THE COVID-19 EFFECT ON ELECTIONS
In our latest policy piece, sf.citi walks you through the impact COVID-19 will have on the November 2020 election both here San Francisco and across the country.
COVID-19 or not, 2020 was one of the most anticipated election years in recent memory. Come November, voters will decide the future president of the United States, not to mention plenty of weighty ballot measures at the state and local level. And as with just about everything else, COVID-19 has upended the normal way of doing things—even for elections. Public health concerns around the coronavirus have forced election officials to rethink how people vote, candidates to behave more like Instagram influencers, and campaigns to stall altogether.
This latest addition to our policy series explores the tension COVID-19 has created between voter safety and voter participation ahead of the 2020 Presidential election. Will you vote by mail? Quite possibly. Will tech-savvy candidates have an edge? You bet. And what initiatives will actually make it to the ballot? TBD. One thing is for sure: COVID-19 promises to make the 2020 Presidential election unlike any other.
Read More About COVID-19 & Elections
ELECTION DEEP DIVE WITH CA SECRETARY OF STATE ALEX PADILLA
On June 9, join sf.citi Executive Director, Jennifer Stojkovic, and California Secretary of State, Alex Padilla, for an in-depth discussion about the impact of COVID-19 on the upcoming November 2020 Presidential election.
So you’ve read our piece about COVID-19 and elections, and now you have questions: who better to ask than California’s Chief Elections Officer? Find out everything you’d like to know about the ways in which COVID-19 is changing campaigns, voting, and elections during our conversation with California Secretary of State, Alex Padilla. The mastermind behind the California Voter’s Choice Act, Secretary Padilla has laid much of the groundwork for California’s recent move toward statewide voting by mail for the 2020 Presidential election. We’ll discuss this and more on June 9—make sure to register below!
sf.citi’s discussion with Secretary Padilla is one in a series of virtual events sf.citi is hosting to explore the effects of COVID-19. Earlier this week, we chatted with SFMTA Director of Transportation, Jeffrey Tumlin, to learn about how COVID-19 has taken a toll on the City’s transportation system and what you can expect from your commute in the future. You can watch (or rewatch) that conversation here.
Register for Our COVID-19 Election Discussion
SUPERVISOR CATHERINE STEFANI ON SAFETY DURING COVID-19
On May 15, sf.citi and our members talked to District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani as part of our now virtual 2020 Lunch and Learn series. We enjoyed a colorful collection of Zoom backgrounds from sf.citi members, including Airbnb, AT&T, Comcast, Facebook, Lyft, Microsoft, Postmates, Twitter, Verizon, Waymo, and Zoox.
Serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 2018, Supervisor Stefani has spent the past few months doing everything she can to support the City’s COVID-19 response. She collaborated with the CEO of Flexport, Ryan Peterson, to set up a phone bank to check in on residents of District 2 and distribute groceries to those in need. She was also a co-sponsor of legislation to convert vacant parking lots into safe encampment sites—complete with sanitation facilities, food, and water—for San Francisco’s homeless population. The ongoing challenge, said Supervisor Stefani, is to “convince people that there’s a reason why we should continue to listen to our health officers.”
Supervisor Stefani also discussed the work she’s been doing to address one of her longtime priorities: public safety. She told sf.citi members that the City is between 200 and 300 police officers short of “providing San Franciscans the safety they deserve.” And despite speculations that the pandemic has caused crime to drop, Supervisor Stefani pointed out that San Francisco has recorded more homicides (17) than this time last year. She promised to continue advocating for increased safety, saying, “I’m working hard to try to make sure we’re not only reacting to everything that’s going on, but that we’re taking proactive action to keep everyone safe.”
Join Future Lunch & Learn Discussions
DID YOU KNOW?
Pandemic-induced remote work options have people thinking of leaving the Bay Area. In our most recent COVID-19 update, we polled you, our sf.citi community, about whether you would consider leaving the Bay Area if given the option to become a fully remote worker. What did we find?
About 40 percent of respondents were hard no’s, while another 60 percent said they would consider or plan to leave the Bay—keeping in mind, of course, things like salary adjustments.
BUZZ | #MEMBERNEWS
- Top execs from Netflix, Disney, Salesforce and more call on Congress to provide $1 trillion in coronavirus relief to local governments (CNBC)
- Facebook Starts Planning for Permanent Remote Workers (The New York Times)
- Amazon in Advanced Talks to Buy Self-Driving-Car Tech Company Zoox (The Wall Street Journal)
Comments are closed.