Tuesday’s election was the first in half a century to take place without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act. The Leadership Conference for Civil Rights says voters had 868 fewer polling locations. In key battleground states, many spent hours in line, while others gave up and left the polls. In Greenbelt, Maryland, voters waited for one ballot scanner for the entire precinct.
Jide Eniola: “I actually asked the lady that’s there, 'Why do you have one scanner here? I have a friend that lives in Montgomery County, and they have—in one place, they have about six or seven.' She said that’s what they gave them. Yeah? I asked her, I said, 'Why do you only have one here?' The line was about—you have to make a U-turn, like 360, to get up to the first one. And it’s just—three hours is just too long.”
There were hours-long lines in parts of New York City, as well, where Donald Trump was booed as he entered Public School 59 in Midtown Manhattan to cast his ballot. Turnout was down among African-American voters in key battleground states, where federal lawsuits have challenged voter ID laws that civil rights groups say are targeted against communities of color.