Who voted for Kerry?
Nov. 4th, 2004 03:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emmagrant01One more thing, and then you really won't hear from me for a while because of RL complications. This email was sent to me by a colleague; a friend of hers went to Ohio to serve as a volunteer election monitor. This is REAL. It's inspiring, and heart-breaking, and so very honest and heart-felt. It made me cry! I cut out the writer's email address, but not her name. If you want to contact her, let me know privately.
From: Evelyn Nazro
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 1:32 PM
To: EPN
Subject: Epilogue
I am en route back to Austin and as I look over the clouds I am reflecting
on the past few days and trying to muster up some optimism. I am assuming
that while I’m on this plane Kerry will concede the election. We have lost.
First, I want to share with you what I witnessed yesterday. I was a
designated "voting rights advocate" for the Dem party at a precinct in
northwestern Cleveland. It was a 100% African American community and
generally poor. Most of the neighborhood uses public transportation and
gets around on foot. My fellow volunteers and I arrived at the poll at
6:30am. There was already a long line. I watched elderly men and women
and mothers and children stand in the pouring rain holding on to one
another. They were so optimistic and hopeful. They stood there with
their "People of faith for Kerry" and "Working people for Kerry"
buttons. Some of them sang to pass the time. Children cried and moms
said it would be over soon. They were reminding each other to push the
stylus in hard so their punch card ballot would be counted. They
epeatedly said, "we can’t have another Florida." When they finished
voting they proudly put the "I voted" sticker on their lapels and began
walking home in the pouring down rain. When the precinct ran out of
stickers at noon, people became very upset. What would they tell their
co-workers, their pastor? What would they tell their children? What
would they tell their boss? They wanted to be sure everyone knew they had
voted and that they had voted for John Kerry.
The overriding issue for the people I met and saw in Cleveland was the
need for a living wage and a little respect. They wanted someone who
understood that in this country you can work 12 hour days (or more) and
still live in poverty. They wanted to see an increase in minimum wage and
better access to healthcare. Most of them were wearing uniforms. They
were postal workers, mechanics, firemen, cashiers, nurses, waitresses and
maids.
Sometimes I felt silly being there demonstrating to these voters how to
use the ballot and reminding them that they could use another ballot if
they messed up, etc... They knew what they were doing and what they had
to do. Most of them had been voting for 30-50 years. They were all
inconveniencing themselves and being inconvenienced more than I will ever
be as a voter. Would I walk 15 blocks to the polls in the pouring rain
carrying two children? Did I have that much personally at stake in this
election or any election? I know the answer to that question was and
likely will forever be "no."
Yes, I did feel I made a small difference. I told a young woman that her
74 year old diabetic and ailing mother could vote from her car. The young
woman raced home and got her mom. She wouldn’t have voted otherwise b/c
she couldn’t stand for long periods. I escorted the polling officials to
the car so she could cast her ballot. I sent a young man back in who had
been denied a provisional ballot b/c the address on his voter registration
was different from the one on the registration rolls. He had recently
moved back in with his parents. He came out an hour later with a big
thumbs up and gave me a hug. I sent a young girl off in a pre-paid taxi
to go home and get her passport and try to vote again b/c she was denied
the right to vote b/c her state issued ID had a different name on it than
her registration card. She was a brand new voter and they had gotten her
name wrong on her registration card. She needed two forms of ID to prove
it, or so they said. Very few people in this neighborhood have a drivers
license. She came back 30 min later in a cab holding her passport and
smiling. I begged a mother to stay in the line even though her kids were
crying. I found another young woman in the library to watch her children
so they wouldn’t have to stand with her in the rain. She stayed and
voted. I showed several young new voters how to use the ballot so they
would feel confident and relaxed. They were so excited and took the
demonstration very seriously.
At one point two white cops showed up and stood in front of the entrance
to the precinct. They said they were there to protect the volunteers. It
was twelve noon and ,at the time, safety, or lack there of, had never
occurred to me. We were at a very spirited precinct. One of the cops
asked if I was a democrat. He said he expected I was b/c "only democrats
wanted felons to vote." I told him his statement was inappropriate. He
said, "there are only felons in this neighborhood." I told him, "just b/c
you’re black and poor doesn’t mean you’re a felon." I pointed to the line
of waiting voters and said, "how can you say that?" He said I clearly
wasn’t from here. I took down his plate number and badge number. He just
laughed. A local volunteer told me to "pay him no mind. That is his fear
talking." She seemed totally unmoved by his statements. It made me think.
As it approached 7:30pm and the line was still long we all began to feel
tremendous optimism. We were handing out rain ponchos and switching off
the few umbrellas we had. It was a great team effort. Everyone was
helping one another. I left the precinct after 13 hours of standing in
the rain and was consumed with everyone’s optimism and humbled by the
reality that while I may have secured the Dem party a few more votes, for
the most part this precinct didn’t need me. Again, they all knew what
they needed to do and they all were determined to make things right.
