America’s coronavirus outbreak has already had a huge impact on the election. But as people head to the polls today, it could affect votes in another way.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that alcohol-based hand sanitisers have the potential to damage paper ballots.
This is because ballots which are wet with sanitiser can more easily shred and clog up electronic voting machines.
The CDC says hand sanitiser should be available in polling stations to keep voters safe, but it’s urged poll workers and voters to make sure their hands are dry before handling ballots.
Earlier this year, wet ballots caused some difficulties during municipal elections in New Hampshire. And last month, in the Californian city of Sacramento, many votes were ruined after people sprayed their ballots with sanitiser, causing the ink to smear and making them unreadable. Their ballots were later replaced.
