A pep in voters' steps
Posted: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 12:28 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Sarah Palin
From NBC’s Joey Bell
BURKE, Va. -- The voting line started forming early at White Oaks Elementary School here. That particular poll location didn't open until 6 am ET, but by 4:30 am there were already five people in line waiting to vote.
All five were cheery, upbeat and happy to chat with each other to pass the time. They seemed to feel connected by the moment and proud to be sacrificing the hour or two they might normally be spending in bed or exercising.
Surely contributing to everyone's good spirits was being able to wait inside the building even though it was a surprisingly mild morning for November.
The first person to arrive that wasn't there to vote early was a security officer stunned by the line.
"Is everyone here this early to vote?" he asked. An enthusiastic "Yes" came from the slowly growing line.
The officer continued to look around for anyone who was actually assigned to staff the White Oaks polling location. When the first poll worker showed up around 4:45, she was aghast -- as the officer was -- at the then dozen or so people before her.
The rapidly growing line was made up of all kinds of people. People were all ages, races, in pajamas, wearing work clothes, carrying babies and a few carrying coffee in hand.
Kari Cannistraro was one of those voters fully prepared for the long wait. Multiple layers of clothing, a camping chair, a tall traveling coffee holder and iPod tuned to NPR were part of her survival kit.
Utilizing the chair and iPod were a struggle for Cannistraro as her excitement made it hard to sit still and contain herself. She passed most of the time by chatting with the people around her.
"It's like Christmas Day," she said at one point.
Cannistraro also happened to be a volunteer for the Obama campaign. Being one of the first to vote freed up the rest of her day to pick up elderly voters and drive them to their polling place and help them cast their ballot.
In the minutes before 6 am anyone sitting started standing up and gathering their items.
"Three minutes!" one woman said.
"One minute left!" another woman said with giddy excitement.
The gym doors opened about a minute after 6. Workers were a bit flustered and asking the poll manager a couple of last-minute questions.
People streamed through the doors and seemed to cast their votes quickly. No indecisiveness for the dozens of early morning voters at this polling place.
Cannistraro appeared just as excited after voting as she was before. Needing to confirm the reality that Election Day was actually here and that she was actually voting, Cannistraro felt the need to carefully re-read her ballot.
This was her moment to contribute to what could potentially be the historic day she and other Americans had been so patiently waiting for -- though, of course, others for McCain, a war hero and former prisoner of war, and Palin, potentially the first female vice president.
Upon making that choice she walked briskly out of the gym with a hop in her step and smile on her face.
