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    • How Voter Pride and Faith in Democracy Determine Election Day Turnout
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    How Voter Pride and Faith in Democracy Determine Election Day Turnout

    Pabio Posted on

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    Americans voted Tuesday by the millions, some with high hopes, others with trepidation — all with a sense of civic duty.

    Doctors and delivery drivers, airline and restaurant workers, retired software engineers and teachers, longtime voters and new voters lined up to vote in a presidential election which has captivated – and divided – the nation for months.

    Amanda Baldwin was determined to vote, even though she showed up at the wrong polling place in Cobb County, Georgia. The 35-year-old restaurant worker was late for work on a cold, dreary morning, but she wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to vote for vice president. Kamala Harris.

    “We haven’t had a woman president,” she said. “I think it’s time.”

    In Pennsylvania, Ed Capinski, 83, waited in line at a Lower Pottsgrove elementary school to vote for Donald Trump. He said he believed the former president could help unify the country better than Harris, and that he trusted Republicans more than Democrats.

    “I really believe that in the last election in 2020, the Democrats did a lot of things and I would listen to what the Republicans would say about this election,” he said.

    A new voter votes with dad

    In Reno, Nevada, waiting voters applauded after workers presented Tyler Hilliard, 18, with a certificate to mark the occasion. Hilliard, accompanied by his father, was the first to vote on Washoe County’s electronic voting machine, minutes after polls opened at 7 a.m. “I feel pride,” Hilliard said. “I feel like I’m lucky to have the right to vote.” Hilliard said he was still grappling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and voted for candidates he believed would best support mental health.

    In Florida, Maria Labrador, 25, was also voting in her first presidential election.

    Labrador, who grew up in Puerto Rico, said she voted for Trump after studying the candidates.

    “I was very left-leaning before and I kept digging, digging, digging for more information and I realized my values ​​didn’t align with those of the Democratic Party at all,” said Labrador at a polling station in DeBary. “I feel like our values ​​have been derailed. »

    “I just want America to stay good, great, as it can be and improve as it was,” she said. Looking at his son with teary eyes, Tim Hilliard, 47, said he was proud of his son for getting up early to vote.

    The elder Hilliard, a chemical operator, said he voted by mail earlier and was confident his ballot was properly tracked and counted. He said watching his son vote strengthens his faith in democracy. “Oh man, talk about a proud moment.” he said. “It’s one of those stepping stones as they grow.”

    “We could be the votes that count”

    Nevada is one of seven states that could determine the US presidential election. Voters there as well as Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona cast ballots knowing their vote counted.

    In Nevada’s Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, tribal member Aiyana Isham accompanied her husband, Kindel Isham, both 25, as he cast his vote. Aiyana Isham voted early and said she hoped many young people would vote.

    In Pennsylvania, Linda Page, 72, of Pittsburgh, said there were more young men waiting in line at Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Black Hill Historic District than there were four years ago — and that they were expecting before 7 a.m.

    “There were never long lines in this area, but they wanted to vote,” she said. “They wanted to vote today.”

    Nevada’s 90,000 tribal voters represent just under 4 percent of the state’s total electorate, and tribal officials have encouraged their members to participate. The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony lies within the boundaries of Washoe County, considered a key county in a swing state. “Growing up on the reservation, I know a lot of people say ‘whatever, my vote doesn’t count.’ counts,’” said Aiyana Isham.

    “Your vote really matters,” she said. “We could be the votes that matter in Nevada.”

    But will Americans accept the election results?

    Father and son Hilliard said they did not discuss who they were voting for, and both said it was important to accept the results it doesn’t matter who wins.

    “I think we have to accept the results anyway. I would like legislators to learn to compromise,” said Tim Hilliard. “Until we can get out of this red-blue mess, we will not learn what compromise is.”

    Ann Barkasi, 67, of Pottsdown, Pa., said she has voted in every election in her life and is ready to see the country come together.

    “I care about women’s rights, democracy and bringing the country together,” she said. “There is so much hatred. I was standing in line in front of someone today, and the things they were saying, they were calling them names, and that’s not necessary. We are supposed to love each other. I’m a Christian and there should be more of that,” Barkasi said.

    In Nevada, Reno resident Zackery Kuhns, 19, said he voted for Trump because he believed the former president was best suited to help him earn enough money to support himself. of his family.

    “You choose the best of the worst choices,” Kuhns said after voting alongside his mother. But he said he would accept the results, whoever won: “They won fairly through democracy.”

    April Rivers voted at the Center for Islamic Culture in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 24-year-old entrepreneur said she suspects some people might not accept the 2024 results, including Trump, but she is confident in Harris’ chances.

    “I know God has the final say, so I know He’s not going to let anything go that it’s not supposed to,” Rivers said.

    Conchita Kluengling, 61, voted for Harris at Grace Lutheran Church in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Whatever the outcome, she hopes Americans respect the results.

    “We have no choice but to accept that we all vote and that, like anything else, you win some or you lose some,” she said. “So you might not win today, but we still have four years, and then we can try again.”

    The end of the onslaught of political advertisements

    There was one thing many American voters could agree to celebrate: the end of political advertising.

    “We’re just ready to move on,” said Jacob Kossler, a 24-year-old software engineer who voted at Georgia’s Cobb County Civic Center.

    “I’m just ready to stop seeing these ads 24/7,” he said. “I’m just trying to watch a football game without having to see two commercials in a row…hearing that someone is the devil.”

    The 2024 federal election is set to be the most expensive ever, with spending of nearly $16 billionaccording to OpenSecrets.org, a nonprofit that tracks money in American politics.

    In Pennsylvania, Pranav Patel, 42, would not say who he voted for when he cast his ballot in Warrington Township Monday evening. But he had had enough of the influence of the two campaigns.

    “I think there are too many calls, too many in-person ads, too many in-person calls,” he said.

    Patel showed USA TODAY more than a dozen missed calls he received during the campaigns in the two hours before he cast his vote.

    “It’s not going to change my mind about who I’m going to vote for,” he said.

    Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, Phillip M. Bailey, Deborah Barfield Berry, Trevor Hughes, Erin Mansfield, Dinah Pulver and Sarah Wire

    Pabio
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