Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Reporter's Notebook: Voting in a US Primary Under the COVID-19 Emergency

Kane Farabaugh

   OTTAWA, ILLINOIS - After living in the United States for 15 years, and
   less than a year after becoming a U.S. citizen, my British-born wife,
   Joanne, was planning to cast her first ballot in a U.S. election -- the
   March 17 Illinois primary. Usually, an exciting time for any family.
   She had planned for this moment for several months by researching
   newspaper articles, websites, and assorted campaign literature
   outlining the positions of not just the presidential candidates, but
   the local candidates in our area.
   We talked about including in our experience, our three sons, all of
   whom are still too young to vote. We wanted their first experience
   watching democracy in action in the U.S. to be the one where they could
   witness their mother going through the process for the first time.
   But as COVID-19 descended upon us, the uncertainty of whether there
   would even be a primary election in Illinois increased with each
   passing hour.
   While there are still no confirmed cases of this strain of the
   coronavirus in our LaSalle County area, confusion about its impact on
   the election process began last week when several nursing homes closed
   access for visitors to their facilities. This began a scramble for
   election officials to find alternative polling sites.
   Our polling location -- a Knights of Columbus meeting hall near the
   center of town -- was not affected by these changes, but uncertainty
   grew as first our state, then federal officials, began enacting
   restrictions on the number of crowds that could gather, and social
   distancing between people became standard operating procedure.
   By Sunday night, with the announcement that most schools, churches,
   bars, restaurants, casinos, movie theaters and other public venues
   would close altogether, it seemed unlikely the election here could
   still go on.
   Late Monday night, we learned that Ohio was postponing its primary
   election. And while Illinois did not appear to be following suit, I
   thought that might change overnight.
   Scrolling through my newswires and social media feeds early on Election
   Day, it was clear that voting was in fact still on in Illinois, along
   with Arizona and Florida.
   One of the posts in my social media feed that immediately caught my
   attention was from retired science teacher Joe Jakupcak, who works as a
   hiking and nature guide at Starved Rock State Park in central Illinois.

   "I became eligible to vote on March 31, 1971," he explained. "Since
   then, I have not missed a primary, general, runoff, or special
   election. Today the schools, churches, and libraries are closed. The
   restaurants and bars are closed. Banks offer no pens or transaction
   slips. The parks and my job are closed. THE POLLS ARE OPEN!!! I am a
   prime Boomer target for COVID-19 and a believer in the science I taught
   for so long. Today I am staying sheltered in place. God willing, I'll
   be in line to vote next November."

.