WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Confusion, complaints of missing mail-in ballots and long lines at some polling centers marred primary elections on Tuesday in eight states and the District of Columbia, the biggest test yet of voting during the coronavirus outbreak.
Salgının Mart ayı ortasında karantinayı tetiklemesinden bu yana yapılan en kapsamlı oylama, 3 Kasım genel seçimleri için bir prova işlevi gördü. Oylamanın devam eden bir COVID-19 tehdidi altında yapılması durumunda ulusal ölçekte karşılaşılacak zorluklara dair bir fikir verdi.
Salı günü oy kullanan tüm eyaletler, salgın sırasında güvenli bir alternatif olarak posta yoluyla oylamayı teşvik etti veya genişletti ve yetkililerin buraları yönetecek işçileri işe almakta zorlanması nedeniyle şahsen oy verme yerlerinin sayısını keskin bir şekilde azalttı.
That led to record numbers of mail-in ballots requested and cast in many states, along with complaints over not receiving requested ballots and questions about where to vote after polling places were consolidated.
Pennsylvania and three of the other states voting – Indiana, Maryland and Rhode Island – had delayed their nominating contests from earlier in the year to avoid the worst of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 106,000 people in the United States. Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and the District of Columbia also voted on Tuesday.
Hükümet gözlemcisi Common Cause Pennsylvania'nın geçici direktörü Suzanne Almeida, "Pennsylvania'nın büyük hikayesi gerçekten seçmenlerin kafa karışıklığıdır" dedi.
Some polling places in at least four Pennsylvania counties opened late, and some voting machines failed in at least three counties – Philadelphia, Bucks and Lancaster, according to the Pennsylvania Election Protection Coalition voting rights group.
Asked about reports of machine failures, Wanda Murren, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State, said there were “really a very low number of voting machines with problems.” She did not provide a specific number.
In Indiana, voting rights groups said they heard from many people who reported they never received the absentee mail ballots they had requested.
“That certainly contributed to long lines in Marion County,” said Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause Indiana. Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, consolidated its polling places and had only 22 open on Tuesday.
Emily Hodson, an elementary school teacher in Indianapolis, said she and her husband applied for their absentee ballots ahead of the deadline for requesting one and received confirmations they were on the way, but never received them.
“We had to go vote in person. We were a little nervous about it given COVID,” Hodson said.
The Indiana Secretary of State’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Most in-person voting locations across the country featured extensive safety protocols – including masks, sanitizer and social distancing for lines.
The voting in some areas also was complicated by massive protests after an African-American man died in police custody in Minnesota last week. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said a city curfew would not be enforced until 30 minutes after polls close. In Washington, voters and poll workers were to be exempt from that city’s curfew, Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
54 yaşındaki Robert Wood, hem koronavirüs hem de isyan tehdidi nedeniyle sandık başına gitmemeyi düşündüğünü söyledi. Ancak Güney Philadelphia sakini, geçen hafta yaşanan olayların bunu daha da önemli hale getirdiğini düşündüğünü söyledi.
slayt gösterisi (9 Görüntüler)
“Siyahi bir adam olarak pek çok insanın oy verebilmem için hayatını kaybettiğini biliyorum. Bunu ciddiye alıyorum" dedi Wood.
Yetkililer, postayla gönderilen oy pusulalarının sayılmasının sonuçları geciktirebileceğini söyledi. Pensilvanya'da Vali Tom Wolf, Philadelphia da dahil olmak üzere altı ilçede posta damgalı oy pusulalarının teslim alınması için son tarihi 2 Haziran'dan 9 Haziran'a kadar uzattı.
The primaries came amid a partisan brawl over voting by mail, which Democrats support as a safe way to cast a ballot and Republican President Donald Trump condemns as ripe for fraud. Numerous studies have found little evidence of voting fraud tied to mail-in ballots.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has essentially wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination to face Trump in November, but seven of the states also had primaries for state and congressional offices.
John Whitesides ve Jarrett Renshaw'un raporu; Düzenleme: Soyoung Kim, Peter Cooney ve Jonathan Oatis
