Pave paradise and put up a polling spot
Woman opens voting site inside her home garage
Jazmine Nunez, a 27year- old salon owner looking to cast her ballot, pulled up Tuesday morning to the brick home on Underwood and wondered, “Is this the right place?”
It wasn’t a church, library, community center or school. But on Tuesday, a two- car residential garage in this quiet neighborhood near the Texas Medical Center was again serving as a Harris County polling place.
Voters lined up in the driveway by a lemon tree while the sun rose. Some walked over, some drove. The trash truck passed. Then a woman walking her dog.
It wasn’t the only out- ofthe- ordinary locale: Harris County’s 800 Election Day polling sites this year included the Houston Food Bank, a Montrose gay bar and several funeral homes.
All highlight the creativity required to make voting accessible in a sprawling county of more than 1,700 square miles. And many in the tight-knit, well- off Old Braeswood community found little could be easier than ambling over, coffee in hand, or stopping by on their way to work.
It’s the type of convenience everyone should have, thought Raghu Kalluri, a 50-year- old physician who lives next door.
And amid this tensionfilled Election Day, Kalluri saw in the garage another
important reminder: When it is all over, those here would still co- exist.
“We can live among each other with different political views,” Kalluri said. “We’re all neighbors. … We care for each other.”
Residents would continue to meet up on Sundays, with lawn chairs and cocktails.
It surprises newcomers, but the “Residence Garage” — aka Joanne Brodsky’s house — has been used on and off for 39 years.
Brodsky became a precinct judge nearby before her first child’s birth. When she moved here in 1981, she found the neighborhood had no obvious polling place.
She asked nearby businesses to host it.
“Not a chance,” she was told.
So, with playpens in the driveway, her garage became it. When her Republican counterpart, Ann Garnett, is in charge, elections are in her garage, too.
Garnett’s kids found it strange when they learned other kids at school didn’t have people voting at their homes.
Quirky as it was, she said, “We always wanted to make sure it stayed in the neighborhood.”
Even under the threat of COVID-19, Brodsky, a former nurse, was up at 4: 30 a.m. — already where she needed to be to get to work.
Brodsky and Garnett spaced the nine voting machines in the garage farther apart than usual. Six-foot markers were placed on the pavement.
Over the past two weeks, Brodsky had cleaned the space. Curtains covered her stuff. A hula-hoop hung from the ceiling.
Her diabetic husband, who usually helps out, followed orders from their doctor-son to stay inside the house.
Only two of her usual volunteers dropped out because of the risk.
“It’s a dangerous time right now,” said Brodsky, 70, “but I think we’re as prepared as we can be.”
Still, in their atypical spot Tuesday morning, everyone wore masks and there was a sense of camaraderie.
A passing driver waved. Kalluri dragged his 10year- old son over from next door in what looked like his pajamas to see the polling machines.
Daniel Parker, 39, brought his Labrador retriever, Mico, and some oranges.
“We’re the hidden gem,” said Tara Sondock, 52, walking down the driveway with her husband, Steven, his arm swung over her shoulder.
Indeed, the spot has its advantages: People who forgot IDs could walk home to get them. The civic club president comes to help from across the street.
Brodksy, who voted early, didn’t know quite how many people to expect. Voters can cast ballots anywhere.
And neighbors know how good they had it: Voting in the Underwood garage was cozy and accessible, said Lisa Sheinbaum, 60
As her friend Jordana Roteman, 60, put it: “This is one of the best perks of living here.”