MANSFIELD — The impact of COVID-19 will likely be felt at the ballot box on Tuesday.
Richland County Board of Elections Director Paulette Hankins on Monday morning lowered her projections on the number of people who will vote during the March primary election.
Hankins had said previously she expected 45 percent of local eligible voters would cast ballots, which would be an increase of 4 percent during the 2016 presidential primary.
This morning, Hankins said she expects about 35 percent to participate.
The veteran elections official said the coronavirus impact on the election is something she hasn’t seen before.
“I’ve never had anything even remotely comparable to this in my 35 years here,” Hankins said.
“We are taking every precaution possible to protect the voters and our poll workers. Sanitizers are available at every precinct, rubber gloves are available, as well as cleaning kits for the poll workers to use to clean the electronic screens periodically,” she said.
Hankins said many are calling to see if the election has been cancelled or postponed. Early and absentee voting for Tuesday’s election began a month ago.
“That is not our decision to make,” Hankins said. “It would need to be a state/federal decision at this point. The polls are still scheduled to open at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow and close at 7:30 p.m.”
Additional poll workers are needed, Hankins said, even those who haven’t been trained.
“If they haven’t had any training, we are sending them a packet of training materials in email, and they’ll be placed with experienced workers to get ‘on-the-job’ training. We are accepting 17- and 18-year-old students as well,” Hankins said.
