District officials are urging D.C. voters to send in their primary election ballots by mail to prevent the spread of COVID-19, WAMU reported last week.

Only 20 in-person voting centers will be set up for early voting and voting on Election Day out of the 144 usual precincts, Michael Bennett, the chair of the D.C. Board of Elections, told WAMU. Instead, voters are encouraged to request a mail-in ballot through D.C.’s Board of Elections website or through the board’s app, but they must request one at least seven days before the election, according to the website.

“We have two major priorities during this unprecedented emergency,” Bennett said, according to WAMU. “One, make sure D.C. voters and D.C. Board of Elections staff and poll workers remain safe. Number two, make sure voters have an opportunity to vote and every vote is counted.”

WAMU reported that “similar steps, albeit on a smaller scale” will be taken for the June 16 special election for Ward 2’s D.C. Council seat, which was left vacant when former Councilmember Jack Evans resigned earlier this year.

“Requesting your ballot by mail and mailing your ballot in is by far the safest way to vote, and will be counted,” Bennett said.

Ward 2 voters will select a Democratic nominee for the Ward 2 D.C. Council race on June 2. Evans joined the race after he resigned ahead of a likely expulsion from the D.C. Council over an ethics scandal.

Evans later dropped out of the special election that his resignation sparked and is now running only in the Democratic primary.