October 30, 2020
Dear Washingtonians,
In-person early voting has already started in the District, and we are encouraging all DC voters to vote early. During early voting, as well as on Election Day, DC voters can go to any vote center. You can find a list of all 32 Early Vote Centers HERE. These centers are open every day through Election Day. Early voting hours are 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Voters can find more information about voting, including the locations of the Ballot Drop Boxes, at dcboe.org. So make a plan to vote and vote early.
We also want you to plan ahead for Election Day. At yesterday's situational update, I shared a map of Election Day parking restrictions and possible street closures. Avoid driving downtown on Tuesday, and certainly do not plan to park downtown.
To monitor conditions in the District on Election Day, we will have our Emergency Operations Center activated. If we need to notify residents of any public safety updates, we will do so using the Alert DC system. If you have not yet signed up for real-time alerts, do that at alertdc.dc.gov.
So, to summarize, here's what Washingtonians should do to get ready for Election Day:
- Vote early
- Plan ahead for street closures and parking restrictions
- Sign up for real-time updates at alertdc.dc.gov
And, of course, stay safe this Halloween weekend.
Sincerely,
 Like much of 2020, Halloween will look different this year. Check out the guidance from DC Health on how to celebrate while protecting you, your family, and our community.
DC Health suggests celebrating Halloween with these lower-risk activities:
- Have a Trick-or-Treat Candy Hunt with members of your own household.
- Decorate your house and yard in a Halloween theme.
- Carve pumpkins with your household and display the pumpkins outdoors.
- Have an online costume party, costume contest, or pumpkin carving via video chat.
Avoid these high-risk activities:
- Traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating
- “Trunk or treating” where children take candy from trunks of cars in large parking lots
- Taking candy from communal candy bowls
- Going on hayrides with people not from your household
- Going to indoor haunted houses
- Bobbing for apples
Learn more about DC Health's holiday guidance, including the Thanksgiving guidance, in Monday's situational update. Read the full Halloween guidance document HERE.
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 Despite being healthy and nutritious, only about one-fifth of the pumpkins grown each fall end up eaten. But pumpkins have a life after Halloween! Don't waste them. Turn them into something useful without adding to the waste stream.
The Department of Public Works' Food Waste Drop-off Program is teaming up with local food charities and organizations to recover leftover pumpkins for composting. Residents can bring their leftover pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns to participating farmers' markets throughout the District on Saturdays from October 31 through November 14, Sundays from November 1 through November 15, and on Wednesdays from November 4 through November 18.
Together, we can reduce food waste and help create a greener future for our city! Find a pumpkin drop off location HERE.
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 DC CAN is the official COVID-19 exposure notification system for DC. Through the system, which uses Bluetooth technology, you will get an alert if you may have been exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19. DC CAN was developed through a privacy-first approach. The system does not share location data from the user’s device with DC Health, Apple, or Google. In addition, people who test positive for COVID-19 are not identified by the system to other users or to Apple or Google.
If you have an iPhone, just go into your settings, choose "Exposure Notifications," then select "United States" and "District of Columbia." (If you don't see "Exposure Notifications" in your settings, you need to update your phone.) iPhone users do not need to download a separate app.
If you have an Android, download the DC CAN app in the Google Play store.
Learn more at coronavirus.dc.gov/dccan.
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