As we learn all the ways the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting our lives, one looming concern is our elections. Sixteen states have already postponed in-person primaries to protect voters from gatherings that could expose them and poll workers to the spread of the virus. This has in turn resulted in a growing call for legislative action to address the health threat created by in-person balloting.

As we look ahead to the upcoming primaries and the general election this fall, there are a series of possible election tools that might mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. One of these tools is vote by mail (VBM), which increasingly is simply vote at home with most voters in some states personally returning ballots to drop boxes.

What should election administrators worry about if this shift proceeds? What are the possible challenges or barriers to running a new vote by mail election? And what can be learned from states that have already shifted to this system?

To answer these questions, we turn to one of the country’s most experienced administrators running a full by-mail election system, Multnomah County, Oregon’s Director of Elections, Tim Scott.

Director Scott has served Multnomah County since 2008, following six years working in election administration in at the City of Fairfax, Virginia in 2002. The move from Virginia to Oregon took Mr. Scott from a jurisdiction with 10% “excuse required” absentee ballots to an entirely vote by mail state.

We asked Tim to speak with us about how he is handling preparation for the May Oregon primary, assuring a safe, secure, and accessible election while simultaneously protecting his staff 

Tim started by reminding us that even though VBM reduces the exposure for voters, there are still staffing concerns on the horizon. VBM elections require a sizable on-call election work force of 275 to collect and manage the flow of ballots into the Multnomah County central processing facility, located just east of downtown Portland.

Administering a fully by-mail election means that many election administration tasks are focused on managing the flow of ballots and less on managing the flow of voters (although Multnomah, along with every other Oregon county, provides some language and assistive services at the county office). Many of the human design elements, such as the ballot format, and design of the envelopes and instructions, are, of course, important, but were decided long ago.

What goes into administering a vote by mail election? The workflow includes collecting of ballots from a dozen or more drop boxes and nineteen public libraries; managing incoming mail; verifying signatures; separating the ballot from the ballot envelope; and opening, scanning, and ultimately processing the ballots. Because Oregon is a voter-intent state, processes have to be put in place to “remake” ballots.

All of these tasks present challenges in maintaining a safe workplace in light of COVID-19. Many of these tasks require a substantial number of temporary workers.

Tim has concerns that these workers are more likely to become ill, or choose not to accept the job offer in light of perceived risks. One possible option the County is considering is calling in other county employees that have seen their workplaces closed due to the pandemic.

For VBM, the staff in charge of signature verification are critical. Voter signatures are manually reviewed and verified by specially trained staff. If a few key staff members were unable to come to work during an extremely high turnout election like we expect in November, it could cause a serious slowdown.

This is a point of vulnerability in their elections process, Tim admits, and the County will be implementing a new automated systems for this verification step this year.

Managing the safety of election workers also extends to the handling of the ballots. Under a VBM system, hundreds of thousands of ballots and ballot envelopes are arriving at their office. How can we assure sanitary conditions?

Tim mentioned that the machines that sort the ballots generate sufficient heat to damage any virus material on the ballots.

The ballot opening process is another challenge for social distancing. There are requirements for a certain number of individuals to participate and observe the process. Less teams are being used to open ballots, allowing for people to space out more. But fewer teams may slow the reporting of data on Election Day.

In addition, the County is in ongoing consultation with the Oregon Health Authority to review risks to workers and develop recommendations for protecting workers as they visit dropbox sites, sort the ballots, and process them for scanning.

In Multnomah County, libraries are a common location for voters to return ballots. Tim’s office works very closely with the library system, and they already have an agreement in place for voters to use the book return slots as long as the libraries are closed during the shelter-in-place order.

An additional area of concern, and an issue that’s a challenge statewide, are services used to increase voter access. Even under VBM, there are election services that cannot be offered in any other way that face to face, voter to election administrator or a staff member or temporary election services provider.

In normal conditions, the Elections Division has options for translators and other in-person services. This is an area where the elections staff are working hard to think ahead to possible challenges and solutions that continue to assure voter access for those that need more help to vote. Key to these conversations is equity, and making sure that tools used to provide access continue in light of new public health requirements. The Election Division is planning on using telephone interpretation to assist those with language access needs. The Division is also contacting residential care facilities to make sure facility administrators are aware of the election deadlines and options available for voting.

We ended our conversation with a final question on the challenges states without VBM should anticipate if they chose to adopt vote by mail. The one main concern is the supply chain needed to operate VBM elections. Much like the crisis we are seeing unfold in public health, there is a concern that the paper, machinery, and supplies needed to serve a mail-based election are likely under strain from the limits on how or when businesses can operate. Even under normal conditions, this supply chain is not easy to manage. While some capacity might be managed by bringing printing or other components in-house, that also requires internal professional capacity. What emerged from our conversation is a single concern that local election officials will face if VBM is expanded. Can election officials create, manage, and deliver on a new supply chain that requires coordinating printers, data management vendors, and the US Postal Service to secure and administer the 2020 elections?

It appears possible, but requires an immediate series of steps to develop this system of vendors and services – and all while the entire US is under various levels of restricted economic activity. Each state will have to review the respective election law and policy steps that might speed or hinder this process. The process of administering the 2020 election by mail will have to start today to be successful.