It's quite a challenge to conduct a safe election in the middle of a pandemic, but Duluth's City Clerk's office, led by Chelsea Helmer and Carmel Petersson, were up to the task.
They had early voting by mail or in person at City Hall. They worked with all 34 precincts to establish a flow of voters that entered one door and exited another, with hand sanitizer stations near each door. There were masks for voters who forgot theirs. Curbside voting could accommodate voters outside polling places. Election judges were provided with N95 face masks, face shields, gloves, and cleaning supplies. There were clean pens for voters and a place to put used pens. Carpenters constructed portable plastic table shields to separate voters from judges. Individual voting stations were sanitized after each use. Signs and instruction sheets were printed so everyone knew what to do and where to go.
The number of details involved in all of this advance planning was huge. The staff's organizational skills were awesome. They also put in extra long hours doing all of this on top of normal preparations for an election.
The Duluth City Clerk’s office can be thanked for keeping everyone's safety in mind.
Susan Nelson
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Duluth
