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PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is calling for the upcoming June 2 primary election to be conducted by mail.
Fitzgerald says in-person voting in the midst of the viral outbreak would be foolish and could disenfranchise voters afraid to come to the polls.
“Holding an in-person election in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic would be, in and of itself, a disaster,” said Fitzgerald. “We are not going to have enough staff to work the election and asking elected and appointed poll workers to work flies in the face of what we’ve been asking everyone in this county to do since mid-March. Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy, but in-person voting would jeopardize this community and potentially disenfranchise voters who would be afraid to come to the polls.”
"As we look at June 2nd, I think it's going to be very difficult for us to ask thousands of people to sit there for 13 hours in a hot room," said Allegheny County Executive, Rich Fitzgerald, during an interview with the KDKA Radio Morning Show on Monday. "So we really need to look at how we're going to do this."
Fitzgerald adds the recommendation comes from Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen.
“Voting in person could put our most vulnerable populations at risk; those who are most at risk of serious infection,” said Bogen. “Even if those individuals come out to vote, there is no way to remain physically distant at our polling places. This concern includes the majority of our poll workers, as working on election day would be unsafe for them.”
There are currently over 800 cases of coronavirus in Allegheny County.
Five states in the country currently and exclusively vote by mail.
"Everywhere from the bluest state of Washington, to the reddest state of Utah," Fitzgerald continues. "It seems to be a trend that's moving forward in this country.”
The neighboring state of Ohio votes by mail, and Pennsylvania legislature does allow for it.
You can hear the full conversation with Fitzgerald below.
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