Friday marked the beginning of the six-week countdown to Election Day following a politically turbulent summer, as voters began to cast their ballots in person for this year’s presidential race.
Voters waited in line to cast their ballots in Virginia, South Dakota, and Minnesota, the states that had the first opportunity to vote in person early. By the middle of October, another twelve states will have followed suit.
Jason Miller was the first in line at a Minneapolis polling place since he got there before the polls opened at 8 a.m. He was one of about seventy-five individuals who went to the city’s early voting site in the first hour to cast their ballots.
“Why don’t you get in first place? Isn’t that entertaining? “The 37-year-old house painter…” he stated.
“Against crazy” was his voting statement, although he refrained from revealing his presidential preference.
Do I really need to? I’m not sure. It seems to me that that is rather clear. He emphasized that it was crystal clear.
The start of in-person voting follows a violent summer in American politics, during which Vice President Kamala Harris succeeded President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, and Republican nominee Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt and then another apparent attempt on his life within nine weeks.
To prevent the theft of ballots and other election materials and to guarantee the safety of poll workers and locations, election directors at the state and municipal levels are stepping up their security measures. After the 2020 presidential election, officials and regular poll workers alike were harassed and even threatened with death.
Virginia is one of more than fifteen states where election officials have been recently contacted or received suspicious items; the source of these shipments is being investigated by federal authorities.
Secretary of State Steve Simon of Minnesota made the following wish during a news conference on Thursday to preview his state’s efforts during election season: “If I could wave a magic wand in this room right now, I would wish for high turnout and low drama.” The conference was held in anticipation of the upcoming election on November 5th. Meanwhile, Simon is the head honcho at the National Association of State Secretaries.
One reason not to wait, according to some voters, is that Election Day could be chaotic or troublesome.
It is being suggested that early voting be encouraged “to avoid potential disruption on Election Day or in-person voting by a certain party who seems to be interested in poll watching to the point of intimidation,” according to Chris Burda, 74, who is making the appeal. At a voting facility in Minneapolis, she cast her ballot for Harris, adding that the vice president was “standing up for democracy and the freedom to choose.”
The tone of Trump’s statements became increasingly menacing as early voting was set to begin. He threatened to punish those who “cheat” in the election, just as he had done in 2020, when he fabricated accusations of rampant fraud and criticized officials for standing by their correct tallies.
Attempts by Trump to throw doubt on mail-in ballots and encourage people to vote in person on Election Day are not new. Early and mail voting have been embraced by Trump and the Republican National Committee, which he now controls, as a means to secure GOP votes before to Election Day. This practice has been followed by Democrats for many years.
In Anoka, Minnesota, 71-year-old mill worker and Vietnam War veteran Eugene Otteson cast his early ballot for the former president. He went on to say that Trump, in his administration, will run the economy like a CEO and prevent American involvement in international conflicts.
“I don’t necessarily like him, but I do like businesspeople,” Otteson remarked. “You have no idea what Kamala represents… She keeps chanting “joy, joy” as she goes around. I can spread happiness all over the globe, but that won’t end the conflicts that are already underway.
Many areas of Virginia have traditionally made use of early in-person voting.
Nearly one-third of eligible voters cast ballots in person or by mail-in during the 2020 presidential election, according to Eric Spicer, director of elections for Fairfax County. Although Chesapeake’s elections director, Mary Lynn Pinkerman, anticipates that early voting would alleviate some of the congestion on November 5, she did warn that “voters could still encounter wait times” due to the high volume of people interested in the presidential contest this year.
Rocklyn Faher, a former United States Navy aviation electrician who saw service in the first Gulf War, was one of the Virginians who took advantage of early voting on Friday. When he spoke of voting for Harris in Norfolk, he started to cry. Tears welling up in his eyes, he spoke of his grandchildren’s future and the need of protecting the Constitution.
Clearly, this election has a lot of personal meaning for 70-year-old Faher. “This election is the most consequential in the last hundred years.”
Although Faher is opposed to Trump’s desire to impose tariffs on foreign products, he supports reproductive rights and is in favor of Harris’s idea to give $25,000 to first-time homebuyers.
In his opinion, Harris’s plans are preferable than “herding 10 million unnatural and naturalized immigrants, documented or undocumented, into railroad cars and shipping them across the border into Mexico.” What the fuck!
Another factor motivating Trump voters is immigration, especially the recent surge at the southern border. If reelected, Trump has pledged to deport large numbers of people.
At the age of 10, Israel Chavez and his family emigrated to the United States from Peru. Today, he is 37 years old. His belief that the economy was stronger under the previous president’s tenure and his support for a tough stance on immigration led him to vote for Trump.
He said, “I know how it is when you have an open border and let anyone in” after casting his ballot at a voting location in Anoka, Minnesota. We entered the nation lawfully because of my dad. Yes, we were in possession of visas. He executed it flawlessly.
According to Kasi Foss, the assistant auditor for the county in Yankton, South Dakota, there was a constant flow of early voters as soon as the polls opened at 9 a.m. It’s not typical for early voting to begin with that.
She mentioned that even while there was never a wait to cast a ballot in the office, there were always at least two or three individuals interested in doing so.
Two contentious measures, one to legalize recreational marijuana use and another to modify the state constitution to safeguard abortion rights, are up for vote in South Dakota. However, Foss stated her belief that the presidential campaign is the primary motivator for voting.
“Usually, there are a few people who don’t show up on the first day,” she explained.
In light of the persistent problems faced by the United States Postal Service, some voters may choose to cast their ballots early in person rather than via mail.
Despite their repeated efforts at outreach, the head of the system has failed to address the recurring shortcomings that state and local election officials have been warning about, including the possibility of postal delivery problems disenfranchising voters.
Letter released Monday by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy addressed concerns voiced by state election authorities; DeJoy promised to collaborate with them to find solutions, and he emphasized that the Postal Service will be prepared.
Simon, the secretary of state for Minnesota, emphasized the importance of voters preparing their ballots early.
The stakes are particularly high for individual voters, so Simon hopes and expects the USPS to act swiftly on their recommendations over the next 47 days.