This Is What Democracy Looks Like

Before Election Day falls too far in my rear view mirror, I want to share an incredible moment from an otherwise happily smooth and uneventful day at the polls.

While I was managing voter flow inside my polling station, in my peripheral vision I suddenly detected movement on the ground outside and was like, WTH? I ran outside and it turned out that a person tripped and fell on the pavement. They were clearly injured; yelling in pain, head bloodied. I ran back into the polling station and yelled something like, "We need a medic out here! Someone is hurt!" There were several first responders at the poll location and they immediately sprang into action (first responders you are true heroes) and an ambulance arrived quickly.

And then: Through the pain and chaos, this person was like, "I am not leaving until I vote!" The warden--and amazingly the city clerk also happened to be on site when this happened--did the official things they needed to do in order to register the voter and help them cast their vote while they were literally getting a head wound bandaged and what ended up being a broken shoulder stabilized.

Obviously, I would not have judged this person negatively if they allowed their broken, bloodied self to be whisked into that ambulance immediately, but RESPECT. We were all in awe.

This is what democracy looks like. This is why we fight. This is why we demand all the votes are counted. Be patient. And take time to care for yourself while we're waiting because more chaos is coming.