Open Letter To Extend Mail-In Voting And Reschedule March Primaries Amid Pandemic
UPDATE MONDAY MARCH 16: OHIO HAS DELAYED ITS PRIMARY

*To DNC Chair Tom Perez and Members of the Democratic National Committee and to the Secretaries of State of Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Georgia:

The next round of Democratic presidential primaries are scheduled for March 17 in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio, amid a deadly pandemic. There is also a primary scheduled for Georgia on March 24. This is a dangerous state of affairs.

All five states have declared states of emergency or have patients in quarantine in response to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus outbreak.

Hundreds are sick and multiple people have died. It has resulted in numerous cancellations and postponements, including presidential campaign events in Cleveland and Tampa.

In the swing state of Ohio, the state’s Health Department Director Amy Acton said there is evidence one percent of Ohioans may be carrying the coronavirus. That means 117,000 may have have COVID-19.

State officials in Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, and Georgia, with the support of the Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders presidential campaigns, should extend mail-in voting and reschedule the primaries for May, when states such as Indiana, Oregon, and Kentucky have their primaries.

Until that date, mail-in voting should be implemented throughout under the guidance of health and election authorities.

We have seen long lines of voters in states like Texas and Michigan. The amount of time standing in line with hundreds or even thousands of other voters substantially increases the likelihood that someone will get sick.

By postponing primaries, state governments will be able to keep resources focused, and they will not need to worry about the distraction of running primaries while responding to this pandemic.

This will also give time for the states to implement alternative voting mechanisms, such as vote-by-mail, at a sufficient scale if the pandemic continues to be an emergency for these states.

Furthermore, polling place workers, who are generally retired volunteers over 65 years-old, should not need to be exposed to the risk of contracting the coronavirus while managing precinct locations.

We should note that we do not believe that a public health crisis or a state of emergency should ever be used as an excuse to cancel elections. The Democratic primary season concludes in early June; the party has full flexibility to schedule state-level races at any point before then.

In addition to our primary concern about public health, we believe this would be beneficial to the democratic process.

As people are understandably avoiding public places and crowds, we expect turnout to be depressed. Extending mail-in voting and rescheduling the primaries would ensure that more people are allowed to exercise their right to vote without fear.

It would also be particularly good for down ballot races in the Democratic Party primary. Candidates in city, county, and state races will likely benefit from higher turnout.

For the health of our fellow citizens and our democracy, please act now to extend mail-in balloting and postpone the upcoming March primaries until May.

Signed:

