Hundreds of polling places across Iowa have been shut down due to COVID-19, according to a report posted by NPR.
The story, reported by Iowa Public Ratio News, the Center for Public Integrity, and NPR, noted the closures could impact races in the state, including the presidential contest.
Election officials in Iowa have found it difficult to find poll workers because of fears over COVID-19. In addition, election officials have not been able to use many churches and community centers, which in the past had been used as polling places, because of the pandemic.
Joel Miller, the top election official in Linn County, has had to close or consolidate 37% of his polling places this year.
Iowa has lost 261 polling places since the 2016 general election. The closures impact 670,000 Iowans — 30% of the state’s registered voters. Most of the shutdowns have come in the state’s urban areas, which traditionally vote for Democrats.
The NPR report noted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had called for officials to "maintain or increase the total number of polling places available to the public on Election Day to improve the ability to social distance."
And research has shown that polling place closures, consolidations, and relocations can impact turnout.
"That's the concern, is voter suppression," University of Northern Iowa political scientist Chris Larimer said.
A CDC study conducted after Wisconsin's primary, the first in-person election after states began issuing stay-at-home orders, found 37 of the state's new COVID-19 cases in the days after the election were among voters.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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