Strange Scenes From a Pandemic Election
Gas masks. Hazmat suits. Temperature guns. Security guards patrolling outside boarded-up buildings. Many voting scenes from the 2020 election, which is being held in the midst of a global pandemic, could very well be dystopian film outtakes.
Other shots are unusual, but with a more hopeful bent. Take the extraordinarily long, socially distanced lines: nearly 100 million Americans cast their ballots early, and by November 3rd, the 2020 election already hit 75% of the total 2016 turnout. (That was 139 million people, 47 million of whom were early voters.)
Scroll through for photos of what voting looks like in the singular election of our lifetimes.
2020 election officials collect a ballot from a voter with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis in St. Louis, November 2, 2020.
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An election official collects ballots from drivers as cars line up outside Detroit's Elections Office, November 2, 2020.
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A voter uses an official ballot drop box in Washington, D.C., October 30, 2020.
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Election inspector David Hopkinson wears a full-face ventilator as a protection against Covid-19 while working at a polling center in Lansing, Michigan, November 03, 2020.
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An election official prepares for voters at a polling center in Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., October 26, 2020.
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Increased security at a polling center in Charleston, South Carolina, October 30, 2020.
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A law enforcement officer screens voters' temperatures as they wait in line to cast their ballots in St. Ann, Missouri, November 3, 2020.
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A social distancing sign outside a polling center in Washington D.C., November 2, 2020.
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Voters wait in line to cast their ballots, while maintaining social distance, in Des Moines, Iowa, October 30, 2020.
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Election volunteers prepare to canvas in Detroit, November 2, 2020.
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A Metropolitan Opera Orchestra violinist performs for voters waiting in line outside Lincoln Center, November 3, 2020.
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A sheriff's deputy oversees a line of voters at an early voting location in Lawrenceville, Georgia October 24, 2020.
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A private security guard outside a polling center in Tallahassee, Florida, November 3, 2020.
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A sign outside an early voting location in the Nationals Park baseball stadium in Washington, D.C., October 27, 2020.
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An election official sanitizes a privacy booth at a polling center in the Brooklyn Museum, November 3, 2020.
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An election official wearing a protective mask assists a voter at an early polling location in Madison Square Garden, October 26, 2020.
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A voter wearing protective gloves casts his vote into an e-scanner in Rodeo, California, November 3, 2020.
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Voters cast their ballots at The Orpheum Theater in Madison, Wisconsin, which opened its doors for the first time since the pandemic began, November 3, 2020.
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A voter casts his ballot in Austin, Texas.
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A voter casts her ballot at an early voting center in Washington, D.C., October 27, 2020.
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Voters cast their ballots while maintaining social distance in Hermon, Maine.
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An election worker collects ballots while wearing protective gloves in Martinez, California, October 27, 2020.
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Election workers examine mail-in ballots at the Los Angeles County Registrar's office, October 28, 2020.
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Private security guards stand outside the Saks Fifth Avenue the night before the Presidential Election in New York, November 2, 2020.
Getty ImagesOriginally Appeared on GQ
