Don Walker comes to West Boulevard Elementary School to vote in the general municipal election with his wife on Tuesday. They placed their ID cards against the transparent plastic barrier so that poll workers can check their information without physical contact.
Turnout was light Tuesday morning as municipal elections were being held after being delayed from April by COVID-19 isolation concerns.
"It’s going well, pretty quiet," County Clerk Brianna Lennon said in an email. "As of 9 a.m. we had 1% turnout at the polling places (that does not include absentee voters)."
Voters in Columbia were selecting City Council and Columbia Public School Board members Tuesday as well as voting on a school district bond issue.
Around 1 p.m. most of the people coming and going from the Boone County Center building — used for several precincts — were workers on their lunch break.
Here's some information you need to know to make sure you know when, where and how to vote Tuesday.
"I was born and raised to vote," said Marilyn Calbert. A woman walking inside complimented Calbert on her colorful face mask.
Allie Boskovich, 29, works at the Boone County Courthouse. She said that because of COVID-19, this year was "definitely not as packed as previous years but still went OK with people using the styluses."
She said she wants to bring more focus on the isolation room and LGBTQ issues in Columbia Public Schools.
After voting, Chris Walker puts an “I voted” sticker on her T-shirt on Tuesday at West Boulevard Elementary School. The bond issue for Columbia Public Schools is the one she cares about the most, she said. “I feel like our schools need the funding ... schools are important to people,” she said.
Mike Pryor, voting at Hanover Village Community Center, said he had volunteered at different polling precincts for 16 years until 2016.
“I was just thinking, you know, from the research I've done on them, I know they’re gonna be qualified candidates, and they’ll get the job done, you know what I mean?” Pryor said of the candidates he voted for.
Debbie Dupree had also worked the polls for a couple of years. Tuesday, she cast her ballot with her husband at the Hanover location.
“There wasn't a whole lot to it today, but it was fine. I’m glad they gave them some PPE,” she said of the voting conditions.
By 1 p.m. about 50 people had voted at that location.
Concern about the coronavirus was impacting voting before Tuesday, with Lennon noting that the number of absentee ballots sent — 4,700 — was significantly higher than last year’s election, which saw 985 absentee ballots.
At Benton Elementary School, only a few voters were going in around noon. Mark Haim, 70, director of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, expected a busy time during lunch hour, but he was the only person to vote when he came in.
Haim said he would like to see the Columbia Public Schools take a strong stand to deal with climate change.
“I think the climate crisis is going to be one of the biggest impacts on our children and our grandchildren,” he said. “So I think it’s really important that our elected officials make Columbia Public Schools a leader in addressing the climate crisis, moving towards being not only carbon neutral as a district in terms of its operations, but also creating in our children a sense of stewardship.”
Alexandria Bergman said she felt safe voting in person because she was wearing a mask and they had plenty of sanitary practices at the polling location. She also expressed her support for voting by mail.
“I’m hoping that Missouri officials will make vote by mail even more available to people from a variety of backgrounds for both the August and November elections,” she said.
At Derby Ridge Elementary, no more than 20 people had shown up to vote before 7:45 a.m.
"I was the only voter in there," Columbia parent Rick Oberle said. "I did feel pretty safe because of that, and everyone was wearing a mask and distancing."
Oberle said he voted for the top three candidates, in hopes for capital improvement for Columbia Public Schools.
Around 6:30 a.m. at the Columbia Activity & Recreation Center, some voters had to wait about 15 minutes.
A voting sign is placed at the entrance of the ARC parking lot on Tuesday. The municipal election was postponed from April 7 to Tuesday due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Becky Doran, the election judge coordinator at the site, told a Missourian photographer that the change of polling sites caused their computers issues. At least two voters were sent to other locations to vote.
The number of polling locations decreased from 45 locations last year to 38 this year. Some of the locations opted out over concerns about COVID-19, while other locations were unable to host polls because of scheduling conflicts after the postponement of the election, Lennon said.
More than 30 voters came and voted at the ARC between noon and 1 p.m. Most of them were wearing masks and keeping a safe social distance. At the front door of the ARC, hand sanitizer was provided.
“I feel like we are taking a chance. It’s a chance we have to take now. It’s nothing more important than voting right now,” Mary Ratliff, president of Columbia NAACP, said.
Ratliff said she is concerned with issues such as how COVID-19 is being handled and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which has led to protests in Columbia and across the nation.
Nathan Buxman, who works at a ministry, expressed his gratefulness for staff at the precinct.
“They have made it possible and done the best they could for face masks and making that comfortable for as many people as possible,” he said.
Turnout at Benton Elementary School was light around 2 p.m. One poll worker called the line of three people waiting to vote a "rush." Just over 120 people had cast their ballots at the school as of Tuesday afternoon.
“With a lot of things going on in the country right now, the current events, I think it’s important that young people go out and express their vote,” said Jay Waldron, 22, a student at MU.
“I think it’s our civic duty to vote,” said Laurie Overmann, also voting at Benton Elementary School. “Local elections are as important as national elections.” Overmann just moved to Columbia, and said she was excited to be a first-time voter in Columbia.
Kathy Trabue fills out the voting sheet on Tuesday at West Boulevard Elementary School. She thinks the Columbia School Board and City Council play essential roles in this chaotic year 2020. “It’s a small thing, but it is a big thing as well,” she said.
Contributing: Teresa Cowden, Adam Jackson, Jackie Lai, Zephyrus Li, Alex Wang, Marisa Whitaker, Kaleigh Feldkamp, Rebecca Tianting Zhang