Unmarried women with children voted 74 to 25 in favor of Obama. Unmarried women without children also voted 69 to 31 in favor of Obama (according to CNN exit poll this morning). While unmarried women gave Obama a margin of victory of more than 12 million votes, married women supported McCain by a narrow margin.
We’re now just 2 and a half hours from poll closing in Ohio! We’ve fielded hundreds of calls today, helping voters get the information they need to take part in this historic election. Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located, has a great online website where we’re able to verify a voter’s registration status and look up polling places.
This morning, I arrived at my polling place in South Philadelphia to cast my first vote in a national election as a Pennsylvanian. A new transplant to the City of Philadelphia, formerly of New Jersey, New York, and a short-stint in San Francisco, I have found it easy to bond with my city over our recent, curse-breaking World Series victory, in which the Philadelphia Phillies proudly beat the Tampa Bay Rays last week amid early winter weather and soggy terrain.
This morning, I took my daughter into the voting booth with me. She watched while I darkened the various circles. She watched my surprise when I reached some elections I had not known would be on the ballot, and we talked about how even a well-informed, involved voter sometimes doesn’t do her research (oops!). She watched me fill out the exit survey and talked with the person conducting the survey about its purpose.
Good Morning! I got up extra early to vote in Virginia today. I'm lucky I can walk to my polling place. A couple of friends and I arrived at about 5:25 am. We found a line of about 20 people. As we waited for the polls to open at 6, people just kept coming. I was voter number 9 and had cast my vote by 6:15.
I vote because I want a say in our government and how decisions are made. There is so little we have power over, but I know that when I write a letter, make a call, send an email or a fax, or go to a lobby day for an issue, my voice is heard and represents others. All our voices are important. I have voted every year since I've been of age to vote and will continue to vote until I die.
I had planned to go vote at an off time during the day because as a real estate agent I have the flexibility in schedule to do so. However, on my way to work I pass the school where I vote and was so excited about this election that I went in right then and there. The line was HUGE which usually doesn’t make me feel thrilled, but in this instance I was thrilled at the demonstration of such a high level of energy and activity. I happily took my turn and an hour later sailed out of there, my “I voted” sticker firmly affixed!
My alarm clock went off at 4:30am this morning so I could get ready for a long day of getting out the vote! I arrived at the Channel 5 phonebank at 5:45am to help the Board of Elections and NAACP field calls from voters to answer any questions they have about voting today.
I went to vote early in McLean, Virginia. Population approximately 40,000. With only one day left in VA’s 15 days of “in person” absentee voting, we stood in line and waited to vote 2.5 hours. A long time, certainly by McLean standards! Usually when we vote there is no long line. The worst has been 15 minutes on election day! It was inspiring. And, the town was a real community.
In less than a day we will go to the polls and make our voices heard by voting, and WVWV wants to know what the experience was like for you!
On Tuesday, November 4, WVWV will feature voting stories like yours on our website. To share your story, send an email to mystory@wvwv.org. All day long and through the night, we will update the homepage with real-life stories, and we want to hear from you.
The lines are one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in politics! And everyone seems so pleasant. I asked a six year old boy in his church clothes with his two front teeth missing if he was excited. “Yes,” he beamed. “Its history!”
Today I joined the NAACP to help provide comfort to Cleveland’s early voters. We staged from a church across the street from the Board of Elections and brought water, coffee, and bagels to voters that stood in the line that snaked around the Board of Elections and down the street. I imagine the folks at the back of the line would have to wait for hours before being able to cast a ballot. While you’d think people would be angry about the lines, there was a great energy among folks. A DJ had setup to provide music to entertain the crowds, some candidates walked the back of the lines, and a hot dog vendor provided food in addition to what we passed out. It was so inspiring to see the throngs of people waiting to vote!
Most people my age spend Halloween attending parties, catching up with friends, carving pumpkins, and maybe even baking some pumpkin seed bread. While I normally love to partake in such activities on Halloween, the holiday this year fell just 4 days before one of the biggest elections of my lifetime. A few days ago I decided to make the trek to Ohio to help make sure that Cleveland voters have a smooth experience on Election Day.
Here are some photographs from Cleveland where we’ve been working with the NAACP to provide comfort to early voters.