Crush of early voters driven by civic duty
Not discouraged by the cold, long lines
As hues of orange and pink pushed through the frigid sky Saturday morning, 20-year-old De’me Ross, had been in line outside about 90 minutes when the doors opened at the Franklin County Board of Elections Early Voting Center.
Ross, who lives near the center, awoke at 5 a.m. to prepare, clad in multiple layers including a matching rainbow scarf and socks. Yet she was still shivering after she had cast her ballot.
“I’d like to make a change,” she said of her first-ever vote in a presidential election. “There’s a lot of white supremacy out there. I’d like to vote for someone who never thinks of their selfish ways as the president does,” she said. “I hope this works.”
Ross was among thousands whose civic calling caused gridlock along Morse Road and nearby cross streets, filled parking lots and produced a festival-like atmosphere with bands, political posturing and long, snaking lines of motivated voters on the last weekend to early vote before Tuesday’s general election.
“They’re not upset at all,” Aaron Sellers, spokesman for the county Board of Elections, said of those wait
ing to vote. “It's almost like a festive, communal-type thing.”
Early in-person voting began Oct. 6 and has produced long lines at the center almost every day. “By election day, we may have 60% of voting in the can,” said Sellers.
“I've always been an early voter,” said Toya Russell, 47, who was waiting in her SUV in the adjacent curbside voting area for those needing assistance. “If I didn't have this leg brace, I would be in line.”
“I feel like there's a better candidate. That's the beauty of having a choice,” she said. People brought food, chairs, blankets and entertainment.
Raesheena Kennedy, of Worthington, said she watched the horror movie “The Craft” in its entirety on her cellphone and over-the-ear speakers while waiting in line.
Almost everyone wore face coverings outside, although social distancing separation was not being achieved in some places as the line wrapped around the back of the shopping center where the voting center is located. Those who didn't have masks were provided them as they entered the Board of Elections location..
After about 80 minutes in line, voters were greeted by the organ, bass, drums and saxophone of the Daniels Goins Band, which had permission to set up outside the entrance to help entertain those waiting in line.
“I just basically felt the need to increase the peace, to share that love,” Goins said. “People are frantic.”
His last song, a rousing gospel version of “When the saints go marching in,” was a thank you to the throngs, he said.
“They're marching in to vote. They want to be part of that vote.”
Frederic Edwards, 51, of the East Side, wanted to share his Buckeye spirit, wearing full scarlet and gray, a buckeye necklace and red shoes. He received numerous shoutouts of “Go Bucks” and “O-H.”
“This is a very important election, he said. “I just want people to come together and have the right person in office to do the right things.”
“It's 100% worth it for me,” Alayna Cianelli, 20, a first-time voter from Westerville and a nursing student at Capital University, said while standing near a selfie-wall at the election board's exit. “I would have waited eight hours in line for this.”
Others, like Crystal Jackson, needed a bit of prodding to go and stand in line with temperatures in the 30s. The 22year-old said she regretted not voting in 2016. Yet even now, she wasn't sure about the lines.
“We like quick, fast. We're like the microwave generation,” Jackson said of younger people.
Her mother, Katrina Jackson, of Blacklick, had another take on it: “They're lazy,” she said with a smirk.
“They think the presidency does not affect their lives. I'm trying to make them see that in reality, it does.” She said she had earlier driven Crystal's two other sisters to the center to vote.
“It's our civic duty. It shouldn't matter how long it takes,” said Craig Singleton, 63, of Northeast Columbus, who listened to Thelonious Monk music while waiting. “An hour and a half of my life is OK.”
Early voting continues Sunday from 1-5 p.m. and Monday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center, 1700 Morse Road. dnarciso@dispatch.com @Deannarciso