Anxious For Future, Voters Brave Potential Threats, Long Waits

Updated at 6:23 p.m.:

ACROSS AMERICA — Voters across the United States braved long wait times at the polls Tuesday, and even longer drives, potential threats of voter intimidation and surging coronavirus cases.

Many were more determined than ever — determined to vote, determined to play their part in our country's democracy, and determined to make sure their voices were heard.

Lacey Stannard carefully planned a five-hour drive to the polling place in her Tennessee hometown to vote on Election Day. She took into account the traffic, the weather, the coronavirus pandemic and — something she never imagined having to contemplate — the possibility of civil unrest in the aftermath of an American election.

The wife of a soldier, Stannard tried to get an absentee ballot sent to her home on a military base on the other side of Tennessee. The clerk in her hometown refused, she told The Associated Press.

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Was she crazy for driving 10 hours to vote Democratic in a deep-red state? Absolutely, she said. But it was worth it to make sure her displeasure was on record.

Stannard was among millions of voters who lined up before dawn to vote. Many are tired of the constant crises and volatile political division. Others are anxious to see what happens next.

Their quest to vote was not without challenges.

Reports of discouraging wait times, closed precincts, intimidating poll workers, and coffee-soaked ballots trickled in from election stations across the country Tuesday morning as Americans headed to polls.

At least 98.8 million people had already voted before Election Day, about 71 percent of the nearly 139 million ballots cast during the 2016 presidential election, according to data collected by The Associated Press.

President Donald Trump has already threatened legal action to prevent the counting of ballots that arrive after Election Day, which some states allow by law.

In the months leading up to Election Day, Americans have dealt with plenty — a pandemic that’s infected more than 9 million people and killed more than 232,000, misinformation about election procedures coming from Trump and his camp, concerns about confrontations at the polls and reports of mail slowdowns — all of which clouded the run-up to Tuesday's vote.

Given all that, record turnout is expected this year.

“Come hell or high water,” Kristen Clarke, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told The Associated Press. “It feels like that has been the attitude voters have needed to make sure their voices are heard this year.”

The turnout has other experts and election officials also anticipating record problems.

But problems occur every election and, in some cases, Tuesday's been no exception.

What's Happening At Polls

There were long lines early in the day, sporadic reports of polling places opening late and equipment issues reported in counties in Georgia and Ohio, according to The Associated Press.

In North Carolina, a man with a holstered gun prompted concerns about intimidation as residents cast ballots at one polling place in Charlotte. The man was later arrested.

A precinct manager with the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections confirmed the incident to Patch, saying the man arrived with the handgun and was allowed to cast his vote. The manager then called the Board of Elections office himself after the gun provoked reaction from others at the location.

Elsewhere in North Carolina, poll hours were extended after delays were reported at several polling sites, the North Carolina State Board of Elections said.

The extension means that results, which are reported once all of the state's 2,660 Election Day poll sites close, will now be released at 8:15 p.m. ET.

Voters in Michigan were warned by state officials of a robocall scam targeting voters in Flint and Dearborn. The calls suggested to voters that due to long lines, they should vote on Wednesday. Polls in Michigan close at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday.

READ: Robocalls Tell Americans To 'Stay Home' On Election Day

In Pennsylvania, reports of long lines and high turnout continued to come in more than two hours after polling places opened at 7 a.m. Video captured from a polling place at Central Bucks High School South in Warrington, Bucks County, shows a long line that snakes around the building.

Images also show long lines at the Sol Feinstone Elementary School polling place in Upper Makefield Township, where Donald Trump made a campaign appearance Saturday.

In Ohio, a car crashed into a polling place in Miami County. And in Connecticut, a ballot machine malfunctioned and had to be replaced after a voter spilled coffee on his ballot and still tried to insert the soaked paper into the machine.

In rural Oklahoma, voters reported a wait of more than five hours to cast ballots at one precinct. In Arizona, nearly 20 stolen ballots were recovered from under a rock in Glendale and were returned to voters Saturday, the Arizona Attorney General said.

For the most part, though, reports of significant problems or unrest were few.

In other places, others simply worked to make the experience a little more pleasant.

In Wisconsin, Carrie and Brian Kulas stood outside of the polling place in Manitowoc, playing the violin and the string bass for two hours Tuesday morning.

“It’s a pretty anxious time, and you get tired of sitting around on your hands waiting for someone else to make something happen,” Brian Kulas told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Music is all about togetherness. It’s really a universal language. It doesn’t matter what side you’re on, everybody loves music.”

Meanwhile, federal officials are monitoring nationwide voting as well as potential threats at an operations center just outside Washington, D.C. Officials there told the Associated Press no major problems were detected early Tuesday.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Christopher Krebs, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told AP. “Today, in some sense, is halftime. There may be other events or activities or efforts to interfere and undermine confidence in the election.

“So I’d ask all Americans to be patient, to treat all sensational and unverified claims with skepticism, and remember technology sometimes fails and breaks.”

This story was produced with the help of tips reported through ProPublica’s Electionland project. If you experience or witness a problem voting, please let us know.

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