How long did you or somebody you know have to wait to vote on Tuesday, November 5? People at First Baptist Church in Eastampton, New Jersey had to wait almost 5 hours.
I waited in line to vote with Victoria Randosh, a teacher’s aide at BCIT, Eastampton resident, Democratic operative, and mother of 5 Rancocas Valley alumni; Nico and Amanda Labrador, a new couple with a 2-year-old daughter and a second daughter whom Amanda is eight and a half months pregnant with; Eugene Genoveese, a healthcare chaplain and former journalist; and Jenifer Sides, a teacher in the Burlington Township district. Even though they all have busy lives, they all stood in line to vote for the reasons that mattered to them the most, all concerning civic responsibility.
“I guess I just want to be an active participant in our democracy and to vote for change,” said Mrs. Labrador.
It was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon during the election, but the lines to vote were extremely tedious. A daunting sight was the lengthy line wrapping around First Baptist Church with people waiting to vote, with the length of the line staying constant throughout the day. Mrs. Randosh went to the polls multiple times before finally getting in line.
“I came this morning at eight, and the line was really long, like, wrapped around,” she said. “We saw our neighbor in line, and said, oh, well, we’ll go home, have breakfast, come back later. Okay back later, the line was still long,” added Randosh.
In addition to the long lines, parking was difficult at the polling place, as it had no access to public transportation. As a result, many people parked illegally. Additionally, there were a couple of car accidents in the parking lot. “It’s a zoo, very similar to a Wawa parking lot,” Mr. Labrador said.
There are opportunities to vote through the mail and early voting at 6 different locations across Burlington County. Although election day voters encountered longer lines than the early voting crowd, they had various reasons as to why the long wait was worth it.
“I wanted to vote early but there is something so special about voting on election day, that is my true reason,” claimed Mrs. Sides. “It’s just because it is election day, I want to vote today,” she added.
Mrs. Labrador says she and her husband voted on election day due to the lack of planning. “We should have planned it better, but now, we came out in person. Yeah, we didn’t expect it to be such a long line, but we’re happy to be here,” said Mrs. Labrador.
Many voters brought items to keep them company at the polls on election day, some even brought their dogs.
A romance novel and a lawn chair accompanied Mrs. Sides: “Because I heard rumors that it was three to four hours, and in case I was surrounded by people who were less social, I tend to sometimes be less social in large settings, so just to be comfortable, just in case,” said Jenifer.
Her sister even brought her snacks and a sign indicating someone was reserving Jenifer’s spot in line so she could go to the bathroom. This would become a common practice among the voters waiting in line.
The five hours in line threw off people’s plans. Eugene had to get someone else to get food for his dogs. Jenifer had groceries she needed to pick up at 7:30 and she would not get out of the First Baptist church until around 8.
The Labradors had Amanda’s sister babysit their 2-year-old daughter Nora for them at the polls thinking she would see them before Nora’s bedtime. “We said we’ll be right back,” Nico said he told Nora. “We would have told our daughter tonight [to see you tomorrow] instead of see you later.”
As a result of the long wait time, a great deal of people said they would vote on election day next time. Eugene used to like voting on the first Tuesday of November however this election has seemingly changed his mind: “Because, like most people, I think it just feels right to come on election day,” said Eugene. “Although, after today’s experience, maybe I’ll do it by [mail] next time.”
Almost 5 hours was not the longest line at this voting place. The line went from wrapping around the building to starting at a townhouse and apartment complex hundreds of feet away. The enormous lines voters experience are inconvenient and turn off voter participation. Voters hope when 2028 comes, they will not have hours of their day stripped away on election day.
