Fewer voters in areas east of the Anacostia River have requested absentee ballots for D.C.’s June 2 primary than in other parts of the city, raising concerns that either turnout will be low or that voters in low-income and predominantly African American neighborhoods will cast ballots in person — which could pose additional risks because of the ongoing pandemic.

According to data from the D.C. Board of Elections, 65,014​ voters across D.C. have requested absentee ballots through this week for the primary, following guidance from city officials who say it is the safest way to vote. That represents more than half of the number of people who voted in the 2016 primary. Ballots can be requested through May 26.

But the demand for absentee ballots has been uneven across D.C. wards — and far lower east of the Anacostia River than anywhere else. While 11,155 voters in Ward 3 and 12,437 in Ward 6 have requested absentee ballots so far, 5,201 have done the same in Ward 7 and only 2,182 in Ward 8. Both Wards 7 and 8 have council seats on the ballot this year.

Troy Donte’ Prestwood, an advisory neighborhood commissioner and president of the Ward 8 Democrats, says he’s noticed the low engagement so far in the upcoming primary, which he guesses is the result of a confluence of newer and long-standing challenges east of the Anacostia River.

“Candidates just cannot touch the voters like they would ordinarily be able to do so if this were a regular election cycle. That’s a big part of it,” he says. “I mean, listen, let’s be real though. In Ward 8, we have individuals who are low income. We have people with low educational attainment. We have people who are scraping to get by. And so the last thing they’re thinking about is a primary election, especially if they’ve lost their jobs.”

Overall voter turnout has been falling in Wards 7 and 8 for years. In 2018, 40% of Ward 7 voters and 32% of Ward 8 voters cast ballots in the general election, trailing every other ward and the citywide average of 46%. Much the same happened during the 2016 primary, when Ward 7 and 8 seats on the Council were at play: 18% of Ward 7 voters and 15% of Ward 8 voters exercised their franchise. The citywide average was 22%. Turnout also trailed in the 2016 general election.

Some longtime Ward 8 residents say the low levels of engagement aren’t limited just to elections, and show a growing disconnection from politics and civic affairs by many residents in areas east of the Anacostia River, where economic and educational indicators generally lag behind the rest of the city.

“It’s just like with the Census returns. Ward 8 is only up to about 43%,” says Phil Pannell, who’s been involved in Ward 8 politics for decades. “We have the problem of the high percentage of people living in poverty. Voting is not at the top of the agenda. I guess that’s simple political science, in terms of how will this change anything for them.”

But there have also been more practical reasons for the low number of ballot requests. Residents have complained of spotty mail delivery east of the river, which has been caused by staffing issues at the Congress Heights post office. This week, a pair of Ward 8 residents sued the Board of Elections, saying issues with mail service and the reduction of in-person voting centers violate the Voting Rights Act. And on Wednesday, former Ward 8 Councilmember LaRuby May said she hadn’t received her own ballot.

“Many of my Ward 8 neighbors and I have made requests and have not received our ballots. How many days should we wait before being concerned?” she tweeted.

On a call with city officials last week, Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray called the numbers of voters east of the river getting absentee ballots “dismal,” though in a text message on Wednesday he did note Ward 7 has shown an improvement in requests.

Prestwood also says some of the problems may lie with how the system has rolled out. Unlike in Maryland, where every voter is being directly sent a ballot for the state’s June 2 primary, in D.C. they have to be requested. The elections board has sent every household two absentee ballot request forms inside their voter guides, but Prestwood says the Ward 8 Democrats asked in a late-April letter that the forms be sent in a separate envelope that is “large enough and colorful enough to stand out from other types of mail and it must clearly emphasize the importance of the contents.”

The group also requested a “comprehensive media campaign”; an elections board spokeswoman says they’ve been doing the same outreach in Wards 7 and 8 as has happened in the rest of the city, including a separate mailer to all voters reminding them of the new process to vote.

Election officials in D.C. say those who don’t vote absentee will have the option of going to any of the 20 vote centers that open Friday for early voting, and which will remain available through Election Day. And while steps are being taken to limit crowding at vote centers — including only letting 10 people in at a time and encouraging voters to show up at specific times based on the first letter of their last name — there are still concerns that voters in Wards 7 and 8, who have already been significantly impacted by COVID-19, could be putting themselves at risk by voting in person.

“I expect there to be some longer lines at these vote centers because we have a low absentee request rate,” says Prestwood. “Keep in mind that, you know, local voters, especially those voters who’ve been around for a while, who who have voted in elections past and present, many of them like to vote in person.”