{"id":17429,"date":"2020-08-20T04:00:08","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T08:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=17429"},"modified":"2024-11-19T14:02:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T19:02:53","slug":"voting-and-the-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=17429","title":{"rendered":"Voting, and the Virus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas \u2013 <\/em>As of August 20, the World Health Organization<\/em> reports 22,536,278 cases of COVID-19 in the world. Of that, 5,511,793 cases are in the United States, a number which amounts to one quarter, that is 25% of the worldwide total. In case you\u2019re wondering, the population of the United States is 5% of the world population. Just saying.<\/p>\n

I find it difficult to keep up with the current hoopla about \u201cwho is doing what when\u201d with regard to decisions about managing a pandemic on local ground; and even more hoopla about \u201chow to have a secure vote\u201d with regard to the upcoming presidential election. So the recent announcement about New Zealand\u2019s decision to postpone a national election due to an upsurge in COVID-19 cases really caught my eye.<\/p>\n

Action in New Zealand
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\"\"<\/a>On Monday, August 17 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand announced that the September national election would be delayed by four weeks as new virus cases spread across Auckland, making it difficult to campaign. Prime Minister Ardern, who has the sole authority to determine when people cast ballots, said she had consulted with all the major parties before delaying the vote, originally scheduled for September 19, to October 17. Ms Ardern called the decision a compromise that \u201cprovides sufficient time for parties to plan around the range of circumstances we could be campaigning under, for the electoral commission to prepare, and for voters to feel assured of a safe, accessible and critical election.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shift keeps Election Day within the time frame allowed under the law \u2014 the latest possible date is November 21 \u2014 but it also highlights the national concern as a cluster of at least 58 new cases frustrates investigators, clears the streets of Auckland and suspends scheduled campaign events. Pressure on Ms Ardern and her Labour Party to change the date had been building over several days. A poll taken over the weekend showed that 60 percent of New Zealanders favored a delay. The leaders of other major parties also argued that the Level 3 lockdown in Auckland, the country\u2019s largest city, prevented campaigning and would have made a free and fair election impossible on the original date.<\/p>\n

I noted earlier, when on my NDI RTW<\/em> visit to New Zealand, that their voting process is quite different from the US, where campaigning begins early and the media races to outdo itself by predicting, and announcing, results \u201cbefore midnight.\u201d I still recall my frustration in Seattle one year when I headed for the polls after work, only to hear \u201cthe winner declared\u201d on the car radio. With our current Cell Phone Mentality<\/em>, it\u2019s a second-by-second race to get ahead of the game. I call it blather. Just saying.<\/p>\n

From the New Zealand Electoral Commission<\/em> webpage, I see today\u2019s schedule for their 2020 General Election.<\/p>\n