Lack of unified response in state that is home to one of the largest elderly populations in the country

Governor Ron DeSantis last week declared a state of emergency in Florida in the face of the coronavirus as millions of Floridians are set to vote on Tuesday in a crucial delegate-rich primary that will help determine whether Bernie Sanders stays in the Democratic presidential nomination race against Joe Biden.

In Florida, the impact of the virus, if left unchecked, could be particularly harsh on the state’s ability to allow people to vote or vote safely without fear of infection.

The state is home to one of the largest elderly populations in the country, with around 20% of the residents age 65 or older. While this age group tends to be a stable voting bloc for both political parties, it’s also the most vulnerable to the virus – which has a mortality rate around 18% for those over 80 years old.

DeSantis issued an executive order barring people who may have been exposed to the virus from visiting nursing homes. He urged election officials throughout the state to consider moving their polling locations for the state’s 17 March primary out of those locations.

But over the weekend before election day, the state seemed to be lacking a unified response, with many polling stations in senior centers and retirement communities still operating at status quo.

Workers at Country Aire Manor, Senate Manor Estates, and Crystal Lakes Manor – Pasco and Pinellas county polling sites all held in communities comprised entirely of people above 55 – said they had received no guidelines for the election, and were already receiving equipment to set up for Tuesday.

“All locations will be open,” said Robin Lehoux, who works at the parks and recreation department in Pompano Beach, Florida. She hadn’t heard of any instructions from the state or local government regarding the Mullins Park Senior Center, a polling precinct where other senior programming had been shut down.

But Florida’s piecemeal response has been a stark departure from other election officials across the country implementing last-minute measures to stave off concerns about contracting coronavirus at the polls. In Ohio, Secretary of State Frank LaRose ordered all polling stations in senior centers and nursing homes to be relocated. Louisiana’s state’s top election official, Kyle Ardoin, announced Friday the primary election next month would be postponed until June.

“They’re playing catch up,” said congressman Darren Soto, who represents a central Florida district that includes Orlando. Soto was still expecting a large voter turnout on Friday, and said he was focused on making sure voting precincts remained open so crowds were dispersed. “The main thing is to avoid long lines so people can conduct best practices.”

Some election officials are still taking full precautions.

In Broward county, the local supervisor of elections announced this week the county was moving 12 precincts from senior centers and assisted living facilities to alternate locations. The county sent out postcards to all of the voters who would normally cast ballots there letting them know their locations had moved.

Some senior living facilities don’t want to move their polling locations because they are wary of having to transport residents, said Steve Vancore, a spokesman for the Broward county elections office. In such cases, the county elections office will make sure they have adequate cleaning and sanitization supplies, Vancore said.

﻿

State officials held a conference call with local supervisors of elections on Thursday to discuss sanitary measures they could take at the polls. In Volusia county, the supervisor of elections reminded voters they could bring their own pens to fill out ballots. In Marion county, elections officials have limited cleaning supplies and are encouraging people to bring their own from home, said Wesley Wilcox, the county’s supervisor of elections.

Florida is no stranger to adapting elections to emergencies.

In 2018, Hurricane Michael derailed precincts in the panhandle, and forced election officials to extend voting hours and move locations. In 2016, a federal judge extended voter registration because of disruptions caused by Hurricane Matthew, despite opposition from Republican governor Rick Scott.

But the state often only acts at the last minute. “It’s a fight every time,” said Brad Ashwell, the Florida director of All Voting is Local, an advocacy group. The organization was looking to support changes for the primary that could include an extension in vote-by-mail deadlines, poll worker recruitment, as elderly poll workers dropped out, and more state funds to advertise changes to the polling stations.

“It seems like the freak out level is slowly creeping in here,” Ashwell said. “I don’t sense anxiety among people. People are upset their conferences are being cancelled. But it doesn’t seem like there’s a real high levels of concern.”

Meanwhile, he said, the fears around Covid-19 could build on other issues that voters faced in the state. Under the pressure of lawsuit brought on by civil rights groups and Puerto Rican residents, the state has been attempting to provide bilingual language assistance at each station, which could be impacted if poll workers don’t show up on Tuesday.

And the state rejected tens of thousands of mail-in ballots and absentee ballots in recent elections, stoking mistrust in that system.

Danny Turkel, spokesperson for Voto Latino, an advocacy group focused on registering Latinx voters, said he predicted lower voter turnout in the election because of the state of emergency. He didn’t think any specific community would be impacted, he said, but predicted that the uncertainty would keep voters at home.

“Being from Miami, I’m acutely aware of the difficulties people have,” he said. “There were already obstacles in the way that the state has done nothing to improve.”

“I think it will show out in the numbers.”