This was the last day for early voting in Florida. Today I saw things I will never forget for as long as I live. I saw mothers standing the rain for hours, with babies in their arms, waiting to vote. I saw thousands of people waiting in lines in the heat of the Florida sun and under the drench of tropical downpours. I saw people willing to wait over 8 hours in line to vote. You read that right. Eight hours. Exposed to sun, rain, and ultimately the fall of night, these deeply committed people exercised their basic human right to vote for the people who govern them.
No pushing. No shoving. Just waiting in a slow moving line. But in that simple act of endurance and determination, I saw a fierce patriotism and desire to be part of the most transformative election in memory.
It was inspirational and lead me to question my own commitment to voting. Would I wait in line for 8 hours? When the rain came and I had no umbrella, would I wait? When I needed to use the bathroom and had to go in search of one blocks away because there were no port-a-potties, what get back in line? When I was hungry as lunchtime, then dinnertime passed, would I just go home? Would I have stayed when I had to work the next day delivering boxes for UPS like one person I talked to? She was about to leave. Her friend insisted she stay. I left them arguing as I moved on handing out trash bags to ward off a little of the rain. What would I have done? Would I have waited quietly?
How is it possible that US citizens have to wait over 8 hours in 2008 in a state that has known for months that there is a surge in the number of -- mostly democratic -- voters? My sister, Smita, has covered elections in India, a country with a billion people, 50% illiteracy, high public corruption, and 60% election turnout. She has never seen such lines in India. It’s shameful that Florida and the United States of America can't deliver on this basic democratic
and human right.
And where was the media? At least in the time I was at these locations, the only time I saw media was after a near-riot situation at a polling location in an affluent neighborhood, Adventura Government Center. People were cutting in line before the polls opened and the hundreds of people waiting to vote where pissed off.
"We were here first!" they chanted. People left saying, "there is going to be a riot." Where is the media scrutiny and recording of the facts in Little Haiti and Little Havana? North Miami Library in the mostly Haitian community was where I talked to people standing in the rain who were not yet at the front of the line at 6:15pm. "When did you get in line?" "10am" "10:15 this morning." And at
JFK library with a mostly Hispanic and Cuban crowd, people reported at 9pm people they'd been in line for 4 hours.
I'd love to hear if others have heard reports on this topic in the media.
Tuesday is going to be a big day here in Florida.
Regards,
sp