How safe is curbside voting?

San Antonio doctor says to take precautions

Dr. Ruth Berggren with UT Health's Long School of Medicine answers your questions about coronavirus in KSAT Q&A.

SAN ANTONIO โ€“ As voters weigh their options on how to cast their ballot in November, viewers in our KSAT Q&A wanted to know how safe curbside voting will be?

Dr. Ruth Berggren, an infectious disease doctor with UT Health San Antonioโ€™s Long School of Medicine, said like any other method there is some risk.

โ€œItโ€™s all about how close people get to each other,โ€ she said.

Berggren said election officials have often experienced encounters where voters require assistance or explanations regarding the ballot or the device being used.

โ€œThis causes the election official to get kind of close to their face and maybe for a prolonged period of time,โ€ she said. โ€œYou all need to keep your physical distance while youโ€™re carrying out that curbside voting. But thereโ€™s nothing inherently wrong with curbside voting itself. Itโ€™s all about how close are the people getting to each other when itโ€™s being done.โ€

Berggren also stresses that if a voter is sick or experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms, they should not come in contact with others.

To make sure illness does not prevent you from casting you ballot consider voting early or by mail. Early voting begins Oct. 13 and ends Oct. 30.

For more voting details and resources click here.