Ever since I’ve been able to vote, J.H.S. Magnatech 231, which I attended for 7th and 8th grades, has been the location for residents within my district to place their votes. The turnout from what I can remember from the times I would visit for each election wasn’t anything for the record books. I also would receive information on the turnout of voters in the area through conversations I have with neighbors, friends and family who volunteer on Election Day at JHS 231. One of these volunteers for the last several years was my mother, who would take a day off from work in order to play a role she considered her mission.
Since my mother decided this year not to participate for work-related reasons, I felt the need to not only observe as I went to vote but also talk to volunteers about the turnout. When I entered the school, I noticed something for the first time that was never present during previous elections I participated in…smiles. It may seem minimal but I’ve never viewed anyone smiling or appearing ecstatic in any sense of the word casting their vote. As I stood over the table as a volunteer searched diligently to find my name and address in the large registered voters book, I overheard a brief conversation between a voter and a volunteer worker.
“You seem rather excited,” she asked and without haste a man replied, “I have every reason to smile today. I’m free and I’m able to cast my vote for the first time with someone I truly want to be my president.”
As my name was discovered several pages towards the back of the book, I signed my name and began asking questions of the woman ushering voters into their selected booths. I asked whether the rumored turnout was just a rumor or was the number of voters much higher in each district this time around. It seems the turnout was the highest it has ever been in the neighborhood since the volunteer has been present. From 5 a.m. until perhaps 2p.m. “it was extremely busy. The lines were unbelievably long and the momentum didn’t seem to end,” the election work said. As I stood in front of the curtains, before making a passage inside the booth I heard lowly, “That’s right young man! Make your vote count.” I turned and smiled as I entered. Once inside. I realized I’d never been this excited about voting.
Once my selections were made, I exited the booth and continued asking questions. “Why is it you think the voters are turning out in such record numbers?” I asked the volunteer and with a sense of passion she answered, “It’s really simple really. The general public has endured George Bush for eight years…we’ve endured his father for four and that equals 12 years of the same nonsense. John’s last name maybe McCain but he and the Bush family are one and the same. … We view Barack as a sense of hope and clearly a change to what we have been used to year after year after year. You want to know why the lines are long and why the numbers of voters have exceeded expectations? I’ll tell you one thing, we all know Barack’s policies are not perfect and it won’t change the diseased infected country we call home overnight…but what we see in Obama is the American people. Not a black man, not an African American man, but a man that reflects the image of the American people. That’s why we are turning out in such large numbers today.”