Virus restrictions stymie signature-gathering campaigns

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Primary election day in Ohio was supposed to be big for Raise the Wage Ohio. Volunteers and activists armed with petitions were gearing up to visit packed voting locations across the state to collect signatures in support of putting a minimum wage increase on the fall ballot.

Then came the coronavirus.

“The easiest way to go get the most signatures is to go to places where there’s a lot of people — festivals, fairs, outside of grocery stores, libraries,” said James Hayes, acting spokesman for the wage campaign. “You know, a lot of the institutions that are empty right now.”

Restrictions on mass gatherings and stay-at-home orders aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 have cleared out most of the places so vital to the signature-gathering component of American politics. Social distancing rules also are precluding traditional canvassing in neighborhoods, which means knocking on doors.

That has stymied ballot campaigns in Ohio, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana and Oregon, a gubernatorial candidate in Utah, a congressional campaign in Michigan, a U.S. Senate contender and two congressional candidates in Massachusetts. It has prompted some candidates and ballot initiative advocates to turn to state officials or the courts for help, with mixed results.

Lawsuits have sought various forms of relief, including a one-time waiver from signature requirements, a reduction in the number of names needed, deadline extensions or the ability to submit signatures digitally.

A spokeswoman for the National Association of State Election Directors said election officials across the country are doing the best they can to be flexible within the bounds of current laws, including in some cases accepting signatures submitted digitally. But governors or election officials in some states have been reluctant to...