Quick Vote

Suburban voters vital to state, nation

by Julia Hansen 11/4/2008 9:16:25 PM

            Nearly two hours before polling places closed, a county polling place in Webster Groves, Mo. , was surprisingly low in voter traffic.
            Webster Groves election official Betsey Anderson said as Election Day has progressed, the number of voters has decreased, much to the voters’ advantage.
            “There were extremely long lines here at 6 a.m.,” Anderson said. “In fact we got here at 5 a.m. and one voter was already sitting there by the door. That was a very determined voter. ... It’ll be the biggest turnout we’ve ever had for sure. People have been very patient. Everybody has been very cheerful and there has not been much tension here.”
            Anderson said as an election official, she is in a significant political place in the state of Missouri .
            “They say that Missouri is extremely important in this election especially the suburbs of St. Louis and Kansas City,” Anderson said. “So it’s going to make a big difference to these two candidates which way these suburbs vote.”
            Webster Groves voter Susan Kaminski said she thinks the large voter turnout throughout Election Day is due to Americans' unhappiness with the current state of the nation.
            “I think that many people are restless right now with things and the way they have been going,” Kaminski said. “There’s a lot of big issues that are on the table right now so I think that more people are involved because many [important issues] are being factored in.”
            Kaminski said in this election she did not approve of the way presidential campaigns were run.
            “I don’t like when they use underhanded ways of winning the votes,” Kaminski said. “That kind of bothers me a little bit. I think they should stick with the issues at hand and not go for the jugular.”
            Kaminski said she thinks both candidates for the vice presidency would be good for the , but that the Republican candidate has had a harder campaign season.
            “I think Palin, being a woman has been targeted a lot because she’s a woman,” Kaminski said. “I think they target her more than Joe Biden right now because she’s a woman so I think people are really looking at that. Plus no one really knew who she was before [John McCain] brought her in. I think that surprised a lot of people.”
            In a straw hat, Webster Groves voter Joe Logan stood outside the polling place, campaigning for the democratic ticket as a whole, particularly supporting candidate for State Senate District 15 Democrat Jim Trout. Logan said he voted earlier in the day with a straight democratic ticket. He said the Democratic party's values are beneficial to all of society, not just wealthy citizens.

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