The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we live our lives, but it may actually result in less change at the ballot box this November. With stay-at-home orders issued in 42 states and restrictions on activity in the other eight, traditional political campaigning is proving nearly impossible for prospective candidates and advocacy groups.
In that sense, the pandemic will likely have an unintended effect on the democratic process: maintaining the status quo by keeping challengers and referendums off the ballot.
The biggest issue for candidates and ballot initiative advocates is collecting signatures. It’s something they can pretty much no longer do in person, either with paid help or volunteers. Candidates in Michigan, Massachusetts, and Arizona, among others, have voiced their frustrations with their states’ unwillingness to amend signature requirements and deadlines — they’re worried it will prevent more people from running for office. Plus, the New Hampshire Libertarian Party has voiced similar concerns, an indication that there could be fewer third party candidates on ballots this upcoming November.
Statewide ballot initiatives have had to suspend their campaigns as a result as well.
LegalizeND, a pro-marijuana legalization initiative in North Dakota, told Marijuana Moment they will likely have to shift their focus and try to get on the July 2022 ballot. Additionally, groups such as STOPP (Stop Taxing Our Personal Property), a Missouri campaign initiative to ban state and local governments from taxing personal property, and the California Legalize Sports Betting on American Indian Lands Initiative, along with LegalizeND are among the many ballot initiatives that are not collecting signatures at the time being in states where no extension is being offered, according to Ballotpedia.
It’s not just the signature requirements at issue, either.
The coronavirus pandemic is dominating the news cycle, so candidates in down-ballot races may be receiving less attention than usual. That’s bad for their name recognition, as is the inability to do in-person campaign events. This will likely benefit incumbents, not upstarts.
Additionally, fundraising is a more difficult task when about 10 million people file for unemployment benefits in two weeks, as they did in late March, and the claims will keep coming in. Yes, that means incumbents will raise less money too, but they often roll money over from previous campaigns. In 2018, when 42 members of Congress announced they would not be seeking reelection, they still had more than $50 million in unused campaign funds, according to OpenSecrets.org.
In states such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Hawaii, nearly 70% of statewide races in 2018 were uncontested, per the Associated Press. That’s not to say the entire country should expect their ballots to look like that this upcoming November, but it is to say there is a problem with uncontested races in the country already — and this pandemic is only going to make it worse.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
