Delays in Electing New Officials during the COVID-19 Crisis
Voting procedures and elections calendars have undoubtedly been affected as COVID-19 infections grow across the United States and internationally, and governments issue social distancing and lock-down guidelines.
16 states postponed spring primaries, which threatened to alter the Democratic Party presidential nominating contest. This became irrelevant when Bernie Sanders ended his campaign on April 8, all but assuring Joe Biden will be the party nominee.
But many other important elections are also delayed or cancelled. In this blog, we look at local elections — to elect new members for offices like Mayor and City Council and County Commissioner — and special elections — to immediately fill vacant seats — impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Almost a “Super Tuesday” in June
As many as 11 states will hold state primaries on June 2. This framed the date as potentially pivotal in the Democratic Party presidential nominating contest (like the traditional “Super Tuesday” in March) before Sanders ended his campaign on April 8. Five were originally scheduled (New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and the District of Columbia) and others were rescheduled from March and April dates due to COVID-19 concerns (Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Delaware). New Jersey delayed its primary from June 2 to July 7.
June 2 will still feature key Congressional and state primaries, and the following local and special elections…
Missouri localities Jefferson City, Independence, and Columbia will elect city council members (originally scheduled for April 7).
Rhode Island’s largest city Providence will hold a special election for a city council seat (originally scheduled for April 7).
Massachusetts will hold a special election for State House (37th Middlesex and 3rd Bristol districts). Massachusetts also rescheduled a special election for State Senate (2nd Hampden & Hampshire, Plymouth & Barnstable districts) to May 19 (both were originally scheduled for March 31).
Other postponements to summer dates
New York rescheduled a special election for US House (NY-27) to be held on June 23 (originally scheduled for April 28). Initially special elections for State Senate (District 50), and State Assembly (Districts 12, 31, 136) and New York City Council (District 37) were rescheduled to June 23 (from April 28), but on April 24 the Governor of New York ordered these to be cancelled.
Mississippi will hold a special election for State House (District 88) on June 23 (originally scheduled for April 21).
Georgia delayed primaries and local elections, pushing local elections in Columbus and Athens-Clarke County (originally schedule for May 19) Macon-Bibb County (originally scheduled for May 26) to June 9.
Moving local elections to the November election
In Texas, over 12 cities will postpone May 1 local elections to the November 3 general election, which raises concerns about holding these nonpartisan and normally low-turnout elections in the shadow of the Presidential Election.
Hold as planned
Wisconsin endured a bitter partisan fight over postponing its state primary. The state conducted in-person voting on April 7 following court rulings that averted last-minute attempts to delay the election, even as the state suffered over 100 daily new COVID-19 cases in the week leading up to the election. Parts of the state heavily utilized absentee voting in response to COVID-19.
Amid this, Milwaukee voted for Mayor and City Council (5 of 180 polling places were open), Green Bay voted for Common Council (2 of 31 polling places were open), and Madison Common Council held a special election for the District 8 seat.
Florida localities held elections on March 17 in Naples, Clearwater, Gainesville and Pembroke Pines.
Required vote by mail
States are increasingly using alternative voting formats in response to the crisis. In response to COVID-19, some states have adopted all vote by mail elections…
California mandated several elections to be conducted entirely by mail: US House (CA-25) special election (May 12), and Lancaster City Council (April 14).
Maryland held a special election for US House (MD-7) entirely by mail (April 28).
In Alaska, the Anchorage Assembly election was conducted entirely by mail (originally scheduled for April 7)
New Jersey held Paterson City Council election on May 12 entirely by mail.
Oregon has been a vote-by-mail state since 1998. Local elections in Portland, Eugene, and for the Oregon Metro Council were held as planned by mail on May 19.
Alternative voting becomes more routine
Voters are commonly adopting alternatives to in-person polling such as Ballot Drop Off, Vote by Mail, and Early Voting.
Virginia voters were encouraged to vote by mail in local elections in Hampton, Norfolk, Newport News, Fairfax and Chesapeake (rescheduled from May 5 and May 7 to May 19).
Pennsylvania approved vote by mail last year prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Many constituencies are encouraging voting by mail at the state primary rescheduled to June 2.
In North Dakota the Fargo City Commission election will be conducted primarily by mail, with the possibility of in-person voting being decided closer to the scheduled election day on June 9.
Washington, DC will mail ballots to all registered voters and encourage vote-by-mail for the Washington DC City Council Special Election (Ward 2) on June 16, as well as for the primary election on June 2.
More postponements likely
Some states with elections in the coming months, when social distancing guidelines may be lifted, have yet to declare postponements. But our reality is changing every day and more postponements are likely.
Even more states are scheduled to hold local and special elections in June and beyond, and these too may be affected by COVID-19 precautions. We’re keeping an eye on all of these and will update our tracker (see below) and our Elections Feed Twitter account. Follow for updates!
Tracking Changes
This represents a complete rundown of elections for new officials (i.e. not including primaries or nominating elections) within Cicero’s extensive data coverage. The elections are organized by the date they were originally scheduled, and include the status of the election and reschedule date where applicable. We will update this table weekly as we track election changes in Cicero caused by COVID-19.
Last Updated: May 28, 2020