The exit poll numbers I got from a well-connected Republican at PSI early
in the evening spelled trouble for Bush and looked terrific for
Kerry. But as the hours crept on things seemed to start to turn
round. The popular vote gap was widening, not shrinking. I knew we were
in trouble. Then, NBC began talking about all the voters who’d said that
"moral values" drove their decision. While I could go on for hours about
my issues with some folks’ so-called "moral values," I knew what this
meant and got a lump in my throat. When James Carville said it was over
at about 1:15am EST I went to bed. I knew that was hard for him to say
and I knew it had to be from a reliable source inside the Kerry
campaign. I cried a little and thought about all those voters I met that
day. I thought about all the people who’d worked 100 times harder than
any of us. I thought about John Kerry. I thought about Al Gore.
So, now here I am and it is 11:15am on Wednesday. I have a choice. We
have a choice. I can crawl into myself and build a wall and feed my
anger, frustration and pain. I can start eating Ben & Jerry’s for dinner
again and just say, "screw it. people suck. what is the point?"
Or I can remember all the good things I learned about people over the past
few days. I can think about all the proud union dads with their daughters
and sons up on their shoulders waiting 5 hours in a massive crowd to see
John Kerry. I can think about the marine in Warren who’d lost an arm in
Iraq and who spoke so eloquently about his sacrifice. I can think about
all those voters waiting in line in the rain demonstrating such pride and
faith and optimism about our nation and system despite all the schemes to
suppress their vote they’d read about in the paper. This election was
about them. Their future was and is at stake. They have lost a great
deal more than I - we - likely will in my -our- lifetime. And yet I feel
certain they are all out today greeting each other on the side walk with a
smile and racing to catch the bus to work singing a song in their
head. They’ll be in church Sunday praising God for his mighty
blessings. And they will say the pledge of allegiance with as much
conviction as they did yesterday. They will go on just as they have so
many times before. Just like the woman that was unmoved by the statements
of an ignorant cop, these people know who they are. They know they are
good, loving, patriotic people who love America as much as the next
guy. They know they work hard. They know they deserve better. They know
we all pray to the same God. They know they love their children. And
they know a better day will come.
And so we must too. So, we don’t have the power to change the course of
our country today. We DO have the power to choose to settle for changing
and impacting the lives of those that we can. I helped a handful of
voters cast their ballots Tuesday. What will I be doing tomorrow?
Evvie
From: Evelyn Nazro
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 1:32 PM
To: EPN
Subject: Epilogue
I am en route back to Austin and as I look over the clouds I am reflecting
on the past few days and trying to muster up some optimism. I am assuming
that while I’m on this plane Kerry will concede the election. We have lost.
First, I want to share with you what I witnessed yesterday. I was a
designated "voting rights advocate" for the Dem party at a precinct in
northwestern Cleveland. It was a 100% African American community and
generally poor. Most of the neighborhood uses public transportation and
gets around on foot. My fellow volunteers and I arrived at the poll at
6:30am. There was already a long line. I watched elderly men and women
and mothers and children stand in the pouring rain holding on to one
another. They were so optimistic and hopeful. They stood there with
their "People of faith for Kerry" and "Working people for Kerry"
buttons. Some of them sang to pass the time. Children cried and moms
said it would be over soon. They were reminding each other to push the
stylus in hard so their punch card ballot would be counted. They
epeatedly said, "we can’t have another Florida." When they finished
voting they proudly put the "I voted" sticker on their lapels and began
walking home in the pouring down rain. When the precinct ran out of
stickers at noon, people became very upset. What would they tell their
co-workers, their pastor? What would they tell their children? What
would they tell their boss? They wanted to be sure everyone knew they had
voted and that they had voted for John Kerry.
The overriding issue for the people I met and saw in Cleveland was the
need for a living wage and a little respect. They wanted someone who
understood that in this country you can work 12 hour days (or more) and
still live in poverty. They wanted to see an increase in minimum wage and
better access to healthcare. Most of them were wearing uniforms. They
were postal workers, mechanics, firemen, cashiers, nurses, waitresses and
maids.
Sometimes I felt silly being there demonstrating to these voters how to
use the ballot and reminding them that they could use another ballot if
they messed up, etc... They knew what they were doing and what they had
to do. Most of them had been voting for 30-50 years. They were all
inconveniencing themselves and being inconvenienced more than I will ever
be as a voter. Would I walk 15 blocks to the polls in the pouring rain
carrying two children? Did I have that much personally at stake in this
election or any election? I know the answer to that question was and
likely will forever be "no."
