The COVID-19 pandemic has turned election administration upside down. Sixteen presidential primary contests have been postponed, and Wisconsin, which held its election as planned, saw large-scale polling place closures and unfulfilled requests for mail ballots.

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, we look at voting during times of crisis from two perspectives. First, FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley describes how the country has gone about holding elections during historical crises like the Civil War and Spanish Flu. Then, Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center for Justice discusses a plan she’s proposing to help ensure this fall’s election runs smoothly.





FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast: US has held elections during times of crisis before

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