Voting in Brooklyn, by Elisbrown/Flickr.
NEW YORK, By Aswini Anburajan, FI2W Reporter
Lexington Ave. Running through Spanish Harlem is pretty quiet this morning, it looks like almost any other day. But voters are lined halfway down the block at the community center on 120th and Lexington. Small signs saying “vote aqui” and “vote here” line the wrought iron fences around the apartment buildings to guide the crowd.
Many here have voted before, but among the first timers there are a number of older African Americans. Carl Duck is in his fifties and says “it’s time to make a change.”
Originally from North Carolina, Duck said he was one of the few in his family that hadn’t voted before. When his relatives heard he was headed to the polls today, they told him, “it was about time.”
To Duck, the economy is issue number one. A homecare worker, he was recently laid off.
Tamar Owens and her rambunctious seven-year old daughter Oprie were also at the polls. Oprie shouted into the mic that “Obama!” was who she told her mom to vote for. Mrs. Owens only started voting in the past three years. She says its time to vote for change and that Obama represents it. Though she’s African American she’s quick to stress that’s not the reason she’s voting for Obama.
“Its exciting to vote for a person that’s real. That’s real by heart by soul,” she said.
First-time or old-time, all the voters here seem to share a desire for “change.”
