Havre de Grace 2020 Election: Date, Methods For Voting May Change

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — The May municipal election in Havre de Grace may be postponed. It is usually held the first Tuesday in May but due to the new coronavirus and guidance around social distancing, lawmakers voted to amend the city charter, allowing that to change.

The Havre de Grace City Council voted to allow the election to be suspended until 60 days after the state of emergency is lifted in Maryland.

Council members also voted to allow alternative voting methods for this year's city election so that voting would not encourage gathering and the spread of the virus.

Maryland has been under a state of emergency since March 5, when three people in the state tested positive for the new coronavirus.

"Holding a routine election during a pandemic would somewhat encourage people to violate CDC guidelines," Council President David Glenn said, since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has encouraged people to stay at least 6 feet away from one another to prevent the spread of the virus, which can be transmitted through respiratory droplets.

Glenn proposed amending the city charter's guidance around elections to allow it to be held at another time.

"This charter amendment is being proposed in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," Glenn said of the legislation to suspend the election. "This legislation would amend the city charter in accordance with the governor's executive order enabling municipalities to postpone elections without having to comply with the required public hearing" and 40-day wait period.

New methods of voting may be introduced, according to the resolution:

• "Citizens are to be strongly encouraged to request absentee ballots from City Hall and to return the ballots to City Hall as instructed," the resolution says. "For those citizens voting in person, there are two options that the city may use on Election Day if the governor's order No. 20-03-30-01 remains in effect."
  • Drive-thru voting on Pennington Avenue in front of City Hall. Voters would stay in their vehicles and be qualified by election judges. They would receive the ballot and give to the election judges. It would only work weather-permitting.
  • Walk-up voting would be available for those who did not submit absentee ballots. They must wear masks covering their mouths and noses and stay 6 feet away from each other. No more than 10 people will be allowed in walk-up voting areas.

Voting procedures will be posted on the city's website and City Hall no less than 24 hours before the election.

The governor issued a stay-at-home order effective March 30. People are not supposed to gather in groups of 10 or more people in Maryland until further notice under the order.

Holding the May 5 in-person election in Havre de Grace would make it "extremely difficult for the city to protect voting citizens given the social distancing requirements, thus enabling transmission of the virus and placing more people in the community at risk of infection," according to a resolution to amend the city charter, which was approved at Monday night's City Council meeting.