They were assured that they were wasting their time. That’s the fix. That a fair outcome is not possible, what happens with all the Democratic vote fraud – or is it Republican voter suppression?
But anyway, millions of Americans voted Tuesday, seriously arriving across the country to vote in schools, libraries and VFW posts.
After a campaign marked by horrific claims, it was, in its way, a small act of faith.
One voter, Lucas Boyd, 43, explains what brought him to a polling station in Haymarket, Va. “We’re trying to get it back to the middle ground, and that’s really why I’m here today. “
Cheryl Arnold, who was also voting in Haymarket, had a different outcome in mind. A saleswoman in her 50s, she said her goal is “not to advance the Republican agenda.”
But she and Boyd, a software salesman, share a fundamental belief: that voting can make a difference.
“I want to do everything I can to use my voice to create the kind of democracy that deserves to exist,” Ms. Arnold said.
However, it was an Election Day with unusual tensions, befitting a campaign in which allegations of election fraud are sometimes made even before the ballot is cast and in which some citizens The private sector claimed the weapon and “guarded” the absentee ballot box.
“I definitely know where the exits are,” said Flagstaff, Ariz., Brittany Montague. “Now more than ever, we’re polarized and don’t have much trust in the system.”
In Arizona on Tuesday morning, reports of dozens of malfunctioning vote counting machines in Maricopa County sparked a wave of voter fraud claims in the right-wing media.
“None of this indicates any fraud,” said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, a Republican. “This is a technical issue.”
A video shows election officials trying to reassure voters.
“Nobody is trying to deceive anyone,” said one pollster.
“No, not on Election Day. No, that will never happen,” replied the videographer sarcastically.
Even before the day began, more than 40 million Americans voted early and millions more participated on Tuesday.
In Michigan, the issue of abortion is a big draw in opinion polls. After the Supreme Court’s decision reversed Roe v. Wade, Michigan was one of five states with abortion-related measures on the ballot. In Birmingham, an affluent community outside of Detroit, a slow stream of people voted for Proposition 3, a ballot measure to protect abortion rights.
Outside Baldwin Public Library, where Birmingham city workers turned the metered parking lot into a “voters-only parking lot” for the day, Alexandra Ayaub said supporting the measure was justified by her primary to vote.
“Michigan should be a safe place for women,” said 31-year-old Ayaub, who describes herself as leaning Democratic.
Staying close to Warren, Rosemary Sobol also said the initiative was her main motivation to vote – even if she’s still undecided.
“I am not completely against abortion, but I am also a Catholic,” said Sobol, an 81-year-old retired principal. “It was a very difficult decision.”
For some voters, it is a day to revisit past positions.
Andrew O’Connell said he was born into a family of Democrats and he has long prided himself on switching his votes between parties, but at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, he had can be seen standing outside a crowded polling place on Staten Island holding a sign showing all Republicans on the ballot. Things have changed with the social unrest in 2020, he said.
Mr O’Connell said: “I believe safety has taken a back seat as the protests are underway. “We sat back and watched that happen and some people didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.”
For other voters, it’s a day to rethink life choices – like where to live.
When Albert Latta, 67, left a polling station in Kenosha, Wis., he had a tired look on his face. The most important issue for you in this election? “Honesty,” he said.
Mr. Latta said he voted Democrats in the governor and Senate races and that he is tired of deception from Republicans – about election integrity, among other issues. Another topic, he said – so he’s considering picking up and moving across the state. Illinois’ blue entry line.
“How Wisconsin goes in this election can have a lot to do with that decision,” he said. “I call today’s vote the biggest IQ test this country has ever taken.”
For some voters, a jump across state lines, it seems, might not do the trick.
In Folsom City, one of California’s more conservative more liberal areas, 66-year-old John Butruce gave a rather brief summary of the work he took on before the vote.
“I don’t like taxes, I don’t like inflation, I don’t like crime,” Mr Butruce said. “I don’t like the state of the country or the state of the state.”
In Kenosha, where voters are deciding whether to re-elect Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, the shadow of protests and riots tore through the city in August 2020 after a Police shooting appeared loud.
“I just wanted to get him out,” said Abraham Gloria, 40. “He could have stopped what happened with the riot, but he didn’t.”
But as she walked into a church in Kenosha to vote, Phyllis Sheets, 60, said she was supporting Democrats. Democracy depends on it, she said.
“I’m tired of people co-signing stupidly,” Ms Sheets said. “Like everyone’s drinking that silly juice around here: conspiracy theories, no compromise, QAnon, Jan. 6. That’s not American.”
Not everyone is thinking about this election, even if it’s still happening. They were too busy talking about the next, and the news of a “huge announcement” from a Republican politician in Florida.
In Warren, Mich., 58-year-old Mike Smith, just one thing went wrong.
“I hope he’ll be back sooner than 2024,” Mr Smith said. “I still don’t accept 2020.”
Words that Donald J. Trump may soon formalize what has long been expected at polling stations across a polarized nation with a mixture of joy and fear.
Liz Lambert, 57, marketing manager in Scottsdale, Ariz., says: “I was terrified, holding a coffee cup at work after voting. “This country has been through enough. We need stability and maturity and leadership.”
In Haymarket, Va., Gloria Ugbaja declined to participate because of a possible Trump announcement of another presidential run.
Ms Ugbaja, 47, who works in healthcare administration, said: “I think it’s a distraction.
“Whether he notices or not is up to him,” she said. “Every American must keep moving forward. Whether he tries to run or not, it indirectly has no bearing on what the average American has to do on a daily basis.”
Report contributed by Ryan Patrick Hooper, Julie Bosman, Christine Hauser, Jack Healy Jazmine Ulloa and Hurubi Meko.
