Ballot offers many voters a real scrutiny of president
chicago — Andrew Menck didn’t bother to vote in the last seven midterm elections but, determined to deliver a rebuke to Donald Trump’s presidency, he joined the lines outside his local polling station that built up before dawn.
“I disapprove of the president’s actions,” said the 34-year-old, a Chicago voter who sees his ballot as a chance for real scrutiny of a president who has enjoyed a largely free hand from the Republicancontrolled US Congress.
“I don’t know if he’s necessarily held accountable. Republicans hold the House and Senate.”
Menck was among millions of Americans headed to the polls on Tuesday in the first major voter test of Trump’s chaotic, often controversial presidency.
Massive early numbers — more than 35 million ballots have been cast ahead of polling day compared with fewer than 20 million in 2014 — sparked optimism that heavy rain in the eastern United States would not depress turnout. A suburban Chicago polling station reported twice the number of voters compared to 2016 — a presidential election year — while in downtown Chicago, people gathered before polls opened at 6am.
“The message that I’m going to send is: We’re not okay with the direction that this president is leading our country,” said Rory Mabin, a 34-year-old Chicago resident who votes in every midterm election.
“I’m not okay with travelling abroad and being ashamed for the first time to say that I’m American.” James Gerlock, a 27-year-old Republican, said, however, that he was happy with the economic growth the country has seen under Trump’s presidency and “just (loves) the deregulation.”
In the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, at a church along a leafy street, 500 people had voted in the first two hours of the morning — twice as many as two years ago, according to poll worker David Mendalski.
The story was the same in Maryland, where a Montgomery County election official reported that turnout has been “astounding” early on, speculating that it might also surpass participation in presidential elections.
“People have marched, people have done other things, but this is the first opportunity they’re getting to really speak out and make their vote their voice,” former lawyer Diane Vogel told at a polling station in Arlington, Virginia.
“So I’m hopeful that it will be the biggest turnout that midterm elections have ever seen.” —
I disapprove of the president’s actions. I don’t know if he’s necessarily held accountable. Republicans hold the House and Senate. Andrew Menck, A voter in Chicago