Outside the Edison High School polling location, the required 100 feet away, Kirsten Johnson of south Minneapolis stood in her Election Protection shirt, ready to answer voter questions and keep an eye on the process. One of 4,000 election defenders nationwide, she said more than 300 had been activated in Minnesota though they focused first in states such as North Carolina and Georgia where voter suppression was anticipated, and then made sure there were some in every state. It was an effort managed by Common Cause. (Photo by Margo Ashmore)
Amy Swendra (middle left photo) said she is “Skeptical” about the presidential race results “I don’t know, they’ve [media] never been for him [Trump] and they’ve always been against Trump so I kind of want to take that with a grain of salt.”
If Biden is officially declared the winner and becomes the next President will you, as a Trump supporter, accept him as the President? “Well, sure. The president is the president and he’ll get my due respect….as long as he does a good job. That’s all I’m really focused on, somebody who wants to take care of this country and not everybody else’s country.”
There seems to be more division in this country between the right and left than ever before. “I think it’s always been that way. I just think it’s more vocal now because of all the social media. People get information so fast nowadays, it’s just ridiculous. We don’t have to wait for anything anymore. It’s a hurry up and get what I want state…it doesn’t always give you the right information.” She added that the media have contributed to division by taking sides. “They need to be just presenting the facts.”
Annette Esquivel (below, in Biden-Harris mask) learned of Biden’s win when “I just heard cheers and honking outside so I looked it up and we cheered and we jumped up and down and had a great time.”
Did you watch the news for results on Election Day? “Honestly, I didn’t pay attention. My roommates and I decided to just watch a silly movie. ’Cause we knew that for a legitimate vote is was going to take a while. So, I know a lot of people were getting discouraged that it was taking so long but we were talking last night and saying this is really positive! That means that the votes are actually getting counted as they’re coming and they’re not giving into pressure. I’m really happy that it seems like it’s all being done correctly, and the frivolous lawsuits are being dismissed.”
How do you feel now the election has been called for Biden? “I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. My mom’s actually been in the ICU this week with COVID and she just got discharged this morning so it’s really been a bright day all around. I’m so excited to have a leader who will actually take this disease seriously so no one else, or fewer people, will have to go through what my mom went through and our family’s been through. I’m almost jittery still-like so much anxiety is being released. It’s great!” (Photos and interviews by Mike Madison)
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Below: In Columbia Heights, some churches were polling locations. At all voting locations, such as Immaculate Conception, above, hand sanitizer was omnipresent. Some had sneeze guards around the workers’ tables. (Photos by Mike Madison) A line had formed to the end of the block by the time the polling location at the First Congregational Church in the Marcy Holmes neighborhood opened. A volunteer said voters began lining up around 6:30 am. (Photo by Alex Schlee) With much of the Waite Park precinct voting prior to Election Day, there still was a 25-minute wait to vote starting at 7 a.m., according to head election judge Jason Chrudimsky. By 8:45 a.m., 204 votes had already been counted, and a constant stream of people continued to arrive. Rebecca Stanich, an election judge working the polls that morning, developed a pulley system in order to keep a six- foot distance, and used long rulers to push and pull documents back and forth from voters as COVID-19 safety measures. (Photo by Marla Khan-Schwartz)
