Delays ahead
Officials in Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana have postponed their presidential primaries, and there is some chatter in New York about potentially doing the same for the April 28 date. Credit: Ed Betz
Daily Point
Primaries on hold
In a mark of how much coronavirus has shifted American life, even the bedrock of national elections is in flux.
States including Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana have postponed their presidential primaries, and there is some chatter in New York about potentially doing the same for the April 28 date.
“Those who have spent the last few years pushing for all-absentee voting can be expected to use coronavirus as the impetus to go to all-absentee voting on April 28th,” Nick LaLota, Republican commissioner for the Suffolk County Board of Elections, told The Point.
President Donald Trump said Monday he expects the coronavirus crisis to stretch into the summer, meaning the chaos could continue for June elections, or even heading into the November general election.
On that front, the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law is out with a memo for handling the “difficult and novel challenge” that COVID-19 presents for the 2020 general.
Recommendations include equipping polling places with “soap, water, and drying materials and an alcohol-based hand sanitizer” and offering voters the option to cast their ballots by mail (something the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention likes as well.)
The memo suggests more early voting, which may already be a saving grace in places like Florida or Arizona with Tuesday primaries where many ballots were cast early.
Then there are more tactile ideas. For those mail-in ballots: “Where possible, states should use no-glue envelopes and instruct voters not to lick envelopes.”
—Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano
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Talking Point
Mayoral control
When Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo canceled Wednesday’s village elections until the state’s presidential primary on April 28, the question naturally emerged about what happens on April 1, when many of these elected terms expire. In other words, who’s in charge after that date?
With apologies to The Who: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
“The elected officials will hold over until the rescheduled election fills the slot and that person will serve for the unexpired balance of the new term,” attorney Paul Sabatino emailed The Point. Sabatino, an expert on municipal law and a former chief deputy Suffolk County executive and longtime former counsel to the county legislature, cited New York Public Officers Law in his determination.
So everyone in office will remain in office until the elections are held on April 28, or later, depending on the spread of the coronavirus.
That means, for example, that Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand will have another month before facing off with his predecessor, George Starkie. It also means that Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender is going to have to postpone her retirement. Celender is stepping down after a 20-year run.
Make that 20 years … and a month.
—Michael Dobie @mwdobie
Pencil Point
Not like Roosevelt
Mark Wilson Credit: Mark Wilson
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Final Point
Airport screening changes
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to issue guidance on how to better handle screenings of international passengers at Newark and Kennedy airports to prevent the massive crowds and lengthy lines that occurred over the weekend, a source familiar with the situation told The Point.
The guidance will be provided to the Customs and Border Protection port directors at each airport, and will focus on how to space out passengers to allow for social distancing even as they deplane and go through Customs. That could include deplaning in smaller groups, similar to how many airlines board their passengers, rather than the usual rush of passengers all attempting to exit an aircraft at once.
The goal, sources said, is to avoid the crush that happened Saturday, when the United States began additional screening measures, causing enormous overcrowding at Kennedy and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
The Port Authority expects to issue a letter detailing its guidance in the coming days. While Customs agents are in charge of handling the screening process, Port Authority police and staff are stationed at the airports and could be helpful in crowd control and other safety measures, sources said.
Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection told The Point that the agency isn’t granting interviews, but noted in a statement that officials there are increasing staffing and developing plans to “determine the most efficient and safe process flow for the traveling public.”
—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall
