Patience and care on display across Montco
Voters say they would ‘wait all day’ if necessary
In a year when so much has seemed out of control, local voters took the future into their own hands on Tuesday.
Lines were both short and long; turnout was low and high; masks and sanitizer were everywhere, and problems were few and far between — literally with social distancing — at polling places across Montgomery County, as voters selected their choice for president and representatives in Congress and the state legislature for the next four years.
Lansdale
As about a dozen voters waited in line at the rear entrance of Knapp Elementary School, Phil Long pulled up with a pair of VIPs.
His white minibus with a green Elm Terrace Gardens logo slowed to a stop, a ramp came down, and two more voters rolled out of the bus and into the school, focused on
making their voices heard.
“Most of these people are all independent liveers, and they were stuck in their apartments for seven months. They’re glad to get out,” said Long.
As he spoke, his two voters wheeled their way up the ramp, into the school, and cast their votes, as Long said he’d delivered about a dozen voters from the senior community to the school that day.
“I think everybody else that wanted to vote did it by mail,” Long said, and who did they vote for? “It’s like religion: I didn’t ask.”
As of noon Tuesday, the line into Knapp had dwindled down to a handful of people, standing on a ramp leading into the school gym alongside a sign pointing to separate sides for voters who usually go to Knapp, and the relocated Elm Terrace polling place.
“This is the first time we haven’t had a line, for both. At 6:50 a.m., when I arrived, the line stretched all the way down the building, past the crosswalk,” said poll watcher and school board member, Juliane Ramic.
“It was huge, and it was steady, until about now,” she said.
She and Lansdale councilman Rich DiGregorio said the only problem they had encountered as of 1 p.m. Tuesday was a need for a fence to keep voters from walking into the construction zone for an ongoing school renovation project there. As of 1 p.m., poll workers had counted about 345 votes cast for the Elm Terrace poll and about 325 for the Knapp one, with about 400 mail-in ballots already received.
“We’re already over 50 percent, just right here. We might not even have a rush tonight,” DiGregorio said.
As they spoke, the Jesberger family exited from the back of the school, including Erik, a first-time voter that fans of North Penn’s NPTV channel may remember, and who’s now a freshman at Temple University.
“There were some people in there with face shields or face masks, they separated stuff to make sure each space was sanitized. There was plenty of space in there. I think it was set up pretty well,” he said.
Erik said he “definitely came in with a game plan. I hope everybody stuck with their opinions,” and his father Michael agreed: “I think we did go the same way, but if not, it’s his choice.”
“It’s unique for everyone, a first-time experience for some students who are 18 now, but they did a good job. The school is under construction, so it looks like a blast zone, but they were able to get in there and make a big decision today,” Michael said.
Pat Greenwald of Elm Terrace said she had seen posts on social media earlier in the day about long lines at Knapp, but came over around 1 p.m. and went right in.
“Ever ybody’s masked up, everybody’s using the sanitizer, I’m gonna post it on Facebook: ‘I went right in.’ I’m glad to see the lines weren’t real long, and they’re very organized in there. Everything went smoothly.”
Lower Gwynedd
Voters stopping by the Lower Gwynedd 2-2 polling place, located at the Wissahickon School District Administration Building in Ambler, remained socially distanced and wearing masks while in line Tuesday morning.
Theresa Harrington, of Lower Gwynedd, said she’d been waiting for about 15 minutes, and would continue to do so until she “got inside to vote.”
“I live right down the street, and I wanted to make sure my vote counted,” Harrington said.
While Blue Bell resident Douglas Michie had only been waiting in line for about five minutes, he said he was planning on sticking it out.
“Oh I would literally stand here all day,” he said.
Michie added he wanted to make sure he cast his ballot personally.
“I didn’t really have full confidence that my vote would get there in time or be counted the right way with everything going on with the postal service and stuff like that,” Michie said.
Lower Gwynedd residents Les Jenkins and Ginny Chiodo had been standing in line for exactly 21 minutes.
“He timed it,” Chiodo said.
Jenkins said he’d be willing to wait another 20 minutes. For Chiodo, when asked why vote in person, she said “it’s an experience.”
At the nearby Lower Gwynedd 1-4 polling place at Wissahickon High School, voters experienced comparable wait times.
Penllyn resident Lavada Deas said she’d hadn’t been waiting “too long,” but would stay in line “all day” to cast her ballot.
“Because we need to beat Trump ...” Deas said.
For Ambler resident Erica Lutter, the 2020 general election was especially exciting for her as a new voter.
“So I kind of wanted to be in-person anyway,” Lutter said.
Fellow Ambler resident Aila English said she had a different polling place this year than in the previous election. She said she wanted to cast her vote in person because she “didn’t trust the mail-in” component of the election and would be prepared to wait “as long as it takes.”
While voting in person during the COVID-19 pandemic, English said she didn’t notice many differences to previous elections other than having to wear a mask.
Lower Gwynedd resident David Flynn agreed, adding that he observed additional spacing requirements to adhere to social distancing practices.
Flynn had been waiting for about 10 minutes but could be open to staying “as long as it takes” in order to cast his ballot.
Next to Flynn were Roger and Abby Hiser, also of Lower Gwynedd. The couple had been waiting for about 10 minutes. While Roger said he didn’t want to be “dependent on the mail,” Abby expressed her enthusiasm for in-person voting.
“I really wanted to do it in person I’ve always done it in person,” she said. “I wanted to make sure it was cast. I wanted to be out here, feel the inspiration of Americans.”
Souderton
Voters at the Zion Mennonite Church polling place for Souderton’s second ward about 8:30 a.m. included first-time voter 18-year-old Nicolas Morales.
“I felt like it was a big election, especially for young voters,” he said. “Now we can have a say in what’s being done.”
Every election is important, he said.
“It feels like I’m playing my part in what it means to be an American citizen,” Morales said.
Brian Corchiolo, another of the voters, said the lines were longer than in previous years, but that may have been because of being spaced out for social distancing. He said he was in line for about half an hour and was about the 150th voter.
Corchiolo said he could have voted by mail, as he did in the primary elections, but chose instead to vote in person.
“It just felt safe to know that you did it,” he said. “You filled in the circles. You put it in the machine. It didn’t get lost in the mail.”
Voters were lined up at 6:15 a.m. for the 7 a.m. poll opening, Souderton Borough Council Vice President Julie Munden said.
“We had a steady stream until right about now,” she said.
During off-year elections, the polling place can have as few as 200 voters, but in 2018, there were 903 and more were expected this year, she said.
As of about 8:30, 163 people had voted there, Souderton Borough Council member Daryl Littlefield said.
Covid-19 precautions at the polling place included plexiglass shields, social distancing and hand sanitizers, he said.
Even with the larger than usual turn-out, the lines were moving smoothly, Munden said.
“People are getting in and getting out,” she said.
Perkasie, Sellersville
At the Perkasie firehouse in Bucks County around 10:30 a.m., 50-year-old Melissa Snyder said this was the first time she voted.
“It was a critical election. There’s a lot going on and things need to change,” she said.
She waited in line about 15 minutes, she said.
“Not a bad wait. The whole process was simple, everybody’s very pleasant,” Snyder said.
Asked why she voted in person rather than by mail, she said, “I didn’t trust the mail.”
She made the decision before drop-off boxes were later made available for the mail-in votes, she said.
“There’s a sense of satisfaction voting in person, I think,” she added.
At the Sellersville firehouse about 11 a.m., Nancy Hafler said she was in line about half an hour.
“I thought it would be lighter than this. I’m surprised there’s still such long lines,” she said.
The retiree said she picks a time to vote when she thinks it won’t be busy and had almost no wait in 2018.
This was the first year for the new paper ballot voting in Bucks County.
“That was a little different, but it wasn’t really any more difficult,” Hafler said. “I followed the instructions and had my own pen, so I was ready to go.”
Voters from both Sellersville’s first and third voting districts cast their ballots at the firehouse.
As of 11:10 a.m., 305 people had voted in the first district, John Edwards, judge of elections for the first district, said.
This was only the second time he worked the polls, so it’s hard to make a comparison to other years, he said.
“Compared to the primary, there is more of a turn-out,” he said.
There are 1,192 registered voters in the first district, he said, of which 339 applied for mail-in ballots. As of the previous Friday, 245 of the mail-in ballots had been returned, he said.
“For District One, it’s been steady. We haven’t had long waits thus far,” Edwards said.
The third district had longer lines, he said.
The number of people coming to the polls would likely increase later in the day after people ended their work day, he said.
“Late afternoon into the early evening, it’ll pick up, I’m sure,” Edwards said.
Norristown
In early afternoon, several precincts at Stewart Middle School in Norristown, had virtually no crowds.
A handful of voters showed up to vote at the facility for the Norristown 1-2, 1-3 and 2-1 polling places between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m .
Most were either able to walk right in or queued in a short line.
“I figured it would be a little bit longer of a wait this morning first thing that’s why I sort of waited until the early afternoon,” said Norristown resident Jon Engleman.
While Engleman said he “didn’t wait at all,” this afternoon, he said that his polling place was the most convenient option for him as it was “two blocks from my house.”
Norristown residents Willie Mae and Nathan Dixon exited the polling place after voting. Nathan said the “wait was really, really short.”
Nathan added he had expected to be in line anywhere from 1.5 -to -t wo hours, and had brought a wheelchair for his mother.
Both agreed they’d be willing to wait “as long as it took” in order to perform their civic duty.
“It’s important,” Nathan said “...This is the most important election of my life so far so we have to do our part.”
“Because I just had to vote,” Willie Mae said. “I just had to get out to vote.”
For others opting to vote in person on Election Day, this was their second attempt.
“There was a line all the way around the building,” said Norristown resident Nicci Walker of early morning. “I ... couldn’t do that because I would be late for work.”
Walker called herself a traditionalist when attributing her choice to venture out to her designated polling place on Tuesday.
“I decided to vote in person because I’m more traditional,” she said. “I wasn’t ready for the mail-in vote. To make sure that it didn’t get lost.”
Walker may have a lready c a st her ba l lot , but she said that if there would have been a line, she would have had to try again around 5:30 p.m., when she would have been prepared to wait in line to cast her ballot.
Norristow n resident Fran Prusinowski had a similar experience. The 57-year-old first-time voter had stopped by the polling place earlier, but decided to come back.
“This is a big one. It’s really important,” she said.
Whitpain
While the polling place at Tiferet Bet Israel, located at 1920 W. Skippack Pike in Blue Bell, appeared to experience a bit of a lull just before 4 p.m., representatives from the Democrat and Republican political parties stood outside ready to offer sample ballots or literature pertaining to Election Day.
Jack Craig, representing Kathy Barnette’s campaign, a congressional candidate for the 4th Congressional District which covers parts of Berks and Montgomery counties, noted it was much more crowded earlier in the day.
“Well it was very busy this morning, extremely busy,” Craig said. “The line went around to the back parking lot.”
While he estimated there were hundreds of people who came out to vote inperson throughout the day, there were “probably still have 500 [to] 600 votes sitting out there.”
Bill Rogers, a Democratic Party committee member for the Whitpain Township precinct, reflected on the nation’s current political temperature.
“... The COVID impact is really the biggest thing. I mean obviously it’s an important election year, but I don’t think it’s been anything different related to just how polarized the country is,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything like that.”
Rogers also noted this year’s election is more quiet than in recent years, and he attributed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as the main reason.
“I think there’s much less conversation outside the polls than usual because everyone’s wearing masks,” Rogers said. “I think people want to get in, get out. In a typical election year, there’s usually more conversation going on.”
Craig agreed, adding he observed voters are more decisive this time around.
“You know one thing I did notice in either case, people walk in, they kind of know what they want,” Craig said. “... . I don’t think there were any last minute decisions today, let’s put it that way, and that goes both ways.”
Telford
At about 4 in the afternoon, the line of voters at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, where the Montgomery County portion of Telford voted, was fairly short.
That wasn’t the way it was earlier in the day, though,
“This morning, it was a zoo,” Judge of Elections Daphne Hollowbush said. “It was out the door and across the parking lot to vote and it was constant until 1:30.”
None of the poll workers had taken breaks during the day, she said.
The polling place had a total of 1,660 registered voters, of which about 760 had voted in person thus far that day, she said.
“We also have at least 188 absentees that were sent in,” she said. The polling place also received 10 provisional ballots which would be forwarded to the county, she said.
With four hours remaining until the polls closed, she said she was expecting another round of voters after work.
“It’s a good turnout,” Hollowbush said. “It’s much heavier than most elections.”