Urgency, duty motivate voters

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Sunday, October 26, 2008

Thousands of voters cast early ballots over the past several weeks, some eager to make their voice heard during a historic presidential campaign and others simply worried about long lines on Nov. 4, Election Day. Starting Monday, the number of polling places for advance voting will be increased. AJC reporters talked to several voters last week, either in person or via e-mail. Not all were willing to say whom they voted for, but all spoke about what had motivated them to go to the polls early:


PATTI JONES, 46, Powder Springs

Jones, a waitress and a self-described independent who chose George W. Bush eight years ago, waited 2 1/2 hours in line Tuesday to vote for Barack Obama. “I’m ready to get all this mess behind me. A lot of my friends, about 12 of them, went into foreclosure. You hear about it on the job, in the community, everywhere. Jobs are shutting down. The stock market is going crazy. And people are fighting in gas lines. It’s crazy.”


YOLINDA SLADE, 27, Atlanta

The lunchtime rush over, last week Slade took her place in the dwindling line at the Fulton County Government Center. There was no way she was going to wait until Nov. 4 to cast her ballot, she said, because she felt a sense of urgency. “I’m very much worried about the future,” Slade said. “This election, I think it’s very important because the economy is just messed up right now … the foreclosures, jobs, housing. And I think voting will really make a change. I’m voting for Obama. I’m voting Democrat all the way.”


MARVIN PETERS, 52, Stone Mountain

Marvin Peters retired from the old General Motors plant before it was shuttered. He said the closure of that plant, near Spaghetti Junction, and of other auto assembly factories in the Atlanta area is evidence of a nation in decline.

“They shut down all the plants and just shipped all the jobs away,” he said. “There’s not going to be a middle class anymore. There’s just going to be the rich, the very rich — and the poor.” That’s one reason Peters and his wife, Arnita, who also retired from the plant, were willing to stand in line for two hours and 10 minutes at the DeKalb County election office Wednesday. They supported Barack Obama: they believe the administration of President Bush has set back the country. If change doesn’t come soon, Marvin Peters said, “the whole United States is just going to go belly up.”




Early voters wait in Lawrenceville Thursday where people started lining up at 6:30 a.m.


article: http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/10/26/earlyvoters_1026f.html

Photos: Dan Chapman - Johnny Crawford - Ty Tagami - Vino Wong