Coronavirus Weekly Update: October 29, 2020

November 5 →

← October 22

A weekly summary of major changes in the world of politics, government, and elections happening each day   The Coronavirus Weekly Update summarizes major changes due to the coronavirus pandemic in politics, government, and elections. Today, you will find updates on the following topics, with comparisons to our Oct. 22 edition. Election changes School closures and reopenings Lawsuits about state actions and policies Travel restrictions Ballot measure changes 1918 story Federal responses Stay-at-home orders Eviction and foreclosure policies Diagnosed or quarantined public officials State legislation State courts For daily news on state reopening plans and which industries and activities are permitted across the country, subscribe to Documenting America's Path to Recovery. Election changes Read more: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020 Overview:  Thirty-nine states have modified their voting procedures.  Eight states have made voting procedure modifications since Oct. 22 (or the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to block existing modifications). Twenty states have modified their candidate filing requirements.  No states have made candidate filing modifications since Oct. 22. Details: Michigan: On Oct. 27, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher Murray issued an order blocking Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's (D) directive barring individuals from openly carrying firearms near polling places on Election Day. Missouri: On Oct. 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit blocked a district court order that would have allowed Missouri voters to return their mail-in ballots in person. As a result, the law requiring voters to return their mail-in ballots by mail was upheld. North Carolina: On Oct. 28, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to reinstate North Carolina's statutory absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline, allowing the North Carolina State Board of Elections' extension to stand. Pennsylvania:  On Oct. 28, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to expedite consideration of a case involving the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's extension of the state's mail-in ballot return deadline, allowing the extended deadline to stand. On Oct. 23, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled election officials could not reject a mail-in ballot because the signature on the ballot return documents did not appear to match the voter's signature on file. South Carolina: On Oct. 27, Judge Richard Mark Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina ruled that county election officials could not reject absentee/mail-in ballots because of perceived mismatches between the signature on the ballot return documents and the voter's signature on file. Texas:  On Oct. 28, Judge Jason Pulliam of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas temporarily invalidated an exemption for polling places in Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) statewide mask mandate, requiring most voters to wear masks when voting in person. On Oct. 27, the Texas Supreme Court upheld Abbott's order restricting the number of absentee/mail-in ballot return locations to one per county. Virginia: On Oct. 28, Frederick County (Virginia) Circuit Court Judge William W. Eldridge ruled absentee/mail-in ballots without postmarks could be accepted if they were received after Election Day. Eldridge said election officials could accept a ballot with an illegible postmark for up to three days after Election Day if the voter casting the ballot signed and dated the accompanying oath before the election. Wisconsin: On Oct. 26, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-3 against reinstating a court-ordered extension of Wisconsin's receipt deadline for absentee/mail-in ballots. As a result, the statutory receipt deadline (Election Day) was allowed to stand. School closures and reopenings Read more: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2020-2021 academic year The current status of school reopenings is as follows: Washington, D.C., has a district-ordered school closure 2016-17 enrollment: 85,850 students (0.17% of students nationwide) Seven states (Calif., Del., Hawaii, N.C., N.M., Ore., W.V.) have state-ordered regional school closures, require closures for certain grade levels, or allow hybrid instruction only. 2016-17 enrollment: 9,366,079 students (18.51% of students nationwide) Four states (Ark., Fla.*, Iowa, Texas) have state-ordered in-person instruction 2016-17 enrollment: 9,180,918 students (18.15% of students nationwide) *Note: Three counties in South Florida are not at the same phase of reopening as the rest of the state and the emergency order to reopen schools does not affect them.  Thirty-nine states have reopenings that vary by school or district 2016-17 enrollment: 31,955,012 students (63.17% of students nationwide) Lawsuits about state actions and policies Read more: Lawsuits about state actions and policies in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021 Overview: To date, Ballotpedia has tracked 1,194 lawsuits, in 50 states, dealing in some way with the COVID-19 outbreak. Court orders have been issued, or settlements have been reached, in 380 of those lawsuits.  Since Oct. 22, we have added 22 lawsuits to our database. We have also tracked an additional three court orders and/or settlements.  Ballotpedia has separately tracked another 416 lawsuits, in 50 states, dealing with election issues during the COVID-19 outbreak. Court orders have been issued, or settlements have been reached, in 286 of those lawsuits. Travel restrictions Read more: Travel restrictions issued by states in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021 Overview: Governors or state agencies in 25 states issued executive orders placing restrictions on out-of-state visitors. At least 14 of those orders have been rescinded. Since Oct. 22, two states have modified their travel restrictions.  Details: Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York - Govs. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.) and Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) announced that Massachusetts had been added to the quarantine list. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) urged New Yorkers to limit non-essential travel to Massachusetts and other neighboring states. Ballot measure changes Read more: Changes to ballot measure campaigns, procedures, and policies in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2022 Overview: At least 19 lawsuits were filed in 13 states seeking court orders suspending or changing signature requirements and deadlines.  Rulings or settlements have been issued in at least 18 cases.  Ballotpedia tracked 27 statewide initiative petition drives that suspended signature gathering.  Seven states and D.C. changed ballot measure procedures through executive orders or legislative action.  