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Polling places in Iowa are closing due to COVID-19, which could affect close races
The Hill ^ | Oct. 29, 2020 | Alexandra Kelley

Posted on 10/29/2020 11:48:26 AM PDT by SJackson

With less than a week before the election, Iowans are losing places to cast ballots.

Voters in Iowa are facing shuttered polling locations less than a week away from Election Day, largely due to the various outbreaks of COVID-19 that have gripped the state.

Iowa is one of the several Midwest states experiencing record upticks in new coronavirus infections, with 1,133 Iowans testing positive for the virus yesterday. Two days prior, Iowa set a record for the number of new cases, reporting 2,691 on Oct. 26. In total, more than 121,000 people in Iowa tested positive for the coronavirus.

The current state testing positivity rate sits at 12.8 percent, well above the 10 percent rate recommendation to begin reopening economic and public sectors.

Reporting by NPR, the Iowa Public Radio News and the Center for Public Integrity finds that hundreds of polling centers have closed due to COVID-19, leaving voters with fewer local options.

"All of us, we are going to have to look up where we need to go. I mean, I'm not sure which place I would go," Sheena Thomas, a voter in Des Moines, told reporters. "That's going to be an issue for everybody."

Thomas ultimately decided to vote absentee, but mass shutdowns and consolidations in locations can lead to confusions as to where to go, as well as longer lines to cast ballots.

These closures also come during a contentious presidential election and many local elections, leading officials to fear that a lack of polling centers may skew the election outcome. NPR further notes that since 2016, Iowa has lost 261 polling places, which affect roughly 30 percent of the state’s voters, many of whom reside in urban areas.

The same analysis also revealed that communities with larger proportions of people of color have also experienced higher rates of polling place shutdowns, leading to more fears of voter suppression.

"I'm certain that it's going to make it harder for people to vote. But I am seeing a resolve right now, where people are determined," Vikki Brown, the chair of the Black Hawk County Democrats, told reporters. "Whatever you do, we're going to counteract it."

Black Hawk County is one of the most diverse areas in Iowa and has seen larger portions of polling place closures.

Some of the main reasons for closures during this election stem from concerns over hosting polling places during the pandemic, as well as shortage of volunteer poll workers willing to come into contact with hundreds of people.

As a solution, polling places may be consolidated during the primaries in multiple states, such as in Atlanta and Milwaukee.

“On Election Day, we can anticipate to see long lines in areas where there have been mass closures," Leigh Chapman, the director of the voting rights program at the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, said regarding the 2020 Election Day.

While hundreds of thousands of Iowans appear to intend to vote absentee, like Thomas, polling station closures have proven to slow voter turnout. |


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Iowa
KEYWORDS: covid; pollinplaces; voting
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A surprise to no one


41 posted on 10/29/2020 12:03:02 PM PDT by dsrtsage (Complexity is merely simplicity lacking imagination)
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To: Artcore
I'm all for being optimistic, but look at the numbers, Dems are crushing the GOP in Iowa in early voting, we have the numbers.

https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/IA.html

Dems have returned 407,668 ballots, GOP 276,188.

42 posted on 10/29/2020 12:03:46 PM PDT by Wayne07
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To: SJackson

This was their whole plan!! Operation virus chaos!! And there ain’t diddley squat anyone on our side can do about it!! The SC is useless!!


43 posted on 10/29/2020 12:05:38 PM PDT by RoseofTexas
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To: SJackson

I called this about 3 weeks ago when all the “New exploding number of Wu-Flu cases” were being reported.

Look for this to happen in all the Battle Ground states where Dem Governors are in control and/or Rat infested “Health Boards” run the show.


44 posted on 10/29/2020 12:08:25 PM PDT by CapnJack
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To: the_Watchman

>> Atlanta and Milwaukee are not “states”!

They are both places where the Braves have played, along with Boston.


45 posted on 10/29/2020 12:10:12 PM PDT by Lisbon1940 (No full-term Governors (at the time of election))
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To: olivia3boys

I’m in Southern CA, some places for early voting
were open starting Oct. 24th, but all of the early
voting locations were going to be open on October 30th.


46 posted on 10/29/2020 12:10:18 PM PDT by psjones (u)
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To: SJackson

Fewer polling places, more congestion at the ones that are open, what a way to “stop the spread”!

Prolong the panic and fan the fear.

Azzholes.


47 posted on 10/29/2020 12:12:20 PM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: montag813

Depends on the area really. Inner cities are so overwhelmingly Democrat that closed polling places there will only help Republicans. If we’re talking about the suburbs, then we’re looking at some problems.


48 posted on 10/29/2020 12:13:44 PM PDT by 2aProtectsTheRest (The media is banging the fear drum enough. Don't help them do it.)
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To: SJackson

How convenient.


49 posted on 10/29/2020 12:14:05 PM PDT by ought-six (Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
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To: SJackson

I bet relatively few of the “new cases” show any significant symptoms. How many have died?...likely ZERO. What a pathetic fraud upon the populace.


50 posted on 10/29/2020 12:15:07 PM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp??)
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To: SJackson

Talk about voter suppression.


51 posted on 10/29/2020 12:16:58 PM PDT by tinyowl (A is A)
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To: cincinnati65

We think alike.


52 posted on 10/29/2020 12:17:22 PM PDT by Bernard Marx
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To: SJackson

Find a different place to vote. Or, go to your clerk and get a ballot and turn it back in to them.


53 posted on 10/29/2020 12:18:34 PM PDT by kempster (w President of all time.)
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To: CapnJack

That’s happening in Michigan, too.


54 posted on 10/29/2020 12:20:27 PM PDT by rfp1234 (Caveat Emperor)
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To: Wayne07

Those numbers aren’t particularly bad for Iowa compared to 2016 stats. Trump would never have won the state (as he did by 9%) if he didn’t get a tremendous percentage of the Democrat vote. Take a look at TargetSmart. Based on their well-regarded voter modeling, Republicans are actually doing better there now than last time. Even just looking at the registrations of people who have already voted, Republicans have 32.1% of the current vote vs. 34.8% for 2016. That’s not really what I’d call crushing numbers.


55 posted on 10/29/2020 12:23:46 PM PDT by FenwickBabbitt
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To: Wayne07

Okay, then Iowa us lost. Is that better?


56 posted on 10/29/2020 12:24:32 PM PDT by Artcore (Trump 2020!)
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To: Artcore

*us = is


57 posted on 10/29/2020 12:25:16 PM PDT by Artcore (Trump 2020!)
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To: FenwickBabbitt

This will make you feel better. https://sos.iowa.gov/youth/poll/results.aspx.


58 posted on 10/29/2020 12:40:28 PM PDT by Wm F Buckley Republican
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To: Artcore

https://sos.iowa.gov/youth/poll/results.aspx


59 posted on 10/29/2020 12:41:10 PM PDT by Wm F Buckley Republican
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To: SJackson

This is unacceptable. It’s ELECTION DAY. If people can’t vote on ELECTION DAY, which is in the US Constitution, there is no valid election.


60 posted on 10/29/2020 12:51:44 PM PDT by Trumpisourlastchance
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