Not voting? Not an option for stranded 83-year-old

Man walks mile to vote after deer totals his car

At 83, John Pinter has had to give up a few things. Competitive polka dancing, for one.

But he is not about to give up his right to vote, even if he has to hoof it to the polls.

And that’s what happened Tuesday. On Monday night, the Cedarburg man hit a deer, totaling his car on his way home from a business trip. So, on Election Day, he could be seen cane-inhand walking nearly a mile from his apartment building to the Community Center Gym to cast his votes.

“I’ve got emphysema, so I take about 20 steps and I’ve gotta stop,” said Pinter, who is better known in some circles as half of the festival favorite dancing duo the Polkateers.

“I’ve never missed an election. I had to vote today,” he said. “That’s a freedom Americans have.”

Pinter is a small business man who makes a living, still, driving around the state in his 2000 Buick Park Avenue selling merchandise to hardware stores. (He made a killing in the day on “No Deer Hunting” signs.)

He was on a business trip up north when he remembered he needed to vote Tuesday, so he cut it short and headed south. A few miles from his home, he says, he hit a massive buck — his third deer this year, according to Pinter. He was able to drive his car home, he said, but it was clear once he got there that it was parked for good.

Pinter said he called around Tuesday morning hoping to hitch a ride to the polls, but to no avail.

“So, I decided, the best thing to do was walk.”

Pinter is a self-described “Trump supporter,” mostly, he says, because he’s against abortion. But he doesn’t always agree with him. He dislikes the political rancor, particularly the attack ads, which he described as “nasty” and “horrible,” on both sides.

And he can’t understand why some people just don’t vote.

Pinter was offered a ride home from the polls but declined. Instead, he went to the library to begin searching for a new car so he can hit the road again.

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” he said. “Unfortunately, without a vehicle, I’m out of business.”

MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL John Pinter, 83, of Cedarburg made it to his polling place at the Cedarburg Community Center even though he hit a deer and totaled his car. Pinter, who has emphysema and uses a cane, walked almost a mile to his polling place.