Americans by the millions waited patiently to cast their ballots at libraries, schools and arenas across the United States on Tuesday, in an orderly show of civic duty that belied the deep tensions of one of the most polarizing presidential campaigns in the country’s history, Reuters reports.
Face masks worn by many and boarded-up stores in some city centers were reminders of two of the issues shaping 2020’s elections, with COVID-19 still ravaging parts of the country after a summer of sometimes violence-marred protests against police brutality and racism.
In New York City, some voting lines snaked around blocks. But in many places lines were short or non-existent, which poll workers guessed was due to an unprecedented wave of early voting. More than 100 million ballots were cast before Election Day, a new record.
In Atlanta, Georgia, about a dozen voters were lined up before sunrise at the Piedmont Park Conservancy. First in line was Ginnie House, shivering in the cold, waiting to cast a vote for the Democratic candidate Joe Biden, a former vice president seeking to replace President Donald Trump, a Republican, in the White House.
“I lost my absentee ballot and I’m not going to miss this vote,” said House, a 22-year-old actor and creative writing student, who had flown back to Atlanta from New York just for this purpose. Of Trump, she said: “He’s dividing our country.”
In Detroit, Craig Mastracci, a 56-year-old nurse and an Army reservist, said he had faith that election officials in Michigan would face no interference in certifying a valid vote tally.
“It may not be fast, but they will get it right in the end,” he said. As in the 2016 elections, he said he voted for the Republican candidates in the congressional and state races, as well as the presidential one, though he was not impressed by his options in the latter.
“I don’t know that either one are strong candidates,” he said of Biden and Trump.
At a polling station in Houston, Texas, Andy Valadez was blowing a shofar, a trumpet used in Jewish and some Christian ceremonies and, in this instance, as a way to pray for a Trump victory, according to Valadez.
“We want to pray for a fair election,” the 55-year-old marketing executive said, his shofar wrapped in a U.S. flag. “We believe in America and want everyone to have a safe voting experience.”
The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups said they were watching closely for signs of voter intimidation, and the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said it would deploy staff to 18 states.
Election officials and political party representatives raised worries about a spate of automated phone calls and text messages warning voters away from the polls for bogus reasons in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nebraska and Florida.
Staff at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a Washington-based advocacy group, told reporters they were concerned about voting machines not working in three counties in Georgia, forcing voters to fill in paper ballots and raising concerns that the paper back-ups would run out.
In some big cities, buildings were boarded up over fears there could be violent protests later. In New York City, the Empire State Building, Macy’s department store, and the skyscraper that houses the Trump-favored Fox News channel were among those that were boarded up. On Rodeo Drive, one of the most expensive shopping streets in California’s Beverly Hills, staff had stripped the display windows at Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels of their jewels and luxury stores disappeared behind plywood.
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