Yes, I did feel I made a small difference. I told a young woman that her
74 year old diabetic and ailing mother could vote from her car. The young
woman raced home and got her mom. She wouldn’t have voted otherwise b/c
she couldn’t stand for long periods. I escorted the polling officials to
the car so she could cast her ballot. I sent a young man back in who had
been denied a provisional ballot b/c the address on his voter registration
was different from the one on the registration rolls. He had recently
moved back in with his parents. He came out an hour later with a big
thumbs up and gave me a hug. I sent a young girl off in a pre-paid taxi
to go home and get her passport and try to vote again b/c she was denied
the right to vote b/c her state issued ID had a different name on it than
her registration card. She was a brand new voter and they had gotten her
name wrong on her registration card. She needed two forms of ID to prove
it, or so they said. Very few people in this neighborhood have a drivers
license. She came back 30 min later in a cab holding her passport and
smiling. I begged a mother to stay in the line even though her kids were
crying. I found another young woman in the library to watch her children
so they wouldn’t have to stand with her in the rain. She stayed and
voted. I showed several young new voters how to use the ballot so they
would feel confident and relaxed. They were so excited and took the
demonstration very seriously.
At one point two white cops showed up and stood in front of the entrance
to the precinct. They said they were there to protect the volunteers. It
was twelve noon and ,at the time, safety, or lack there of, had never
occurred to me. We were at a very spirited precinct. One of the cops
asked if I was a democrat. He said he expected I was b/c "only democrats
wanted felons to vote." I told him his statement was inappropriate. He
said, "there are only felons in this neighborhood." I told him, "just b/c
you’re black and poor doesn’t mean you’re a felon." I pointed to the line
of waiting voters and said, "how can you say that?" He said I clearly
wasn’t from here. I took down his plate number and badge number. He just
laughed. A local volunteer told me to "pay him no mind. That is his fear
talking." She seemed totally unmoved by his statements. It made me think.
As it approached 7:30pm and the line was still long we all began to feel
tremendous optimism. We were handing out rain ponchos and switching off
the few umbrellas we had. It was a great team effort. Everyone was
helping one another. I left the precinct after 13 hours of standing in
the rain and was consumed with everyone’s optimism and humbled by the
reality that while I may have secured the Dem party a few more votes, for
the most part this precinct didn’t need me. Again, they all knew what
they needed to do and they all were determined to make things right.
The exit poll numbers I got from a well-connected Republican at PSI early
in the evening spelled trouble for Bush and looked terrific for
Kerry. But as the hours crept on things seemed to start to turn
round. The popular vote gap was widening, not shrinking. I knew we were
in trouble. Then, NBC began talking about all the voters who’d said that
"moral values" drove their decision. While I could go on for hours about
my issues with some folks’ so-called "moral values," I knew what this
meant and got a lump in my throat. When James Carville said it was over
at about 1:15am EST I went to bed. I knew that was hard for him to say
and I knew it had to be from a reliable source inside the Kerry
campaign. I cried a little and thought about all those voters I met that
day. I thought about all the people who’d worked 100 times harder than
any of us. I thought about John Kerry. I thought about Al Gore.
So, now here I am and it is 11:15am on Wednesday. I have a choice. We
have a choice. I can crawl into myself and build a wall and feed my
anger, frustration and pain. I can start eating Ben & Jerry’s for dinner
again and just say, "screw it. people suck. what is the point?"
Or I can remember all the good things I learned about people over the past
few days. I can think about all the proud union dads with their daughters
and sons up on their shoulders waiting 5 hours in a massive crowd to see
John Kerry. I can think about the marine in Warren who’d lost an arm in
Iraq and who spoke so eloquently about his sacrifice. I can think about
all those voters waiting in line in the rain demonstrating such pride and
faith and optimism about our nation and system despite all the schemes to
suppress their vote they’d read about in the paper. This election was
about them. Their future was and is at stake. They have lost a great
deal more than I - we - likely will in my -our- lifetime. And yet I feel
certain they are all out today greeting each other on the side walk with a
smile and racing to catch the bus to work singing a song in their
head. They’ll be in church Sunday praising God for his mighty
blessings. And they will say the pledge of allegiance with as much
conviction as they did yesterday. They will go on just as they have so
many times before. Just like the woman that was unmoved by the statements
of an ignorant cop, these people know who they are. They know they are
good, loving, patriotic people who love America as much as the next
guy. They know they work hard. They know they deserve better. They know
we all pray to the same God. They know they love their children. And
they know a better day will come.
And so we must too. So, we don’t have the power to change the course of
our country today. We DO have the power to choose to settle for changing
and impacting the lives of those that we can. I helped a handful of
voters cast their ballots Tuesday. What will I be doing tomorrow?
Evvie
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 01:40 pm (UTC)But what a beautiful experience. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 01:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 01:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-07 08:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 08:27 pm (UTC)Thank you
Date: 2004-11-05 09:12 pm (UTC){hugs}
no subject
Date: 2004-11-06 09:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-07 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:47 am (UTC)Its so good to find someone so passionate about their beliefs and in a way so optimistic about the future.
I'm not from the USA and what I say now may sound awful but I have one question. Would have Kerry made a real difference?