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| Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP |
An epidemiological study by top scientists threw cold water on calls for universal mail-in voting to avoid long lines at the polls and the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus.
The report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that despite long lines in Wisconsin’s April 7 primary elections — at the peak of the outbreak — there was no spike in new cases, hospitalizations or deaths.
The battleground state was the first in the nation to hold a primary after stay-at-home orders were issued in late March. The voting was marred by hourslong waits at the polls.
The CDC study of the impact on voters in Milwaukee revealed that 33% fewer deaths were reported three weeks after the elections than earlier in April.
“After a peak in hospitalizations during the last week in March, hospitalizations gradually declined,” said the analysis, stressing that the CDC’s guidance urging physical distancing, cleaning and disinfecting at the polls appeared to have worked.
The CDC report said a longer voting period and increased number of polling locations in November could help reduce the number of people at the polls and the risk of transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that is blamed for the deaths of more than 163,000 people in the U.S.
“The data from Milwaukee provide preliminary evidence to suggest mitigation strategies were effective, but more observations are necessary,” said Eva Leidman, who leads the CDC’s Wisconsin COVID-19 Response Field Team.
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According to the CDC study, however, the percentage of voters who cast mail-in ballots increased fifteenfold for the primary and the number of polling places in Milwaukee dropped from 181 in 2016 to just five in April, resulting in long lines.
Allies of President Trump, who is campaigning against mail-in voting for the November elections, said the evidence was clear-cut.
“We can stand in line in the grocery store and many other places — the airport, whatever — but we can’t stand in line for balloting with the proper distancing?” said Curt Levey, president of the conservative legal group Committee for Justice and a lawyer on Mr. Trump’s advisory board Lawyers for Trump.Read the rest of rhe story HERE and follow links below to related stories and resources:
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