Editor’s Note: This commentary appeared today in a sister Georgia publication, but provides insight on early voting that’s occurring in record numbers in South Carolina, too.
By Elliott Brack, Norcross, Ga. | It puzzles me why people are standing in line for hours in record numbers to vote on the first two days of early voting. After all, they have all of three weeks to vote early. “Why was it?” I asked some people, just to try to figure this out. We were also trying to determine who would benefit from heavy voting.
What follows are some of the 22 answers we got. Some answered similarly. We’ll use no names; we’re just seeking to understand this voting phenomenon.
A retiree thought: “They got the day off to vote, so they were sticking with it.”
An insurance man: “The heavy turn-out benefits Joe Biden, as does mail-in voting.”
An office manager: “People want to avoid the long lines on the actual day of voting. And if the lines were too long, they could return multiple times until they voted.”
Another retiree: “What is happening now at the polls is that a lot of people are afraid of mail-in ballots. The heavy turnout will favor Democrats.”
A political observer: “Passions are the highest in my life. Hatred is raw. It isn’t just one side. Republicans similarly feel this election is the most important in their lives and everything is on the line.”
A journalist: “Makes more sense to me to vote early after about two weeks when not as many people are all lathered up. Democrats are really energized. Republicans are going to buy more of the argument that they need to show up on election day.”
A key manager: “Frustration, COVID, anger, Black Lives Matter movement, defunding of police, violent riots, destruction of properties….all these are bringing out the voters.”
A female business owner: “I am willing to stand in line because I see our basic governmental structure threatened by abuse of power. On top of which, I trust science and I believe humans are harming the climate and that positive measures CAN be taken away. Many are standing in line because they are misinformed, via Fox and believe conspiracy theories.”
A former business owner: “ I think the heavy turnout spells doom for Trump! It will be interesting to see, and I really hope that he goes peacefully. I wanted him to survive the virus, but not the election!”
An attorney: “I think it is good for Biden/Harris. I also feel that way about early mail-in votes. Trump’s troops are too busy watching his photo ops and attending his mask-less rallies. Mind boggling!”
A relatively demure lady: “I can only hope it means that a lot of folks are prompted to vote this year out of sheer exasperation with Captain Chaos. But maybe his supporters are turning out in higher numbers because they fear exactly that.”
An elected official: “People on both sides are fired up and want to go ahead and vote.”
A keen observer: “The early long lines show how incredibly passionate people are about their Presidential choices this year.”
A Floridian who watches Georgia: “In 2016, Democrats stayed away from polls in bigger numbers, so stronger motivation this year is helping Democrats more.”
A former Gwinnettian: “It is good for the country to get people involved, then it is up to leaders to do what Dr. King, Dr. Lawson and others did in the 50s and 60s.”
From an adjacent county: “A lot of the voters these first two days are people who see voting in person as the patriotic thing to do, COVID or no COVID. The long lines are helping the challengers, most notably Joe Biden.”
Veteran Georgia newspaperman Elliott Brack offers GwinnettForum as a twice-weekly journal of commentary and news for Gwinnett County in the metro Atlanta area.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!