National: Shuttered polling places and a dearth of cleaning supplies: Voters confront pandemic-fueled confusion at the polls | Elise Viebeck, Amy Gardner and Isaac Stanley-Becker/The Washington Post
Voters in three states Tuesday confronted shuttered polling places, a lack of cleaning supplies and confused officials struggling to administer an election during a public health crisis, a chaotic situation that voting advocates said created barriers for those trying to participate in the Democratic presidential primary. In Arizona, Florida and Illinois, people seeking to vote encountered significant hurdles that appeared directly related to the coronavirus outbreak, according to interviews with voters and nonpartisan advocates. The three states chose to proceed with their contests this week while a fourth â Ohio â postponed in a controversial, eleventh-hour move on Monday night, citing a âhealth emergency.â In locations around Chicago, voters arrived at polling places to find no election judges to run the precinct as well as no disinfecting supplies. Some voting locations in Palm Beach County, Fla., had not opened by late morning. And around Arizona, some people were directed to vote at municipal buildings that were otherwise closed to the public, causing confusion. Even in Ohio, some voters showed up at polling sites on Tuesday morning only to learn that in-person voting was delayed until June 2. In some locations, advocates said, no signs were posted to indicate the change. âWeâve been hearing from countless voters who are unsure about the status of voting today,â Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the National Lawyersâ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said on a conference call with reporters. Clarke said she had never see anything comparable to the situation in Ohio, where voters âwent to bedâ on Monday night unsure whether the elections would take place. âItâs unlike anything we have ever seen before,â she said.