Michael P. McDonald - From Pandemic to Insurrection: Voting in the 2020 US Presidential Election

ISBN 9783110766806

e-ISBN (PDF) 9783110766837

e-ISBN (EPUB) 9783110766882

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

This book is dedicated to the election officials, volunteer poll workers, and voters who participated in the historic 2020 presidential election. One hundred and fifty-nine million people voted in the election, the most people ever to vote in an American election, and the highest turnout rate in 120 years. While there is much to celebrate in the historical levels of civic participation, as a sobering reminder, I reflect upon the sacrifices people made along the way.

Tens of thousands of election officials worked in-person across the United States, and some were exposed to COVID-19. At least five election officials are known to have died from the pandemic that overshadowed the election.

• Beverly Walker a Fulton County, Georgia voter registration manager died in advance of the states June primary. Others in the office were infected, and the office was temporarily closed.

• Revall Burke a Chicago, Illinois poll worker died of COVID-19 two weeks after the states primary election. It is unknown if he contracted the disease at the polling place, but local officials notified poll workers and voters of their potential exposure.

• Two New York City election workers deemed essential died and ten others tested positive during the first coronavirus spike in the spring.

• A Missouri poll worker tested positive for COVID-19 and subsequently died. She did not quarantine, and thereby exposed other poll workers and voters to the coronavirus.

• A Lake County, Florida election worker committed suicide at the election office prior to the general election. The circumstances are private, but I honor this persons memory.

• While not an election official, a North Dakota state legislative candidate was elected to his seat, a month after dying from COVID-19.

More people were exposed to the virus and fell ill. It is possible that some of these people, their friends and family, and the voters they came in contact with had severe infections that resulted in deaths unreported among the hundreds of thousands who died. Some may suffer complications for the remainder of their lives.

• In Arizona, one Maricopa County election worker was hospitalized and at least five others tested positive after working at a vote center.

• In California, Orange County clerk Neal Kelly was hospitalized with COVID-19 in the mid-summer;

• In Colorado, five workers at Larimer Countys mail ballot counting facility tested positive following the general election.

• In Florida, an Alachua County poll worker tested positive during the state primary;

• In Georgia, thirteen employees working in a Fulton County election storage warehouse tested positive prior to the general election.

• In Illinois, the Chicago Board of Elections closed their downtown office when an employee tested positive for COVID-19 in the mid-summer;

• In Indiana, the St. Joseph County election office closed following the general election when six election workers tested positive for COVID-19.

• In Iowa, some Cedar Rapids poll workers tested positive for the virus while working during the general election.

• In Kansas, the county clerk and another employee fell ill with the virus during the states primary.

• In New Jersey, two Mercer County election officials tested positive prior to the general election;

• In Missouri, twenty-eight Jackson County election workers tested positive for the virus during the general election.

• In New York, a Dutchess County poll worker tested positive following the general election;

• In Pennsylvania, following the general election, four Westmoreland County staffers tested positive and two more were waiting results, causing the local office to scramble to find replacements so provisional ballots could be counted in time for certification;

• In Tennessee, a Hardin County election worker tested positive, closing the office following the general election.

• In Texas, a Harris County early voting location was temporarily closed after a poll worker tested positive.

• In Virginia, the Richmond election office was provided more time to certify their general election results due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

• In Wisconsin, at least 71 election workers or voters were infected during the primary election.

I am certain that this list is incomplete. With the decline in local media in recent decades, news coverage of small election offices may thus go unreported. During the election, members of my research team at the University of Florida were tasked with collecting information from local election offices across the country. We encountered phone message recordings at two small, rural offices in Arkansas and Mississippi stating these offices were closed due to positive COVID-19 cases.

If the pandemic was not enough of a challenge, the election was marked by unprecedented levels of violence in modern times. Election officials further endured violent threats made towards them. Joe Bidens electoral victory over Donald Trump was decisive. However, Donald Trumps continuing claims that election officials rigged the election spurred his supporters to make numerous threats, particularly in the close battleground states determinative of the Electoral College winner. While these threats were isolated, the internet made it possible for people to coordinate their actions. Law enforcement investigated a website that targeted election officials whose photographs of their faces appeared on the website with crosshairs on them, accompanied by their home addresses. As threats mounted, law enforcement officers were deployed to the homes and offices of the election officials subject to numerous direct threats, among them:

• In Arizona, law officers escorted Maricopa County election workers from the ballot counting facility to their cars past an angry throng who wrongly believed that ballots marked with a Sharpie pen would not be counted.

• Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergers wife received threatening text messages, including one that read, You better not botch this recount. Your life depends on it.

• In Kentucky, Jared Dearing, the director of the Kentucky Board of Elections, received threatening phone messages, for example, Go find a gun and kill yourself. Every person that didnt get to vote because of you should get to beat the shit out of you. The caller targeted Dearing because Louisville had only one polling location for the states primary election, despite the fact that Dearing had no role in that administrative decision.

• In Michigan, the Wayne County Board of Canvasserss video conference was interrupted by a person threatening rape and violence against the mothers of the four board members.

• The Nevada Secretary of States office received a voice mail during the general election in which the caller ranted, You guys lied and cheated. You fucking lied and cheated. You guys are fucking dead.

• In North Dakota, a man was arrested prior to the general election after sending an email to a local newspaper stating, I will blow up the voting location in Stark Co[unty]. Fortunately, the man was unable to carry out his threat.