Inside the Beltway: Election officials say coronavirus fear could affect voter turnout

NEWS AND OPINION:

For much of the public, the coronavirus is associated with face masks, white-suited hazard workers, alarming media reports and a running count of those who have been sickened or died. The virus appears to be spreading to the voting booth. Election officials now worry that the fear of virus could affect voter turnout on Super Tuesday when polls in 14 states and one territory open for business.

“A uniform national response to voter disruption does not exist,” points out ABC News.

“Election officials in some areas are scrambling to assure voters and make sure disruptions are minimized,” the news organization said, citing Solano County, California, as an example.

Every polling place and every poll worker in the county will be armed with disinfectant Tuesday, along with hand sanitizer and gloves. There will be curbside locations where voters can drop off their ballots is they choose. Greeters will also be on hand to take ballots from drivers who prefer to stay in their vehicles.

“We’re definitely trying to give voters another couple of options to still get their vote out but not have to interact, if they didn’t want to, with the public,” John Gardner, assistant registrar of voters for Solano County, told ABC.

It’s worse in other countries though.

“Coronavirus could prove to be the wild card tipping the election outcome one way or another as a new poll reveals some 400,000 eligible Israeli voters may choose not to over fears of exposure,” writes Deborah Danan, an Israel-based contributor to Breitbart News.

Some 6.5% of the 500-plus respondents in a survey by Israel-based Midgam Research and Consulting said they may not show up to cast their vote because of coronavirus fears. Based on the nation’s current population, that translates to about 400,000 people, Ms. Danan says.

IS THIS SUPER TUESDAY ACTUALLY SUPER?

Is this Super Tuesday really a super Tuesday? It is a complicated Tuesday, that is for sure.

Voters in 14 states will cast votes for presidential candidates, and over a third of all delegates for the Democratic National Convention will be allotted in primary contests in states including California, Utah, Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Some say this Super Tuesday is likely super, maybe even super super.

“Super Tuesday has never been more critical. It will decide if Bernie Sanders can jump to a very strong delegate lead or if a more centrist challenger can emerge as a possible alternative. The stakes could not be higher,” says Michael Murphy, co-director of the Center for the Political Future at University of Southern California at Dornsife.

SURPRISE: REPUBLICANS UPBEAT, OPTIMISTIC

“In a sharp contrast from four years ago, a large majority of Republicans say their side has been winning more often than it has been losing politically, while Democrats overwhelmingly say their side has been on the losing end more frequently. Today, 69% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say that on the issues that matter to them, their side has been winning more often than losing. Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, just 18% think their side has been winning, while 80% say their side has been losing more often,” writes Ted Van Green, a Pew Research Center analyst who pored over a survey of 6,395 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 4-15.

It found that 80% of Republicans said President Trump was likely to win reelection; just 44% of Democrats said it was likely that a Democratic candidate would triumph.

“Republicans are far more upbeat about their party’s success than they were in 2016 — when 75% said their side was losing more often than winning — or in 2018, when 53% said the same. Four years ago, Democrats were divided on whether their side was winning more than losing. But since then, large majorities have said their side has been losing politically,” Mr. Van Green said. “Conservative Republicans in particular have become more likely to say their side is winning. The share saying this has more than tripled since 2016 (from 20% to 76%), including a 26-point increase just in the past two years.”

23 MILLION ELIGIBLE VOTERS

Here’s even more pertinent information from Pew Research: The immigrant voting bloc is considerable in the U.S. according to U.S. Census data. A record-breaking 23 million naturalized U.S. citizens will be eligible to vote in the 2020 presidential election — that’s about 10% of the nation’s overall electorate.

Will they fall prey to Democratic pitches? We shall see.

In the meantime, the number of foreign-born eligible voters is up 93% since 2000 while the U.S.-born eligible voter population grew by just 18%, from 181 million in 2000 to 215 million in 2020. Most immigrant-eligible voters hail from Latin America or Asia, with Mexico producing the single largest group, at 16% of all foreign-born voters. Over half of foreign-born voters — 56% — live in California, New York, Texas and Florida. Nearly half (46%) of the nation’s immigrant-eligible voters live in states with Democratic primaries or caucuses on Super Tuesday.

“Out of California’s 25.9 million eligible voters, 21% (5.5 million) are foreign born, the highest share of any state through Super Tuesday and in the nation,” the study said. “Other states with primaries or caucuses on or before Super Tuesday that have large immigrant populations include Texas (1.8 million), Massachusetts (619,000), Virginia (550,000), North Carolina (307,000) and Nevada (293,000). These states, plus California, hold 4-in-10 of the nation’s immigrant eligible voters,” the analysis said.

POLL DU JOUR

• 76% of U.S. adults think it’s a “good thing” people can become billionaires in the U.S.; 89% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats agree.

• 15% overall say it’s a “bad thing”; 6% of Republicans and 22% of Democrats agree.

• 56% overall say the federal government should increase taxes on the wealthy “so nobody gets to be too rich”; 34% of Republicans, and 74% of Democrats agree.

• 35% overall say taxes should not be increased for billionaires; 57% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats agree.

Source: A Fox News poll of 1,000 registered U.S. voters conducted Feb. 23-26.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.