Citing coronavirus, Riverside County wants all-mail May 12 election

A May 12 special election for an Inland state Senate seat could be conducted with mail-in ballots and “limited in-person voting options” due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Riverside County’s registrar of voters said Friday, March 20.

Citing staffing restraints spurred by COVID-19, Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer said she also asked California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to extend the March 3 primary election certification deadline by three weeks. About 500 vote-by-mail and 29,500 provisional ballots remained to be counted as of Wednesday, and the certification deadline is April 2.

Besides grinding life to a halt, COVID-19 also has complicated already complex, labor-intensive efforts stemming from this month’s presidential primary. Under normal circumstances, it can take California counties weeks to verify and count paper ballots thanks to high voter turnout and policy decisions designed to make it as easy as possible for Californians to vote.

In an email, Spencer said half her staff are coming in to the office every other day and telecommuting other days. “Only half of the staff are in the office at any given time so that there is plenty of room to spread out and observe 6 feet of social distancing,” she said.

While the registrar’s office, like other county government buildings, is closed to the public, there’s an exception for those who want to observe election-related activities. Anyone who wants to observe the canvass must call 951-486-7330 to make an appointment.

To prevent the spread of coronavirus, only one representative of a party or candidate is allowed to watch and the number of observers is limited to four at any one time; San Bernardino County has similar limits. Observers also must be at least 6 feet from each other.

Anyone who is sick needs to stay home and any observer showing symptoms will be asked to leave, Spencer said.

Because no one among five candidates got a simple majority of the vote on March 3, a May 12 runoff will decide who serves the remainder of former state Sen. Jeff Stone’s term, which expires in 2022, in the 28th Senate District, which covers southwest county, the Coachella Valley and Blythe.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special election to fill the seat after Stone resigned in November to take a U.S. Department of Labor job. Barring a drastic, 11th-hour change in March 3 results, Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, will face Democrat and county school board member Elizabeth Romero on May 12.

With the coronavirus crisis showing no signs of ending anytime soon, “We have … sent a request to the California Secretary of State to make the (May 12) election all mail ballot with limited in person voting options at the discretion of the county,” Spencer said.

The county already relies to a large extent on mail-in ballots, with roughly 70% of all voters having permanent vote-by-mail status as of the November 2018 general election.

Spencer said it’s too early to tell how the coronavirus might affect the Nov. 3 general election, adding her office is working with the Secretary of State on November election planning.

San Bernardino County expects to certify its primary results by April 1 and its next election is Nov. 3, Registrar of Voters Bob Page said via email.

“We are balancing our duty to complete the canvass with our responsibility to help safeguard the health of our employees and the community,” Page said, adding that employees are cleaning their work areas and practicing social distancing.