The City of Madison Engineering Division plans on having barriers up at all 66 polling locations in time for Election Day, April 7, 2020.

The barriers will be used at each polling location to separate poll workers and the public to support social distancing and health safety procedure in response to COVID-19. Each polling designated location will have two barriers, built from Plexiglas, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe and plywood. One 8-foot by 2.5-foot barrier will be set up for two poll workers to sit behind and check IDs. One 4-foot by 2.5-foot barrier will be set up for one poll worker to sit behind and gather the ballot.

The Engineering Division designed the barriers March 30. Crews built a prototype March 31 and ordered materials overnight to begin building, installing and distributing April 1. Crews will finish building and installing the barriers April 5 and 6, in time for the April 7 Election. In all, Engineering will have designed, built and installed 132 barriers when work is complete.

Building the Barriers

Engineering staff half-build each barrier at the Engineering Division’s Operations Facility. Then, staff transports the barrier to a polling location to be finished and custom fit on-site.

From beginning to finish, it takes about 8-10 minutes to build one barrier. Eight Engineering staff worked on the barrier project, in four teams of two. Each team would bring barriers to polling locations, practice social distancing, sanitize the empty spaces upon entry and then again on the way out.

Clerk’s Office Polling Locations: https://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/news/corrected-polling-place-listing-for-april-7