The City of Richmond is putting a whole suite of COVID-19 safety precautions into operation for the upcoming council by-election.
According to the city, it has been working with election staff and a health and safety consultant to conduct a “thorough risk assessment for all aspects of the by-election” that has resulted in “site specific safety plans for each voting place.”
The site specific plans include:
• total unencumbered voting space with election staff present;
• safe room capacity for electors, candidate representatives, and staff;
• appropriate access and egress;
• optimum “flow” from entrance to exit, eliminating the need to cross rooms;
• an ability to accommodate curbside voting; and
• having staff and processes in place to manage elector line-ups.
In terms of voting locations, the areas of concern were:
• cleaning and hygiene practices;
• additional staff to ensure health and safety measures, and efficient processing of the public at voting locations;
• a vote by mail option is available for all eligible Richmond voters, including residents of care homes; and
• 10 advance voting opportunities will be offered over four days.
The full COVID-19 Safety Plans and other information related to the Saturday, May 29 by-election are available on the elections website at richmond.ca/electionservices.
