7:30 A.M. to 8:30 A.M. Oxford 5, Over by the Health Dept. All Second time voters, all affiliated with Ole Miss in some way all under the age of 27.
On a cool November morning, at 6:45 a.m., people begin to climb out of their vehicles and line up in front of the door. The ground it still wet from the previous night’s rain, and the air is cool enough to nip at the skin.
The sky is overcast and sets the scene for the day many have looked forward to and many others have dreaded. Today is November 8, 2016, election day, and the winner of the two candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, will be decided today.
The line started building up at the precinct before 6:30 that morning and reached all the way from the door to the front entrance of the Lafayette County Health Department.
By 7 a.m. the parking lot in front and behind the building was full of vehicles of all colors, and vehicles lined the street the runs in front of the building as well.
At 6:59 a.m. the doors were unlocked. Even though it’s a few minutes early, the first voters to go in don’t come out that quickly, but when they do, their faces are filled with happiness and relief that their vote has been cast and their part is done.
Over the next hour, the line continues to gain more voters, but even as they leave, the line never goes down.
A voter that’s been in line for a while sticks his bandana covered head back out the door and shouts, “If your last name starts with A through K you are in the left line, and if your name starts with L through Z you’re in the right line. I just wanted everyone to know that way this could go faster.”
Several minutes later the man comes out of the precinct, thanks everyone in line for coming out to vote and then he gets in his car and leaves.
About the same time, a young voter comes up and gets in the A through K line. Green colors the tips of her hair, and she is dressed in casual clothing. Whitley O’Neal, 26 and works at the Ford Center at The University of Mississippi, has come early to get the voting over with and out of the way.
“I’m ready for it to be over with,” O’Neal said. “It’s been a really long process, and it’s been really exhausting just watching the candidates go at each other. I’m trying to be (confident that who I’m voting for), but I’m not 100 percent. It’s been a long 15 months, but I’m kind of excited though, if the right person wins.”
The line starts to shrink at this point, but the A through K line is taking a lot longer to get through the doors than the L through Z line.
Another young voter by the name of Luke Phillips, 22 and a full-time student at The University of Mississippi, stands by the curve of the precinct waiting for the person he came with to come out. It has started to rain again, but Phillips just pulls up his hood on his jacket and continues to wait. Phillips has already been inside and voted.
“It’s been pretty crazy (the election),” Phillips said. “A lot of stuff has come out about both candidates, and it seems to just keep going.”
When asked if he thinks the candidate he voted for had any chance of winning, he said no.
Machines keep the ballots tallied, and using them can sometimes be an aggravating process, but not for Phillips.
“It was pretty simple (using the voting machines),” he said. “You put in a card, and then the screen showed all the candidates. Then you picked someone or you could write someone in.”
Around 7:45 a.m. the line is half the size that is was when the polls opened for the morning, and Brady Bramlett, 23 and works for Ole Miss athletics, gets out of his vehicle. He is dressed in the light blue shirt with the Ole Miss logo on the front, khakis and loafers.
Bramlett thinks that this election has been drawn out and has made many people upset and angry. “I think today is going to alleviate a lot of that,” he said. “Hopefully after this, our country can get back on the right path. Today I’m voting for the person who I think could get our country back on that path.”
He said he believes the right path would be a push in the direction of less hate in the world than what there is now.
A graduate student in the psychology department with The University of Mississippi, Shilpa Boppana age 27, exits the precinct and says she is glad it’s over because this election was a nightmare.
She said she felt like she was only in line for 10 or 15 minutes and that casting her vote was really easy. Out of all the voters who have been interviewed this far, Boppana is the only one who said who she voted for.
“I think Hillary will win,” she said. “From what I’ve read, the forecasts are more pessimistic for her. Her position is worse than what Obama’s was. I’m a little worried, but I think she will (win). There’s always some doubt.”
She said that she voted for Hillary because Trump is “racist, sexist and he doesn’t stand for anything I believe in.”
“I’m actually really excited to vote for a woman for president,” Boppana said.
Shift 10 to 12: Aimed at mid-age voters
As the morning began to get later, the rain from the day before started to disappear from people’s vehicles and the pavement. While the precinct is not as busy as it was as soon as it opened this morning, there is still a long line just inside the doors.
The parking lot is still mostly full on both sides of the building, and the vehicles are mostly silver and white and blend in with the still overcast sky.
Voters are continuously coming and going at this point, and many take the opportunity to say good morning or hello to the students sitting 30 feet away from the door collecting data for their political science class and to myself.
One voter, Calvin Pinson, age 38, has brought his grandmother to Oxford 5 precinct to let her vote. He has yet to vote himself though, and has participated in 3 prior elections.
“There are up’s and downs on both sides because you have differences in opinions on both sides as to who you truly believe in and who can do the right job,” Pinson said.
