There was a line of voters wrapping around a city block at the Kimmel Center in Center City, Philadelphia shortly after the polls opened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
The wait didn’t seem to bother at least some people in line, who said they intentionally chose to cast their ballots in person to ensure it was counted.
“Every time I’ve mailed something with the post office, there’s been delays and I figured I really don’t mind standing out and waiting and voting in person,” said John Tareila, who got in line just before the polls opened at 7.
Aryeh Younger and his wife got in line to vote around 7:30, when it already stretched down an entire city block. Even though there has been a big push to get people to vote early and by mail, he said he was concerned his vote could go uncounted if he voted that way.
“We were reading a number of articles stating that the president and some of his allies are attempting to undermine the early votes, mail in votes. As a result of that, we’re interested in voting in person on election day. We think that has the least odds of being contested,” he said. “I think there’s also somewhat of an American tradition to vote on election day itself.”
Sam Levine
(@srl)There’s a line wrapping around the block to vote at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Voters I talked to all said they wanted to vote in person to make sure their vote counted. pic.twitter.com/rDk0qrmH2b
As people waited in line at the Kimmel center, election workers passed out hand sanitizer and confirmed that the people in line had not also requested a mail in ballot. There was also a cardboard cutout of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris where voters could take free selfies.
Some people said they wanted the experience of showing up at the polls on election day to cast their ballots.
“It’s a little invigorating. I know that sounds crazy to stand in a line in the freezing cold,” said Lauren Killian. She added that she was concerned about how long it would take to count all of the ballots in Pennsylvania.
“I am worried about how long it’s going to take to figure out how long the president is. Or even when something is figured out either way, is it going to be invalidated? Are people not going to believe it? Is it going to cause riots or whatnot. That’s what I’m more worried about.”
Davina Roberts was also waiting in line to cast her first vote in a presidential election. While Donald Trump has zeroed in on Philadelphia as a place to monitor votes, Roberts said she didn’t think Philadelphians would be deterred.
“Most people who are voting on election day are pretty set. We know that there’s a job to be done. If you’re here to intimidate you’re kind of just wasting your time,” she said.
Sam Levine in Philadelphia
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