Sep 3

Sep 3 Securing The Home Front

Homeowners Associations Hold Virtual Meeting to Discuss COVID-19 Updates, 2020 Voting

By Raoul Dennis

A distinguished panel of county health care providers, safety leaders, and elected officials met with a coalition of homeowners associations and their leadership September 1.

There was a range of topics discussed during the virtual meeting including COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and mail-in and early voting in the 2020 election season.

Euniesha Davis, Director of the Office of Community Relations, reported that the COVID-19 Response Unit is open and available seven days per week and those residents need only call 311 to reach out to them. She says “they will go out to visit and inspect businesses as well to ensure compliance with COVID-19 safety requirements in Prince George’s.”

Dr. Earnest L. Carter, Health Officer of the Prince George’s County Health Department, reported that the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the county is due to large family gatherings - particularly those held during the July 4 holiday. He urged listeners to resist the temptation to host or attend large gatherings during the upcoming Labor Day weekend holiday.

The county is conducting some 3,000 Covid-19 tests per day in Prince George’s. They are managing pop-up testing at Covid-19 hotspots in the county as well. A registered nurse is always present at COVID-19 testing sites.

Angela Crankfield-Edmond, program chief for the county health department’s communicable and vector-borne disease control program, also discussed contact tracing in the county.

Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Government Infrastructure, Technology and the Environment for Prince George's County Floyd Holt addressed questions regarding the upcoming 2020 election and voting challenges that have concerned many residents.

Holt noted that although they are normally 244 polling sites and 3500 election workers in Prince George’s County during an election season, this year will be different. There will be 11 early voting sites and 40 voting sites on Election Day. It is a big part of the reason county and national leaders are asking voters to vote early this year.

Holt reported that some 599,000 registered voters asked for mail-in ballots in the previous election.

Leaders reported that everyone in the county should have received a ballot application in the mail as of September 1. If not, residents are encouraged to contact the Prince George’s County Board of elections headquarters to get an application or to call at (301) 341-7300 to request one.

Voters seeking a mail-in ballot must do so through the application and the application will be mailed to their home. Residents are asked to complete the mail-in ballot immediately and to return it immediately.

Voters can submit the mail-in ballot via mail, dropbox or in person at the Prince George’s County Board of Elections at 1100 Mercantile Lane, Suite 115A, Largo, MD 20774. Drop boxes will be made available for voters all across the county---particularly at early voting sites. The boxes will be secure and monitored by 24-hour surveillance cameras.

Those who have applied for a ballot online will get the ballot in the mail by the third week of September. Online applicants can track their ballot status online using the code provided when the applicant requested the ballot.

If for some reason the ballot that was requested online does not arrive at the voter’s home on time, the voter can still vote in person provisionally. Contact the board of elections for more details.