If I’m being honest, I almost chose not to vote. I recently moved into another city that I hadn’t registered in. So, I had to drive for an hour to get to the ballots. Just the thought of it made me cringe. It’s not a valid reason saying it out loud, I know but that’s just how I felt at the time. Then I realized this year especially, voting was bigger than me.
I woke up on Halloween at 6:30am and made that hour drive to my early voting location. Now, let me take a minute to give you a fun fact about voting that I learned this year. They have curbside voting as an option. It’s for anyone who isn’t able to access the polling place or stand in line to vote due to a disability or if they’re 65 or older. Those individuals can wait in their vehicles.
With this new knowledge, I took advantage of curbside voting. The day before, I called the location to ask how they were handling curbside voting. I was told that I needed to bring someone with me. That person would take my ID and stand at the end of the line for me. Once they got to the front, whoever was working the polls would bring the voting machine to me. The information that was given to me didn’t sound right. So I reached out to another resource. They let me know that I was to drive to their “curbside voting” spot and then a representative would come and get my ID and bring the curbside voting machine to me. They said voting locations have to LEGALLY offer curbside voting and if I were to get there and they told me to stand in line to report it.
Fast forward to Saturday…When I arrived at the location, the line was already hella long. I drove to the front to search for a volunteer to assist me. Once I found one, I asked where curbside voting was. They didn’t answer me directly. They proceeded to tell me that the wait would be 5 hours and that Monday the wait shouldn’t be as long. The comment alone wasn’t right, because it seemed as if he was trying to keep me from voting. After he told me that, I left the parking lot to figure out what I wanted to do.
I called my brother and he called someone that he personally knew that was working the polls. The person pretty much told them the same thing. After that, I told my brother that I wanted him to stay on the phone with me, while I go back to the volunteer. When I got there again, the volunteer told me the same thing about the wait except it had gone down to 4 hours, lol. I let the volunteer know that I was willing to wait. They told me to find a parking spot and they would find me when it was my turn. Luckily, I was able to find a spot not far from the entrance. They had a perfectly good view of me. After a couple of minutes, the same volunteer walked to my car and asked for my ID. They said they would see if they could let me go ahead and vote. They were able to. I drove up to the spot they had curbside voting. Another volunteer came over to my vehicle with the ballot, voting machine, and Q-Tip to make selections on the screen.
Overall, after figuring out how everything works, the voting in itself wasn’t hard at all. In order to make the experience easier, I think the curbside voting signs should be big and they actually have a designated area to wait in your car. Also, I think the volunteers should be more uniformed, so you’re able to see who’s a volunteer and who’s not. This was definitely a learning experience and I’m glad that I now have the knowledge to let others know about this new way of voting. 2020 elections will definitely be in the history books.
If you or someone you know with a disability had an issue at the polls this year, please contact Erin Haire.
#stillRising
#stillRising 