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The presidential elections in January will feature masks, visors, gloves, gowns and alcohol and other sanitary products ubiquitous at the time of the vote, as had already happened in the regional elections of the Azores.
These and other recommendations are contained in the technical opinion “Public Health Strategies for the Presidential Elections 2021, signed by the Director General of Health (DGS), Graça Freitas, and available on the website of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration .
The DGS advises municipalities to “increase the number of polling stations, if possible in the most populated places, and to have a reserve table, in case it is necessary to replace those who eventually become ill and cannot attend.”
It is also suggested to use alternative polling stations, “with greater capacity” and “less risk for the population (eg firefighters, universities, libraries, school gyms, sports or social and recreational associations”).
“Frequently contacted surfaces such as door handles, voting booths and bathrooms should be disinfected periodically (approximately every three, four hours), with a surface disinfectant product,” the document reads.
Specifically for early voting, that is, those of citizens in prophylactic isolation, the DGS recommends the use of “ecological” boxes or containers, made of recyclable materials, but also polypropylene, plastic or other container / box. easy to wash material with easy to operate opening and closing mechanism ”.
In part, there are “labeled plastic bags” that, “although they may seem like a simpler solution, they do not seem adequate because they do not allow closure at the entrances and exits of different homes and during transport”.
“You can use cardboard boxes, however, if there is rain on election day, this type of material, if it is not waterproof, can damage the ballots”, being preferable “thermal bags, waterproof to the outside, or” aluminum, light, resistant and easy to transport, but probably more expensive ”, according to DGS.
Also regarding the early voting of the citizens in confinement, between January 19 and 20, “the delivery and collection team must proceed to place the used personal protection material, including gloves, gowns and masks, in a container of waste after use by each household ”.
“The visor or conjugated glasses, for eye protection, reusable, should be disinfected at the exit of each room with a surface disinfectant product”, it is recommended.
Voters in this situation are advised to wait at the door, with their mask on correctly and their hands properly disinfected “before and after handling the envelopes”, in addition to using “their own pen or ballpoint pen.”
The members of the polling stations, on the day of early voting (between January 12 and 0) and on the day of the elections (January 24) must have personal protective equipment: mask, preferably of the disposable surgical type, which must be replaced every 4 hours; reusable visor or goggles for eye protection, reusable; gloves (preferably nitrile or latex) for single use ”.
Each table in each polling station should also be stocked with several packages of “alcohol-based solution” or “hand sanitizer”.
Voters will be responsible for “correctly wearing a mask, maintaining the recommended clearance while waiting their turn to vote, sanitizing their hands before voting, preferably with their own pen, sanitizing their hands after voting and before leaving the polling place. . voting ”.
“Voters must follow the defined and identified circuits in the buildings, compliance with hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette (coughing on the inside of the elbow, even with a mask) and not coughing or sneezing into their hands, avoiding contact the physicists, staying in place only the time necessary to be able to exercise their right to vote ”, it reads.
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