Page 12 - HOH

A2 UP FRONT
Monday 26 october 2020
Health experts question Pence campaigning as essential work

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE early Sunday that Short was workers. The Department that stands to come into fo- least 6 feet from others and
AP Chief Medical Writer quarantining. of Homeland Security spells cus Monday. wear a mask "at all times
Health policy specialists That usually means isolating out 16 categories of criti- The Senate was expected while in the workplace."
questioned White House oneself for 14 days after ex- cal infrastructure workers, to vote Monday evening to Lawrence Gostin, a public
officials' claim that federal posure in case an infection including those at military confirm Trump's Supreme health expert at George-
rules on essential workers is developing, to prevent bases, nuclear power sites, Court nominee Amy Co- town University school of
allow Vice President Mike spreading the virus to oth- courthouses and public ney Barrett. Pence's vote law, said Pence's intention
Pence to continue to cam- ers. works facilities like dams is unlikely to be needed to continue campaigning
paign and not quarantine Pence was holding a rally and water plants. to break a tie, but his pres- flouts the spirit of the CDC
himself after being ex- Sunday in North Carolina, "I don't see campaigning ence was expected for the guidelines.
posed to the coronavirus. events in Minnesota and on the list," said Dr. Joshua vote. Sharfstein said Pence
Campaigning is not an offi- Pennsylvania on Monday Sharfstein, vice dean for If Pence's official work as "could be putting people
cial duty that might fall un- and more events in North public health practice at vice president was con- at risk" because he's at high
der the guidelines meant Carolina and South Caro- Johns Hopkins University sidered essential, the CDC risk of becoming infected.
to ensure that police, first lina on Tuesday. The most and former Maryland state guidelines say he should be "He should quarantine in
responders and key trans- recent numbers show CO- health department chief. closely monitored for CO- order to protect other peo-
portation and food workers VID-19 cases are rising in "Anything that does not VID-19 symptoms, stay at ple," Sharfstein said.q
can still perform jobs that 75% of the country. have to be done in person
rity Advisor Robert O'Brien to his job as vice president Fire set in Boston ballot
cannot be done remotely, On Sunday, National Secu- and anything not related
the health experts said.
A Pence aide said Sun- told reporters that Pence "is would not be considered
day that the vice presi- following all the rules" from essential." drop box; FBI asked to
dent would continue to federal health officials. He Dr. Thomas Tsai, a health
work and travel, including called Pence "an essential policy specialist at Harvard probe fire
for campaigning, after his worker" and said, "essen- University, agreed.
chief of staff and some tial workers going out and Helping to maintain the By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press
other close contacts test- campaigning and voting function of the executive A fire was set Sunday in a Boston ballot drop box hold-
ed positive. Pence tested are about as essential as branch of government ing more than 120 ballots in what appears to have
negative on Sunday and things we can do as Ameri- could be considered criti- been a "deliberate attack," Massachusetts election
decided to keep travel- cans." cal work, but "we've always officials said.
ing after consulting White However, the guidelines historically separated cam- The state has asked the FBI to investigate the fire that
House medical personnel, on essential workers from paigning from official du- was set around 4 a.m. in a ballot drop box outside the
his aides said. the U.S. Centers for Disease ties," he said. Boston Public Library downtown, Massachusetts Sec-
Pence's chief of staff, Marc Control and Prevention are Pence also serves as presi- retary of the Commonwealth William Galvin's office
Short, was among those aimed at folks like police, dent of the Senate, a large- said. In a joint statement, Galvin and Boston Mayor
who tested positive. Presi- first responders and key ly ceremonial role outlined Marty Walsh called it a "disgrace to democracy, a
dent Donald Trump, said transportation and food in the Constitution but one disrespect to the voters fulfilling their civic duty, and
a crime."
"Our first and foremost priority is maintaining the integ-
rity of our elections process and ensuring transparency
and trust with our voters, and any effort to undermine
or tamper with that process must be prosecuted to
the fullest extent of the law," they said in the emailed
statement. "We ask voters not to be intimidated by
this bad act, and remain committed to making their
voices heard in this and every election."
Boston Police said an arson investigation is underway
and released surveillance images of a person near
the ballot box at that time, urging the public to help
identify the individual.
Officers called to the scene saw smoke coming out of
the box before firefighters managed to extinguish the
fire by filling the box with water, police said.
There were 122 ballots inside the box when it was
emptied Sunday morning, and 87 of them were still
legible and able to be processed, Galvin's office said.
The box had last been emptied around 2:30 p.m. on
Saturday.
Voters can go online to see whether their ballot was
processed. Those who used that dropbox between
Saturday afternoon and 4 a.m. Sunday and can't
confirm the status of their ballot online should contact
the Boston Elections Department immediately, offi-
cials said.
Voters whose ballots were affected can either vote in
person or by a replacement ballot that will be mailed
to them, officials said. If those voters don't submit a
new ballot, "their original ballot will be hand-counted
to the extent possible," Galvin's office said.
An email seeking comment on whether the FBI is in-
vestigating was sent to an agency spokesperson.q