At least four initiative campaigns initially targeting 2020 reported they would shift their focus to 2022. Read more: 1918 influenza pandemic (Spanish Flu) and the 1918 midterm election cycle The United States held midterm elections as scheduled during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. More than 50 million people perished from the disease worldwide, including about 675,000 in the U.S., making it one of the deadliest pandemics in recorded history. Each week, we'll look back at a story from the 1918 elections to see how America met the challenges of holding elections during a national health emergency. On Oct. 18, the Baltimore American reported on the closure of a circuit court because of the influenza virus.  Judge Allen McLane announced yesterday that owing to the epidemic of influenza that the Circuit Court for Baltimore County will not be convened on next Monday and that the reopening of court has been indefinitely postponed. The criminal docket was to have come up on Monday, and witnesses summoned to appear in criminal cases will be notified when they shall do so. Reports show that the influenza is epidemic throughout the county, and it was considered that the assembling of people in the court would have the effect of further spreading the disease. Click here to read the original article, courtesy of the University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine and Michigan Publishing's Influenza Encyclopedia.​​​​​​ Federal responses Read more: Political responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020 On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the Trump administration issued a plan for providing a free coronavirus vaccine to seniors and people on private health insurance plans. The plan says Medicare will cover the cost of administering the vaccine to seniors. The plan also requires all vaccine providers to post their prices online for people without insurance.  On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD) announced they had agreed to buy up to 300,000 doses of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company’s antibody therapeutic drug for $375 million. The initiative is part of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program for funding and distributing COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.  State stay-at-home orders Read more: States with lockdown and stay-at-home orders in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020 Overview: As of Oct. 29, stay-at-home orders have ended in 41 states. Nineteen of those states have Republican governors and 22 have Democratic governors (including Wisconsin, where the state supreme court invalidated the stay-at-home order). Seven states never issued stay-at-home orders. California and New Mexico, both of which have a Democratic governor, are the only remaining states with active stay-at-home orders. Eviction and foreclosure policies Read more: Changes to rent, mortgage, eviction, and foreclosure policies in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020 Overview: Seventeen states have current moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures. Since Oct. 22, no state has extended or ended a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. Twenty-six states have ended moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures. California has current local moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures. Seven states did not issue a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures on the state or local level. Details: North Carolina - On Oct. 28, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued an executive order requiring landlords to make tenants aware of their rights under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) federal evictions moratorium. Cooper's order also made clear the moratorium protects all tenants, not just those in federally subsidized properties. The order lasts through Dec. 31 Diagnosed or quarantined politicians identified by Ballotpedia Read more: Politicians, candidates, and government officials diagnosed with or quarantined due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020 Federal One federal official has died of COVID-19. Twenty-five members of Congress have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Forty-three federal officials quarantined after possible exposure to COVID-19. State Four state-level incumbents or candidates have died of COVID-19. One-hundred and nine state-level incumbents or candidates have been diagnosed with COVID-19 Eighty-one state-level incumbents or candidates quarantined after possible exposure to COVID-19. Local At least two local incumbents or candidates have died of COVID-19. At least 24 local incumbents or candidates have been diagnosed with COVID-19. At least 26 local incumbents or candidates quarantined after possible exposure to COVID-19. Since Oct. 22, two state representatives, two state senators tested positive for COVID-19, and one mayor tested positive for COVID-19. Two state congressional candidates tested positive for the virus.  Details: On Oct. 21, an assistant for Washington state Rep. Tom Dent (R), who represents District 13-Positions 1, announced Dent had tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 8. On Oct. 24, Arkansas state Rep. Charlene Fite, who represents District 80, announced she had tested positive for COVID-19.  On Oct. 24, Robert Burch Jr. (D), a candidate for Utah House of Representatives District 30, announced he had tested positive for COVID-19.  On Oct. 24, Fatima Dirie (D), a candidate for Utah House of Representatives District 33, announced she had tested positive for COVID-19.  On Oct. 24, Utah state Sen. Dan McCay (R), announced he had tested positive for COVID-19. On Oct. 26, Arkansas state Senate president Jim Hendren (R) announced Sen. Cecile Bledsoe (R) had tested positive for COVID-19. Aurora, CO, Mayor Mike Coffman (R) announced on Oct. 25 he had tested positive for COVID-19.​​​​​​ State legislation Read more: State laws in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020 Overview:  To date, 3,507 bills related to the coronavirus pandemic have been introduced in state legislatures. We have tracked 12 additional bills since Oct. 22. Of these, 508 significant bills have been enacted into law, 14 percent of the total number that has been introduced. This total omits ceremonial resolutions and legislation providing for procedural changes to legislative business.  We have tracked 12 additional significant bills since Oct. 22 (also omitting ceremonial resolutions and legislation providing for procedural changes to legislative business.) State court changes Read more: State court closures in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020 Overview: Thirty-four states suspended in-person proceedings statewide Since Oct. 22, no court extended restrictions on jury trials. Sixteen states suspended in-person proceedings at the local level. Learn more