COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus resident, realtor and poll worker Alexander Buchner says throughout the day Monday, it became apparent to him, carrying on with the election isn't the best idea for public safety and public health.
So, he began calling and emailing state officials with his concerns and was told early afternoon after a canceled 10 a.m. press conference, that the election was still on.
- Monday’s ongoing saga left more than 30,000 poll workers across the state confused and questioning whether it's worth sacrificing their health for the right to vote
- Columbus poll worker Alexander Buchner says he had concerns well before Monday, but agrees ultimately the right decision was made
- Ohioans can request absentee ballots on the government website and submit them by June 1
“The election is on, there's nothing Secretary of State can do to stop this. It will take a emergency session of the Assembly to put a stop to this. I was told to stay tuned to a 2 p.m. press conference, and that was my first indication that maybe something was going to happen,” said Buchner.
At the press conference, Governor Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose made a recommendation that the election be postponed until June 2, based on guidance from the Ohio Department of Health and CDC.
“Initially, I was quite relieved, I said how wonderful this is. This is the governor, this is the leader of our state calling for this to happen, certainly everyone in their better judgement is going to agree with him,” said Buchner.
University of Cincinnati Political Science Professor and Spectrum News 1 Political Analyst Brian Calfano says there really isn’t a precedent for this.
“The thing that I found was maybe the closest was on the day of 9/11. New York City was holding its municipal elections and primaries for choosing who’s going to run for the general election later in the fall. That had to be postponed, obviously because you were talking about an emergency, not just in New York, but across the country. Well, you’re kind of dealing with the same thing here, different type of emergency, but one that affects millions of people nonetheless,” said Calfano.
Just after 7 p.m., Buchner got a text from an unfamiliar number. It was the Board of Elections from Franklin County saying the election had been postponed and poll workers were not to report to duty.
About 15 minutes later, he got word a Franklin County judge denied a request to postpone Ohio's primary election.
“That's when I really got frustrated. And then throughout the night, we continued to get updates. It was on, then it was off, then it was on, then it was off,” said Buchner.
And finally, just after 10 p.m., Governor DeWine issues this message saying Dr. Amy Acton is ordering the polls closed as a health emergency.
After a long day of twists and turns and another text confirming the election is off, Alexander Buchner, who is practicing social distancing finally gets to head to bed.
He woke up to the Supreme Court's news that they're allowing the primary to be delayed over the coronavirus.
It was a valuable experience for Buchner, and he says if everything is sorted out by June, he'll be back to work the polls.
“I truly believe this is a civic duty to assist anyway possible. I already voted. I voted the first day voting was allowed. There's no reason to believe that we can't get this under control and proceed with a safe democratic process,” said Buchner.