After a two-week period of early voting that saw a massive turnout, there was no letdown in in-person voting in many North Shore communities Tuesday.
Affordable health care, failure to take the pandemic seriously, racism, the environment, an increasingly divisive nation and — in the case of a few Donald Trump supporters, fatter wallets, bank accounts and 401Ks — were some of the issues cited by area voters in deciding who they voted for in the presidential election.
At Lynn’s Shoemaker School, a voting machine went on the fritz. Naomi Garland had just arrived to work her shift as a volunteer observer for the ACLU.
“The ACLU initiative is a non-partisan effort to make sure there are no disruptions to the voting process,” she said. “It was a coincidence that the machine wasn’t working, but I’m hearing it’s happened elsewhere in Lynn. I’m not sure when it happened, but they’ve done everything right in notifying City Hall and there is a technician on site, so right now, the ballots are being collected and will be processed when the problem is fixed.”
Lynn resident Guy Perito said he voted no on both questions and was especially concerned about Question 2 (Ranked Choice Voting).
“I don’t know why they keep pushing it as there is nothing wrong with the current process,” Perito said, adding he voted for Trump, as he had done in 2016.
“I’m in construction and over the last four years I am making more money than I ever have. Trump is good for my business.”
A Lynn man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he also voted for Trump again.
“I’m in the aircraft engine business and Trump supports building a strong military, so when my company’s business goes up, my financial situation goes up.”
St Mary’s Athletic Director and former Lynn School Committee member Jeff Newhall didn’t say who he voted for, but feels that, “where the general population is in this country now has pushed more people than ever to get off their rear ends and vote.
“With what’s been happening especially over the last six to eight months, there are massive issues facing this country, beyond the pandemic. I’m not sure that two people can reverse the course we are on, and it’s just not about jobs. Yes, I’ve done better personally on taxes under Trump, but it’s not about my pocketbook, what’s happening now is so much bigger that your own pocketbook.”
In Saugus, voting at the High School-Middle School was busy all day according to Precinct 3 Warden Ruth Berg.
“This is the busiest I have ever seen in my 25 years doing this,” Berg said. “It’s the biggest turnout ever and I will be surprised if it’s not a record turnout.”
Kristina, a mother of three who did not disclose her last name, said she believes “this election has the power to pull us together or destroy us, no matter who wins.” she said.
Swampscott resident Heidi Whear voted by mail last week, but was at Swampscott High as a volunteer poll worker. She voted for Biden.
“My mind has been made up since November of 2016,” Whear said. “I have obvious fears about the direction we have been going the last four years. So many things have been rolled back under this administration that have hurt people. I’m very concerned about health care and environmental issues and Trump doesn’t care about those things. Biden does.
“It’s scary,” Whear said. “I asked my husband ‘where will we go if Trump wins and we have four more years of this.’ My first thought was Canada or maybe South America.”
Whear said she is encouraged knowing that some friends who voted for Trump in 2016 have told her they are voting for Biden this year.
Three members of the Stephen Collins family voted for Trump during their lunch break working for the family company, Collins and Sons Landscaping.
“My business has tripled since Trump took office and when was the last time we had a terrorist attack,” said Stephen Collins. “Biden has already said he is going to raise taxes, Trump won’t.”
Son Matt, 29, who was laid off from his job as a TD Garden concessions payroll coordinator when the pandemic hit, said his family is “die-hard Trump, we love our country.”
“We need to open the economy back up,” said son Stephen, 25. “It’s been proven that the virus isn’t deadly and 99.9 percent of people who are healthy survive.”
At Peabody High,there was up to a 30-minute wait when the polls opened.
Resident Mackenzie Delisi said she voted for the Biden, saying her vote was more anti-Trump than pro-Biden.
“I don’t want what’s been happening the last four years to last another four years,” she said. “The failure to take the pandemic seriously, the obvious racism he shows, his intolerance, the way he is always saying things out loud that never should be said, that’s why I cringe at the thought of Trump. I am hoping Biden can stop the nonsense.”
Delisi’s fiance, Fayad Almustafa, a Syrian national, said Trump’s tactics remind him of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“He has killed a lot of Syrians the same way Trump is killing democracy,” he said “He’s just one step above Assad, who basically has armed people at elections saying, ‘you are going to vote for President Assad, right.'”
At the Brown School in South Peabody, the line to get inside the building snaked all the way around the building to the sidewalk on Lynn Street.
“Lines were long early and there were a lot of people waiting,” said Patrolman Sean Dowd, who cast his ballot earlier that morning when he arrived for a detail.
“I’ve never seen anything like it the way everyone is coming out,” Dowd said.
Swampscott resident Lori Jackson and her son Billy of Lynn, a founding member of Voter Choice Massachusetts and a member of the leadership team at the Rank the Vote, a national non-profit organization, were holding Vote Yes on Question 2 signs at the entrance to Swampscott High.
“The two-party system is not working. That’s why I got involved at the grassroots level to help change it to a more equitable system,” said Billy.
Lori said she voted for Biden, while Billy did not disclose how he voted.
“I just cannot do another four years of Trump,” Lori said.
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
