Carrie Nokes and the Precinct Volunteers
I just got back from helping with Get Out The Vote stuff at our local polling place (the Farm Heritage Museum in Sterling), and wow. I was absolutely blown away. We reached 50% of registered voters having voted at 2pm, and blue (Democratic) sample ballots outnumbered yellow (Republican) ones three to one (the ones people actually took with them into the booths with the real ballot).
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The polling place was alive, and a lot of fun. Turnout was beyond anything anyone has ever seen, and everyone seemed really happy to be voting (although, I must say, a lot of the yellow ballot people I did see did not look happy for some reason, and were terse and fairly unpleasant). Even better, there were no Republicans inside counting, and only two volunteers outside handing out sample ballots. We had nine people this morning at 6am (I got there at noon), and 7 when I left this afternoon at two. I hope my experience is representative. If so, VA is going blue, and in a big, big way.
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If you haven’t voted yet, go. They’re expected a rush after school gets out that probably won’t let up until the polls close.
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And one more story before I end, this is a picture of Carrie Nokes and all of us volunteers. Ms. Nokes is 91, and a lifelong Democrat. She joined us outside after we stopped taking count at 2 so we could get a picture of her (Nokes, as in Nokes Blvd). She first voted for Woodrow Wilson, and was an absolute inspiration to all of us.
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This experience was energizing. I now understand what they mean when they say that all politics are local. Standing inside watching people vote, watching the process actually taking place, and being a very tiny part of it, was exhilarating. I have more to say about this, but I need some more time to think it through.