votes in the presidential election.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
A nonpartisan organization called Patient Voting attracted an army of volunteers to help people vote from their hospital beds in several cities, including Sioux Falls.
Students from local medical schools joined forces with volunteers to visit health systems in the city to help voters. The volunteers went to their local elections departments to request absentee and emergency ballots for patients, deliver them to the patients, and then cast the ballots in the ballot box.
Nashville
Nashville set up a COVID-19 hotline that allowed people who tested positive for the coronavirus after the deadline for absentee ballots had passed to call and set up special arrangements.
Staffers from the election commission then followed up with voters to schedule a time for when voters could park outside the county election commission office to vote. Poll workers also geared up in safety equipment for curbside voting outside the office on Election Day.
St. Louis
St. Louis also set up curbside voting locations, run by staffers from the city’s board of election commissioners, for people who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Photos from the St. Louis Dispatch show workers donning full protective equipment to collect the ballots of sick individuals in downtown St. Louis. The workers were set up at two tents outside the election board offices.
Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas City had a similar curbside setup, but issues left many voters waiting in long drive-thru lines for hours on Election Day.
The Kansas City Election Board created the voting station specifically to help voters who have disabilities or tested positive for the coronavirus. But tech issues and unexpected high turnout created big delays, according to the Kansas City Star.
El Paso
El Paso has become a hotspot for COVID-19, reporting more than 1,000 new cases on Election Day alone and a rising death toll of more than 600 people since the outbreak. And despite the strain on medical facilities across the city—El Paso called in its fourth morgue truck on Monday—the city made arrangements for people with the coronavirus to vote.
Voters who tested positive for the virus were able to request curbside voting at any polling location or could visit seven drive-thru voting locations across the city. If voters were in the hospital, they had to get a doctor’s permission to allow a friend or family member to deliver them an emergency ballot.