ACORN's Election Day Notes From The Field
In general, the levels of excitement in ACORN neighborhoods are very high and there are stories of persistence in the face of barriers like poorly-trained poll workers, long lines, and bureaucratic snafus.
We've arranged these stories by state and city and we feel that give a good on-the-ground sense of how people are reacting on this historic Election Day.
Florida - Orlando
Orlando ACORN has close to 200 canvassers hitting 25,000 doors split between African-American communities in western Orange County and Latino neighborhoods in eastern and southern Orange County. Contact Stephanie Porta at sporta@acornmail.net or 407-592-4784
Florida - Orlando - Personal Story
Mary Lynn Plotkin is a story of persistence. Excited about participating in this historic election she showed up at her polling place at 6:30 AM, only to be turned away by a poorly-trained poll worker because "there was no place to park". She works 20 miles away from her polling place, so she went to work, complained to the Bureau of Elections, and then four hours later, went back to the polling place. In a reassuring turn of events, the poll workers actually apologized to her about being turned away. She waited with about 50 other people and it took her about 30 minutes to vote.
Indiana - Indianapolis
ACORN Leader Mary Sears has taken 120 people to the polls so far and has never seen anything like this in the 41 years she has been voting. She is particularly seeing young and minority voters, and lines are one to two hours but seem to be moving with no major problems. Everyone seems to be excited! Contact: Jeff Ordower at moacorn@acorn.org or (314) 531-9634
New Mexico - Statewide
New Mexico ACORN is knocking on 10,000 doors today in three counties with 165 canvassers. New and infrequent voters in Dona Ana (Las Cruces), Bernalillo (Albuquerque) and Valencia (Santa Fe) will be getting visits from ACORN today. Early voting in Albuquerque was well over 50% of the total turnout for 2004.
Contact Matthew Henderson for more information - nmacorn@acorn.org - 505-379-6947
Pennsylvania - North Philly
There was a sense of excitement and taking part in an historic event here in North Philadelphia. People are taking pictures of their friends and family in front of the "Vote Here" signs, and of the long lines. On woman was spontaneously yelling lines from MLK's "Mountain Top" speech from 1968 in Memphis at the top of her lungs. Lines were down the entire city block.
Contact Ali Kronley at paacorn@acorn.org or 267-408-5582
Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh
At the Temple Baptist Church on Race St. in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh (an ACORN neighborhood) voting machines broke down for a little over an hour. With lines heading out the door, no paper ballots were available to be handed out. Most people waited, but a number chose to leave. Many of the people in line voiced anger and frustration but tried to be patient. They finally got the machines working but it is unclear if paper ballots were ever delivered. For more info contact MaryEllen Hayden at paacornpiho@acorn.org
UPDATE 1:45 EST
Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh
Ms. Lillian Allen is a 100 year-old woman from Pittsburgh. She has been an ACORN member for 15 years. She originally got involved because she could see the good the organization was doing in the community. Not only did she vote for President today, but she went door-knocking. Ms. Allen said, "If I can help, I want to." Most of her neighbors have already voted, which thrilled her. Ms. Allen said it's a privilege to vote in this election. She said it took a long time to get the right to vote. "When I got a chance to vote, I voted!"
Update: 2:15 EST
Missouri - St. Louis
Laderic is a first time voter in North County St. Louis. He finally decided to register to vote because he was concerned about the economy and the foreclosure crisis. The zip code he lives in (63136) is one of the leading areas of foreclosure in the country. He waited in line for a half hour to vote. He wasn't originally on the list but they eventually were able to find his name on a computer and he voted by paper ballot. Laderic says he plans to vote in every election in future because he knows he can make a difference. Contact Julie Terbrok at 314-660-3843.
Missouri - St. Louis - Story of Persistence
The lines at the Velda Village City Hall polling place in North St. Louis County are running 4+ hours. Brad Bilyeu has been standing in line for hours with his pregnant wife and young child. He still can barely even see the building and is not 100% sure he will be able to vote. Mr. Bilyeu sent his Voter Registration Card in 2 days before the deadline. The Board of Elections said they didn't get the application and that he had to reapply. He went down to the office to fill out the paper work again. He called yesterday (Nov. 3rd) to double check that he was registered and was told he is not on the roles. No one of authority would talk to him, they told him they were too busy to deal with his problem. He decided to show up anyway and wait in line with the rest of the voters. Contact Julie Terbrok at 314-660-3843.
Update: 3:00 EST
Ohio - Cincinnati
Cincinnati ACORN has 80 canvassers knocking on doors targeting 40,000, new and infrequent AA voters in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The canvassers include an ACORN member from Louisville, KY, who wanted to make an impact in a closely contested state.
Ohio - Cincinnati
This is a great example of how voter contact can create voters. Cincinnati Head Organizer Amy Teieleman was at a grocery store picking up supplies for her canvassers when she was engaged in conversation by a woman named Jennifer Daniel, who was very excited to vote. It turned out that she wasn't going to vote because she had lost her ID, but she "got this red and white flyer on my door this morning. Normally I throw those things out, but this one I read and it said that I could bring a check stub instead of photo ID, so that's why I'm here, to pick up a check stub. Then I'm going to vote." Turns out that "red and white flyer" was an ACORN doorhanger left at her house in the Evanston neighborhood of Cincinnati. Without ACORN's voter education program, that voter never would have existed.
Contact Amy Teitelman, ohacornciro@acorn.org, 513-257-9813
Update: 4:00 EST
Florida - Orlando - Personal Story
ACORN members Leroy Bell has been out watching voting at two polls in the Apopka neighborhood of western Orange County in Florida. Echoing sentiments from ACORN members across the country he said that he's "never seen anything like this in my lifetime. People are taking pictures of themselves next to the signs, they are bringing their babies to have their pictures taken, everyone is saying how they want to tell them 'You were there.'" Mr. Bell also made the connection between this election and what happens next. "As an ACORN member this is a great thing, once a community gets together for something as big as this it's going to be hard to stop them from doing something for their ownself. People are getting excited, but whoever wins needs to held accountable."
Ohio - Cincinnati - Story of Persistence
A 94 year old woman had to go to 3 different polling places because her polling place changed. The poll workers at the 2nd place were able to successfully assist her in locating the correct place. She was in a wheelchair and accompanied by her caretaker. She was said she was upset and tired but not going to give up. "I'm going to vote." she said. "I'm not going to miss this one."





