Doctors use early voting to remind people importance of social distancing

ATLANTA — In-person voting during a pandemic: The issue is front and center around the country and in Georgia.

At a polling site in northeast Atlanta, Channel 2′s Audrey Washington found many voters practicing social distancing.

“I knew that the earlier I voted, the better,” said voter Dana Elmore.

Tuesday, Elmore stood in line at a polling location on Ponce De Leon Avenue in northeast Atlanta for more than two hours.

She planned to vote and to do it safely.

“The pandemic is still here. It’s still real, but everyone out here is compiling, and I feel safe and confident,” said Elmore.

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Andrew Hutson stood just a few feet in front of Elmore and made sure to put on a mask.

“It’s critical that everyone comes out and vote, but you don’t want anyone to get sick due to, especially, voting,” Hutson said.

At the site, people socially distanced themselves.

However, Monday afternoon at a McDonough voting location in Henry County, people wore masks but stood less than 6 feet apart from one another.

“Just because we’re having to stand in line, we still need to keep that 6 feet of distance as much as we can,” said Dr. Amber Schmidtke, a former assistant microbiology professor at Mercer University.

Schmidtke said it is important for people to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines both while voting and afterward.

She said people should use plenty of hand sanitizer after they cast their ballot.

“It’s important to think through how you’re going to minimize your risk throughout the day when in terms of voting. Both in wearing a mask and social distancing and also practicing excellent hand hygiene,” Schmidtke said.

Secretary of State encouraging counties with long wait times to add more polling locations Georgia’s Secretary of State says he is encouraging some counties to use their emergency powers to add more machines to polling places.

Cox Media Group