Saturday. 7:30. Foggy.
Wandering over to Barclays to see if there’s a line. I am so excited about the first day of early voting in Brooklyn and this site opens at ten.
I drop my Postcards to Voters in the mailbox and proceed to Flatbush Avenue. There isn’t going to be anyone on line, right? I could be the first one.
Nope. As I approach the corner of Fifth, I see a small line across the street -- about a dozen people -- that has already formed.
My neighbor and her elderly mother are there. So is a young woman by the entrance.
“What time did you get here?” I ask.
“6:30,” she says.
“But they’re supposed to open at ten,” I say.
“Well, someone came out and said they might open earlier,” she responds.
An older man walks up with a Board of Elections manual and says he has to work. How can he get in? “Are these all workers?” he asks, pointing to the line.
“No, these are voters,” I say.
“Go up to the door and knock,” someone tells him.
“Is this where early voting is?” a woman asks. “I live in the neighborhood, but I don’t know if this is my early voting site.” A discussion ensues.
“I had a long wait for the 2018 midterms,” a young woman named Umi says. “And everyone was a bit grumpy. There was a general feeling that this process was an unwelcome chore.”
It shouldn’t be this way. If there is anything voting in this of all elections has illustrated, it is the fact that information is not streamlined, and confusion is rampant. To say nothing about lines. Other countries -- Canada and Ireland being prime examples — make voting easy and don’t force citizens to have to figure it out together. "I've waited longer for a bus than I have ever waited to vote," a Canadian man posted on social media.
And why does every American state vote differently, with some – Utah and Colorado come to mind – serving as models of electoral efficiency – and others struggling to make voting safe, accessible and efficient.
The challenges of voting, the mechanics of voting -- these are all issues that are yet again coming out in this election, issues that are being worked on by tireless lawyers, volunteers, and voting-rights advocates nationwide. “…voter suppression,” says Umi, “both at the legislative and practical level, [is] at a generational high. It’s use it or lose it time. I don’t think it hyperbolic or irrational to say that it is pivotal to the fabric of American democracy, as we have come to know it, that citizens inform themselves and take advantage of this particular right while we still have it.”
New Yorkers, as well as voters all over the U.S. are willing to stand in long lines, some taking up to 11 hours, to make their voice heard. A record 57,415,468 votes, according to the United States Elections Project, have already been cast, and predictions are that this may be the highest voter turnout seen since the presidential election of 1908, according to Newsweek magazine. While the spirit of in-person voting is wonderful – I’ve always loved the communal aspect myself -- there should be no lines. I saw plenty of elderly and disabled voters who should not have to wait outside for hours. And the weather was not bad today, although it was cool and chilly. If it was raining, or snowing, it would not be okay to make people stand on the street in the midst of a global pandemic. This is no way to thank Americans for coming out and doing their civic duty.
An alternative to in-person voting is the mail-in ballot. But with the recent politization of the United States Postal Service and the debacle of incorrect ballots mailed in New York City, it’s going to take a lot of work for voters to trust this process again. Luckily, those carrying a mail-in ballot can simply walk in to their early voting site and drop it in a box without waiting in line.
Finally, polling places and secure drop-off boxes should be available everywhere and should be easily accessible by the poor, elderly and disabled.
These are just some of the ideas that can make the American voting process easy and equitable.
I missed my chance to be the first person in line but it’s okay. “Today the mood was very different,” said Umi, who waited over three hours to cast her vote. “Despite the hours of waiting, people were generally good-natured and excited to participate.” Indeed, folks had coffee and bagels and lawn chairs. Lots of animated conversations were taking place. “This is the first election I’ve voted in!” a man proudly told a reporter. And a marching band even showed up.
“…now as much as ever,” Umi said, “it is up to the dissenters to make themselves known, lest this new status quo cement itself into an immovable block of unchecked power that will crush the will of the most vulnerable of America’s people.”