Super Tuesday: Bay Area Voting Centers Ready Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- As California heads to the polls on Super Tuesday, voting centers across the Bay Area and across the state readied for large crowds amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Election officials in California said Monday that they are preparing with hand sanitizer and wipes, but aren't expecting any disruptions from coronavirus even as new cases continue to emerge in the state.
Eric Kurhi, a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, told CNN that the county is following guidelines, which include "keeping hands clean" and encouraging individuals who are sick to stay home.
"The Registrar of Voters is providing each vote center with hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes to use on the touch screen machines that we have," said Kurhi. "Following the public health recommendations, we will urge people who feel sick to take the opportunity to mail in their ballot or drop it off at one of our many drop boxes. But we do not anticipate this will affect vote center operations."
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo also touted voting by mail at a news conference on Monday. "We know that folks are concerned about the impact of coronavirus and being out in public. But the great benefit of the process we have now is you only need to walk outside to the mailbox to be able to vote," he said.
More than 75% of California's 20 million registered voters got ballots in the mail, state officials said.
"We, of course, will monitor any public health alerts from state or federal officials that could impact election administration. Right now there are no indications of any disruptions," said Sam Mahood, a spokesman with California's Secretary of State's office, in an email to CNN.
More than 3 million votes have already been returned by mail or cast in person in California since early voting started on February 3, according to county data provided by Mahood.
According to the Secretary of State's office, ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received by your county's elections office no later than three days after Election Day will be counted.
For those going to the polls, people who are in line before the polls are scheduled to close at 8 p.m. Tuesday night will be allowed to vote, under state law.
California holds the single biggest pool of delegates in the primary calendar, with 494 at stake.
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