He believes that the candidate he is voting for has a good chance at winning the election today. “For the people, if they look at the facts and the politics they will know who the right person to vote for is,” said Pinson.
Not a few moments after Pinson is finished talking, his grandmother comes out of Oxford 5 with another relative. Pinson’s grandmother had to go to the courthouse to get a picture I.D. so that she could vote.
Another lady comes out of Oxford 5 precinct and is very agitated. She has been voting at Oxford 5 for the past two presidential elections. She said, “I’ve been voting here for the past two elections, and now they tell me I have to go to another precinct to vote because they rezoned everything. They waited to tell me until after I had stood in line for 30 minutes. You’d think they would let people know when their voting precinct changes.”
She got in her vehicle and drove off.
If you are not voting at the precinct, and this applies to everyone at any voting precinct, you cannot stand within 30 feet of the door. A woman from the election commission came out and said that people were not allowed to loiter near the precinct, and people are not allowed to harass other voters going into the precinct.
A few moments later, the same lady comes out and adds more signs pointing to where people should enter to vote, but many people still try to enter in through the health department.
A voter dressed in scrubs, David Allen age 45 and a nurse, exits the precinct after having voted for the year. Allen has voted every year since he has turned 18.
“It’s a little disheartening about the system,” Allen said. “I felt like the public that’s been encouraged to go out, participate and vote were steered in directions from all sides. They were steered to support people that they may or may not have really felt like were the best candidates.”
Allen said he wasn’t confident that his chosen candidate would win. He also expressed his opinion in how the election is run.
“I think this (this year’s election) is a clear indicator that we need some serious election reform and the way the system works. I think that the Electoral College needs some work. I think that the voting process needs some work. I think there needs to be some federal consistency in federal elections and more consistency in how all 50 states vote. Each state shouldn’t get to decide in a federal election how they handle the process. It should be standardized across the United States in federal elections.”
As lunch is starting to get closer, Oxford 5 starts to become busier than it had been being for the past few hours. The line is starting to stretch out the door once again, and many of the people coming to vote now are moms, babysitters and grandparents. They bring the children along with them. There have been several babies is red, white and blue, and one family walked hand-in-hand all the way to the door so that the parents could vote at the same time.
Another nurse, Amanda Sherman age 31, finishes voting and starts walking back to her Jeep.
“I think it’s (the election) going to be historic either way it goes,” she said. “It’s interesting to see what changes are going to be made and people’s reactions to decipher what’s true and what’s not true because the media has blown stuff up. I believe there has been a lot of propaganda. I’m curious to see how everybody’s education level pans out in the voting. I guess we will see tonight.”
Sherman believes that the candidate she voted for has a strong chance of winning, “This day? Absolutely. Yes.”
Almost everyone that comes out of the precinct is given a sticker is they wish to take one. Even the kids are given a sticker since they came and ‘voted’ as well.
The clouds in the sky break up some and shine a little light through. Most of the people coming in now are older and elderly. The handicap spots which were empty earlier this morning, stay full now.
Shift 12 to 2: Aimed at the elderly
Jerri McDaniel, 60, gets out of her car and walks into Oxford 5 precinct. She has short cut hair and glasses that have blue dualies (a cord used to help keep glasses secure) attached to the ends of her glasses and tucked behind her ears.
After several moments, she comes back out and starts to walk back to her car.
“I just thought the whole way that both candidates conducted themselves was an embarrassment to our country,” McDaniel said. “Like many Americans, I was glad that it was finally over with when today came.”
McDaniel is retired teacher and now works part-time. She said she has no idea is the candidate she chose to vote for will win the race because it’s hard to tell.
“Honestly, I got so tired of seeing all the terrible ads and all the mudslinging, I didn’t even get on Facebook for the last week or so because there was so much yah yahing and back and forth,” she said. “I hope whoever wins tries to pull the country together and help us be the country our four fathers intended us to be.”
As the sound of 18-wheelers over take her, McDaniel is getting in her car and getting ready to leave. At the same time, Richard Brooks, age 61 and retired/disabled, comes out of the precinct with his walker.
Brooks has voted in every presidential election since 1972, and this year he is confident that the candidate he voted for will win.
“I think it’s (the election) the most divisive campaign that’s yet to be run in this country,” Brooks said. “I’m not sure it really matters who wins as far as that goes. We’re still going to be pulverized.”
When it comes to the election results, many are afraid that the outcome, no matter who wins, will not be accepted.
“A lot of people are not going to accept Hillary getting elected, and a lot of people won’t accept Trump either,” said McDaniel. “My plans are to move to Canada if the son of a bitch wins. It’s been ugly politics, as ugly as it can get, and yet it’s not going to end today. It’s far from being over and the ugliness will continue. I don’t think a whole lot is going to get done in the next four years either.”