Commentary: Democracy In The Time Of Coronavirus

By Mary Beth Schneider
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS — We are defined these days by numbers.

The number infected. The number dead. The number of businesses shuttered and unemployment claims filed. The number of testing kits available and number of tests completed. The number of days our children will be out of school.

Most tallies, sadly, are only growing, with more sick, more dead, more unemployed.

One number, for Indiana, is shrinking: The number of days until the May 5 primary election.

Today, it remains an open question whether that election will take place that day, and whether voters will even go to the polls or instead make their choices by mail in an unheard-of expansion of absentee balloting.

The election may seem the least of our problems, and the life-and-death tragedies the world is facing in this pandemic changes our perspective on almost everything.

But in a nation of government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” the right of the people to make their choices is no trivial matter. When voters are seeing parts of government failing them, and parts of government rising to address a crisis unlike any we’ve faced before, it might be more important than ever to ensure that democracy isn’t considered a luxury we cannot afford.

This week, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced that absentee ballot applications will be sent to every registered voter in Marion County. It’s an unprecedented step at a time when unprecedented steps are becoming the norm. And in a rare show of bipartisanship, Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer and Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody issued a joint letter asking the Indiana Election Commission to temporarily suspend the rules on who can apply for an absentee ballot to let anyone, for any reason, vote by mail.

“Maintaining the integrity of our elections and preserving a citizen’s right vote, even under difficult circumstances, is the bedrock of our republic,” they wrote.

An emergency meeting of the commission — comprised of two Republicans and two Democrats — was set for Friday, then canceled. And Gov. Eric Holcomb, in his Thursday coronavirus briefing, made no announcement, as many had expected him to do.

Asked about the primary by reporters, Holcomb said Secretary of State Connie Lawson was in ongoing discussions with Zody and Kupfer to find consensus.

“I personally support postponing the primary election,” Holcomb said. “I say this out of, first, concern for county officials that have to conduct these elections, for poll workers and voters themselves. The details have to be worked out.”

On the table: Moving the primary to June 2 or even as late as August.

So far, Democrats at least have not agreed to that, preferring instead to expand mail-in voting.

Time is running out to make a decision. Printing and mailing that many absentee applications and ballots cannot be done overnight.

Indiana doesn’t want to be Ohio, where the decision to postpone that state’s primary until June 2 was made the day before its March 17 scheduled date, after a court fight over whether the governor had the power to make that decision.

And we don’t want to be Illinois, which went ahead with its March 17 primary election only for some voters to find their polling places closed or opening late when poll workers failed to show up.

Anthony Long, a Democrat who has served on the Indiana Election Commission for decades, told me Thursday that he is glad to see Holcomb trying to reach bipartisan agreement.

Holcomb may have no choice, despite his declaration of a state of emergency. Indiana law says the primary “shall” be held on the first Tuesday in May and puts emergency powers regarding elections in the hands of the election commission, not the governor. Given that it would require a unanimous decision by the commission, it makes bipartisanship a necessity, not a nicety.

Many Democrats have started to fret that President Trump will try to postpone the November election if the pandemic is still disrupting America.

While Long said he’s not had anyone raise that concern with him, he said that’s one reason why “it’s so important that there are (bipartisan) discussions at all levels.”

“There just has to be open communication,” he said. “If either side at any time starts doing this on their own, without joint participation, then it’s a real recipe for disaster.”

We’re already in a health and economic disaster.

We don’t need a democratic one too.

FOOTNOTE: Mary Beth Schneider is an editor at TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalists.

A State-by-State Guide to Coronavirus Lockdowns

By Jacob Gershman

WALL STREET JOURNAL

Governors in New York, California, and other large states have ordered most businesses to shut and people to stay inside, with limited exceptions

State lockdown measures imposed across the U.S. vary in the scope and severity of the limits on where people can travel, work and shop away from their homes.

No state is completely preventing people from going outside or to work, but some measures were more drastic. California Gov. Gavin Newsom effectively banned residents from socializing outside their homes, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo went further in cordoning off the elderly and sick populations.

All of the measures—with loopholes of varying size—sought at least to keep millions of more people home more of the time without cutting off lifelines. State leaders have vowed to enforce the lockdowns, but it’s unclear whether any of them can be effectively enforced.

Here are highlights of the orders in major states.

NEW YORK

• Effective 8 p.m. on Sunday, all businesses that aren’t deemed essential must shut down their in-office personnel functions. Gov. Cuomo’s order exempts financial institutions, retailers, pharmacies, hospitals, news media, manufacturing plants and transportation companies, among others.

• “Non-essential gatherings” of any size and for any reason are temporarily banned.

• In public, people must keep at least six feet away from each other.

• Residents 70 and older and people with compromised immune systems or underlying illnesses must remain indoors (unless exercising outside), wear a mask in the company of others and prescreen visitors by taking their temperature.

• Casinos, gyms, theaters, shopping malls, amusement parks, and bowling alleys are closed.

• Barbershops, hair salons, tattoo or piercing salons, nail salons, hair-removal services will be closed starting Saturday at 8 p.m.

• Bars and restaurants are limited to delivery and takeout.

CALIFORNIA

Gov. Newsom has ordered everyone in California to stay home except to get food, care for a relative or friend, obtain health care, or go to an “essential job.” People working in critical infrastructure sectors may continue to go to their jobs.

• People outside must keep at least 6 feet of distance from each other.

• Dine-in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, entertainment venues, gyms and fitness studios are closed.

• Gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, convenience stores, banks, and laundry services remain open.

PENNSYLVANIA

Gov. Tom Wolf ordered “non-life-sustaining businesses” in Pennsylvania to close their physical locations as of Thursday evening. The restriction exempts sectors, like gas stations, food retailers and transportation companies. It also doesn’t apply to “virtual or telework operations.” Businesses that don’t comply could face enforcement actions starting Saturday.

• Pennsylvanian residents are strongly encouraged to refrain from nonessential travel, but it isn’t a requirement.

• Restaurants and bars must stop all dine-in services.

ILLINOIS

Gov. J.B. Pritzker commanded residents to stay at home, leaving only for essential travel and activities such as health and safety reasons, getting supplies and caring for others.

• The Illinois directive says, “non-essential business and operations must cease,” a requirement with many exceptions. Nonessential businesses can still allow employees to work remotely and process payroll and employee benefits, among other limited activities.

• Gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited with limited exceptions.

• All places of public amusement are closed to the public, such as carnivals, amusement parks and concert halls.

TEXAS

Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive instructs all Texans to avoid social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people starting Saturday morning.

• Texas residents “shall avoid eating or drinking at bars, restaurants, and food courts, or visiting gyms or massage parlors.”

• People may not visit nursing homes or long-term care facilities unless to provide critical assistance.

FLORIDA

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered the closure of all restaurant dining rooms and bars in the state, as well as concert houses and other entertainment venues in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

• The city of Miami Beach directed all hotels to close down by Monday night.

• Miami-Dade County has shut down beaches, parks, bars, and restaurants.

NEVADA

• Days after closing Las Vegas casinos, Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered a shutdown of “non-essential businesses,” including movie theaters, massage parlors, brothels, nightclubs, hair and nail salons, and gyms.

• Retail cannabis dispensaries may operate by delivery.

• No on-site dining at restaurants.

Write to Jacob Gershman at jacob.gershman@wsj.com