Employer Accommodation
By Corinne Roels, Chris Kopacz, Eric Newman and Catalin Hopulele
In response to March’s primary elections that left many voters in lines longer than 5 hours, many cast early ballots to avoid the headache they experienced earlier this year.
Approximately 1.36 million Arizona residents cast their early ballots this year, up 45 percent from the 2012 election.
Voters were expecting long lines in the Phoenix Metro area this morning were pleasantly surprised that there were hardly any lines at all. Some people were able to walk in and out of the polling stations in less than two minutes.
Ruth Shumay came to cast her already completed ballot at Tempe High School. She completed it early so that she would not have to wait in lines she expected to see.
Approximately 1.36 million Arizona residents cast their early ballots this year, up 45 percent from the 2012 election.
Voters were expecting long lines in the Phoenix Metro area this morning were pleasantly surprised that there were hardly any lines at all. Some people were able to walk in and out of the polling stations in less than two minutes.
Ruth Shumay came to cast her already completed ballot at Tempe High School. She completed it early so that she would not have to wait in lines she expected to see.
“Well, I don’t like waiting in lines”, she said reflecting on her experience voting in the primary. “It was horrible. I like voting early. It gives you time to think.”
Most voters coming to polling stations this morning brought completed ballots they simply did not have time to mail. Even polling station volunteer Ruth Jones said that of all the years she has volunteered, this was the least busy she had ever seen it. |
“When I first arrived about ten-till-six, there were about 20 or so people in line”, she said. “Everybody came early so that they can go on and go about their business, but I was amazed, people were of good humor and good cheer. They weren’t angry.”
Most of the voters at the polls Tuesday morning were not trying to squeeze in time between meetings at their jobs. In fact, most of them either worked for themselves or worked a flexible at-home job. |
Tommy, an entrepreneur and first-time voter, was appreciative that he did not need to coordinate his voting schedule with a boss.
“It was pretty awesome to come in and just vote and be able to leave without a long line with a place that’s relatively close to where I live. What made me come out is that I think this election is going to be an election that we talk about for generations,” he said. Tommy was appreciative of the short lines, but he also said the election day should not be a working day. It would allow more people to come to polling stations without problems at work. |
“We should already have a system set up where we wouldn’t have to worry about it, like having voting on the weekends.”
He was confident his vote would change the country, no matter who won the presidential election. To him, this was one of the most controversial campaigns ever.
He was confident his vote would change the country, no matter who won the presidential election. To him, this was one of the most controversial campaigns ever.