To-day is Presidential Election Day. Even for non-political citizens, the past four years have been very divisive and exacerbating already polarized political environment to watch. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, both political parties presented their contrasting visions for the country, fiercely argued and fought for their respective cases, and the Americans public is casting their final verdict today.
If you don’t like what’s going on in the country, voting is the only way to change it. Everybody deserves to have their voice heard.
Veronica Latham, 35-year-old Georgia voter (source: Washington Post)
According to a survey of election officials by CNN, Edison Research, and Catalist, ‘more than 102 million Americans have voted nationwide before the polls opened on Election Day, represent more than 48% of registered voters nationwide’. In Minnesota, more than 1.8 million Minnesotans have already voted early, by absentee-, mail-in or in-person ballots.
“People who are voting, people who have already voted, people who are working the polls and people who are opting out this year, whether by choice or by circumstance — this is what democracy looks like on Election Day in a tumultuous, complicated year”.
Democracy is messy, but we have got to let it work. If not for ourselves, then for our children, who you know are watching us.
“NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt
Selected Voters Reactions
Followings are a few randomly selected reactions (quotes) from voters, gathered through various news outlets:
Dr. Robert H. Smith Sr., of Jackson, Miss., who was born on the Burks Plantation near Rayville, La., in 1921, told ABC News that:
Voting is an experience that every American citizen should have” when “we the people decide who’s going to be our leader. I remember when I couldn’t vote. I’ve been involved in this movement for the past 50 years … but there’s much more to be done. I just hope that things get better politically. I don’t think we have to have the situation that we have today.
Dr. Robert H. Smith Sr. – a 99-year-old Black man born to a plantation sharecropper (source: The Hill)
It was thrilling! 2020 marks my first election, since I only turned 18 in September. While I had been looking forward to going to the neighborhood polling center, waiting in line to make my voice heard and normal excitement around it being my first time, it felt just as rewarding to seal the envelope and send it through the mail. I know I live in a state where my vote won’t make as big of a change … but it still feels like a moment I’ll remember until my grandchildren ask me about the historic 2020 election.”
Maggie Broderick, 18, Sacramento (source: Washington Post)
I feel like we’re going to divide as a nation after today. But I wanted to at least put in my opinion. Also, my mom called me. Trump was good for the economy, but Biden is far better from a “community” standpoint.
Ahlia Khan, 19-year voter of Coon Rapids, MN (source: Star Tribune)
Life. If you’re not going to vote for somebody who’s pro-life, nothing else matters. There is no other viable candidate.
Sue Gross, A Minnesota Voter (source: Star Tribune)
Neil Duffney, a self-confessed true independent voter from Minnesota, having voted both sides of the ticket in previous elections, voted straight down the Democratic ticket Tuesday.
This time, I’m really dissatisfied with the Republican Party. I don’t like the rhetoric of Trump. It was too important not to vote for Biden. I don’t believe that we should be restricting or limiting more people’s rights, we should be moving forward not backwards.
Neil Duffney, a Minnesota (source: Star Tribune)
I am kind of nervous. I am a Black woman with two white kids under my care, and I just want to stay as safe as possible, keep them as safe as possible. Maybe we’ll just plan a movie day.
Daija Solomon, a postgraduate student working as a nanny in Chapel Hill, N.C. (source: The New York Times)
I would say the pandemic has had a pretty big sway in my direction of voting.
Kaleb Kirby, a 24-year-old Intensive Care Unit nurse from Noth Dokota (source: The New York Times)
“This campaign has often felt like a powder keg with a fuse burning down to November 3rd and it’s allowed our minds to sometimes drift into dark places about potential for violence and whether the outcome will be accepted”.
Lester Holt to his viewers on the Nov 2, NBC Nighly News
According to the Washington Post, the election turnout appears to be the highest in the century.