Coronavirus Not On Ballot, But Virus Evident In FL's Election

MIAMI BEACH, FL — The new coronavirus was not officially on Tuesday's ballot in Florida but the virus was clearly evident at polling places here and elsewhere in the state.

"I had second thoughts about it, but I felt it was important to vote for Bernie," observed John Elson, a retired law professor from Northwestern University, who splits his time between Florida and Chicago.

"It took all of 60 seconds," he shared as he emerged from his polling place at South Pointe Elementary School wearing white latex gloves. "It was kind of sad, because almost no one was in there, but understandably so. They had Purell there and everybody was wearing gloves."

Elson said he may have been swayed to choose Former Vice President Joe Biden over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had the race appeared closer.

"If the polls were really close, this would have been a much harder decision for me because I have questions about Bernie's electability," he acknowledged. "We have to pull in the more moderate Democrats and former Trump people who voted in 2018 for Democrats for Congress."

Like some other members of his party, Elson said he wants to change the status quo but not at the expense of handing President Donald Trump a second terms in the White House.

"We need thorough reform. We need a government that responds to the needs of the poor people, of minorities as well as the very wealthy," Elson explained. "Our government now seems to be catering to the extreme wealth."

Stacey, a former newspaper journalist from Connecticut who now lives in Miami Beach, wasn't taking any chances when she arrived at the same polling place with an entire container of Lysol disinfectant wipes, along with her 11-year-old son, Cooper.

"I had a stock. When you have children, you have Lysol," she insisted. "I thought that they would postpone it, but since they didn't, and I didn't have time to early vote last week at city hall."

She normally would have voted in a community that houses senior citizens, but was told that was not an option amid growing concern over the new coronavirus.

She gave a lot of thought to which candidate she would support based on this stage of the campaign.

"I had a preference, but I don't want to share," she said. "I just decided to vote for who I thought had the best chance of winning in November for the left side of the ballot."

Her choice may have been different had the vote been taken earlier in the campaign.

"If there were other people on the ballot, yeah," she said. "I would have probably made a different choice if other people had been an option."

Ruth brought only a single wipe to cast her ballot. "My husband says they take your ID so that's all I'm wiping down ... and the pens," she said.

A retiree, she said she is watching her money evaporate. She struggled to decide between Sanders and Biden.

"I'm not a super progressive, so it was an easy decision for me," she said.

Jose, one of the older poll worker at South Pointe Elementary was wearing a mask and blue latex gloves as he carried out his duties.

"Very few persons this morning, " he said. "I think the people are afraid."