COVID-19 Statement
Participating in America Counts-related Audit Committees and using America Counts’s apps may involve activities like the following:
- Meeting in person with one’s local Audit Committee indoors or outdoors
- Visiting polling places and other locations in person to video-record poll tapes using Actual Vote, and potentially speaking in person with poll workers or others indoors or outdoors
- Visiting residences and other locations around one’s community to canvass voters with Wanna Vote and talking to voters
- Working in dynamic environments that may pose unique challenges
Since COVID-19 is transmitted through exposure to infectious respiratory fluids, activities like these pose an inherent risk of infection or transmission. Furthermore, America Counts doesn’t directly control the actions of our users and Audit Committee members—these groups are volunteers working with our tools and are not bound by any agreement or contract with America Counts. As such, there is no way for America Counts to:
- Compel our users and audit committee members to follow particular COVID-19 safety guidelines
- Protect our users and audit committee members against any poor COVID-19 safety practices from other people and organizations during the course of their America Counts-related activities
- Completely guarantee that our users, Audit Committee members, and members of their communities won’t contract or transmit COVID-19 during America Counts-related activities
- Guarantee that we can come up with a satisfactory solution to a COVID-19 safety concern specific to a particular Audit Committee in a particular location
- Assume any liability related to COVID-19 exposure or transmission
To minimize COVID-19-related risk during America Counts-related activities, America Counts urges our users and Audit Committee members in the strongest possible terms to follow the latest COVID-19 safety guidelines from the CDC. In particular:
- Get the COVID-19 vaccination if you are eligible
- Wear a mask
- Use physical distancing
- Do not venture into the community to do America Counts-related activities unless you are fully vaccinated
- Avoid gathering indoors
- Avoid handshakes—use non-contact methods of greeting
- Use videoconferencing for meetings when possible. When not possible, hold meetings in open well-ventilated spaces
- Be attentive to your surroundings and speak up if you feel unsafe
- If you develop COVID-19-related concerns while doing America Counts-related activities (particularly when interacting with strangers), feel free to stop immediately for any reason and move to a safer environment. You do not have to give a justification to America Counts or your Audit Committee, and you’re not obligated to complete any work you previously pledged to do if you do not wish to
- Don’t take any unnecessary risks
Moreover, America Counts pledges the following regarding COVID-19 safety:
- We will follow the latest scientific evidence-based COVID-19 best practices from the CDC and the WHO
- All of our workflows and procedures will be designed to avoid COVID-19-related risk to the extent possible
- If the COVID-19 situation changes to such a degree that it is no longer possible to acceptably minimize the risk of one of our recommended actions, we will take swift action to communicate this to our users and Audit Committee members
- We will make every reasonable attempt to work with particular Audit Committees to address location-specific COVID-19 concerns they may have