As the urgency of the situation in regards to CORVID-19 ramp up the concern for in person voter turnout becomes more of an issue. States such as Georgia and Louisiana have already decided to postpone their primary elections due to public concerns. A few states have not postposted their primaries but have instead tweaked the circumstances. For example the state of Ohio has relocated 163 of their voting sites because they were planned to be held in retirement homes. Since the virus has a bigger impact on the elderly and many retirement homes are now in quarantine, the polling stations have decided to move instead of the state wanting to postpone. Illinois has a different approach to the situation at hand. They’ve decided to lengthen the time of early voting hours to help relieve some of the crowds due to voting. Other states such as Florida and Arizona have not decided to make any changes at all and are planning to continue as scheduled. The states that are carrying on as planned are warning voters to just be careful and take sanitary precautions. Most ballot boxes have already stocked up on wipes and sanitizer. This issue primarily affects in person voting. States such as Washington and Oregon that have mail in ballots should see no change in their turnout or policies surrounding voting. While the situation continues to develop each state will respond differently. There is no nationwide solution in place to ensure voter turnout during the pandemic. It lays in the hands of state officials to cater to the needs of their voters.
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