Avra Ackerman, MD
Emily Ackerman
Adnan Ahmed, MD
Jeffrey S Albanese, Social Worker
Jeffrey S Albanese, Social Worker
Taylor Almond, Nursing student, University of Utah
Alissa Baker, MD
Patrick Barker, Clinical Data Analyst
Brian Barker
Dave K Barman
Rupert Barshop, Master of Public Health
Dylan Bartholomew
Eli Baumann, Medical Research Assistant
Alina Bayer, MD
Dr. Nicholas Becker
Shyra Been, RN
Dena Bermann, LMFT
Eric Blackstone, Cancer Research Project Manager
Michelle A Boley, Producer /former Air Force Medic
Luke Bowers
Erika Bracamonte, MD/University of Arizona
Michelle Brenseke, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Clementine Brown
Richard A Bruno, MD
Matthew Cavagnetto, Registered Nurse
 Nick Celano, MD
Sean Clark, MD
Sandra K Cohen, MD, Asst Clinical Prof, Cornell University Medical College
David Cohen, EMT
Adam Cohen
Fiona Cook, CNA
Bridget Cosgrove
Kristin Cranston, CNA2
April Crofut, MD
Brooks Danahy
Collin S Davis, Patient Care Technician, St. Peter's Health Partners
Jennifer Davis, MD
Brendan Deery, FDNY EMT
Jacob Van Dehy
Jacob Van Dehy, Biomedical Research Engineer
Mira Dermendjieva, Pharm.D.
Zachary Doyle
Ryan Duff, Medical Student, MS-3
Morgan Esler, PhD student
Dana Fairbanks, M.D.
Jessica Flynn, MD/Lahey Hospital Burlington, MA
Carmen Fortuno, MD
Elizabeth Gay, Retired Senior Director of Prevention, Kaiser Permanente Colorado
Claudette A Gaynor, LMHC
Dan George Jr.
Makeda Getachew
Amelia Gifford, Occupational Epidemiology Student
Jeanie Glass, LMT
Scott Goldberg, MD, MD
Lynnette Gonzales, Registered Nurse
Maureen Gray
Pamella Gronemeyer, M.D., SEMC Pathology
Kimberly Gutierrez, RN
Cody Hamm, EMT
Jack Harmelin, MSW
Jessica Hatem, Medical billing specialist
Benjamin Hawes, LAc
Tonilynn Hill, RN
Scott J. Hillesheim
Maddie Himes, RN
Winona Holl
Chris Hoops, ICU Nurse, Paramedic
Rebecca Houck
Ryan Howard, Doctor
Alyssa Huffman
John Hylton, Student associate, Kaplan Hecker & Fink
Jillian Irwin, MD
Amy Jacobson, RN
Dr. Haddy Jarmakani, D.O., Yale Radiology Resident
Karin Johnson, MD, Associate Professor/Baystate
Douglas Johnson, MD
Anne Joseph, MA, AMFT
Sarah Judd, MPH, MPH
Harrison Kalodimos, MD
Laura Katz, Ph.D., NCSP, School Psychologist
Jessica Kaylor, PA-C
Sabiha Kazi, MD
Dylan Kearney
Saoirse Kelly, CMDHB
Casimir Klim, 4th year medical student, University of Michigan Medical School
John Kolios
Kimberly Konkel, former Deputy Director HHS Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Lori Kryspin, Former Supervisor, AIDS Clinical Trial Laboratory, Ohio State University
Jerry Ku, MD
Vedika Kumar
Jack Langfird, COTA
Lauren Laroux, Medical Interpreter Dispatch
Carolyn Leigh, Licensed Acupuncturist
Sean Levy, MD / Pulmonary and critical care physician
Alix Levy
Daniel Thomas Leyden
Remy Liggio, DAOM
Winnie Lin, MD
Joshua Lovell
Kevin Madsen, RN
Jake Marika, DO
Allison May
Sandy Mayes, RN
Mark McAllister, MD
Riley McAllister, Dr.
Matthew McGowen, Patient Care Coordinator
Dr. Chelsea McGuire, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine / Boston University School of Medicine  
Jacqueline Meadow, MD
Tim, Medstudent, abroad (formerly Medic)
Jen Mele, LCSW Therapist, NJ Licensed Clinican
Steven Michener
Allan Mills, MD
David Minehan, MD
Eric Much, Caregiver
Jan Mullen
Brianna Muller, MD, MPH, University of New Mexico
Matthew Musselman, Medical Student
Scott Nass, MD MPA FAAFP AAHIVS, Eisenhower Health
Yasamin Nejat
Staci O’Neal-Robinson, LCSW
Angela Oravec, COTA/L
Marco Orrel
Megan Orrel
Joshua Park, Acupuncture Physician
Stephanie Pasqualino, Registered nurse
Stephanie Pasqualino, RN
Kristopher W Perez
Thao Pham, RN
Judith Pierre
Christopher J Pursley
Mark A Redling, Social Worker
Heather Regan, Registered Respiratory Therapist
Ruth Rickey
Shelley Rosenfeld, PhD
Haleigh Ryan, Radiologic Technologist
Brad Sagal
Justin Salman, 3rd year medical student, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Lauren Sargent, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, retired
Milan Satcher, MD MPH
Sarah A Saunders, RN
Jordan Schuelzke, RN
Gregory G. Scott, Medical Device Design Engineer
Duncan Secor, Physical Therapist
Linda Settle, MD, Retired, 30 yrs Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Jack Shakarshy, MD
Jaleh Sharify, Pharm.D.
Patrick Shea, MSPH
Bobbie Shields, Nursing Assistant
Ryan Simpson
Jordan Smith
Sharon Smith
William Jerome Smyth
Susan Steigerwalt, MD, Retired physician
Joseph Sternemann, Emergency room RN
Karen Stevens
Robbie Swain, DDR
Steven Switz
Jonas Tavela
Praveen Tummalapalli, Medical student
Susan VanPelt, RN (retired)
Kathleen Viscum-Sauer, BS RVT RDMS
Steiner Voigt
Marister Wei
Jami West, OTD, OTR/L, Occupational therapist
Christopher Dominic Williams, MD
Nathaniel Williams, EMT
Michael Winfield
Rebecca Wroblewski, Provider Education Specialist
Arthur Yang, MD
David Zimmerman, UCSD Health Staff Research Associate

and over 2000 other concerned citizens

(Email addresses will only be used for confirming signatures, will not be added to any mailing lists. Organized by Brad Johnson <climatebrad@gmail.com> and Kevin Gosztola <kevin@shadowproof.com>.)
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