New Jersey: Long lines, no stickers on Election Day
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Sarah Armenia, 7, of Williamstown, New Jersey, creates a mask of her favorite president at the National Constitution Center. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Thomas Jefferson portrayer Sean Connolly speaks with a group of youngsters at the National Constitution Center. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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George Washington, as portrayed by John Lopes of Historic Philadelphia, addresses a group of Girl Scouts at the National Constitution Center. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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The Perseverance Jazz Band plays ''Hail to the Chief'' after a swearing-in ceremony at the National Constitution Center. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Amelia Broadway (left) and Rylee Decker of Girl Scout Troop 2945 in Newtown, Pennsylvania, portray presidents Lincoln and Washington during a trip to the National Constitution Center. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Rylee Decker of Newtown, Pennsylvania, takes the Oath of Office dressed as George Washington. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Amelia Broadway of Newtown, Pennsylvania takes the Oath of Office as Abraham Lincoln. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Historic Philadelphia presidential portrayers Sean Connolly (left) and John Lopes talk on the floor of the National Constitution Center's Grand Hall Lobby during Election Day festivities. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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A young Abraham Lincoln portrayer transforms her appearance with artful face paint during an Election Day visit to the National Constitution Center. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Voters line up in Moorestown, New Jersey in 2016 (Emma Lee / WHYY)
Sure, there are lines. There also was a spurned vice-president wannabe, sneaking in to vote just 6 minutes after polls opened under cover of darkness, like he hadn’t just four months ago nearly snagged the second slot on the Republican ticket.
But the big buzz, so far today, in New Jersey on Election Day was the scarcity of “I Voted” stickers. Seriously. People want those things. In an election this closely contested, the stickers are a show of patriotism, proof of civic duty fulfilled during an election that could produce America’s first female president.
And you can use them to get free stuff … even though that’s technically illegal.
#voted in Cent NJ- & they didn’t give the I voted STICKERS! How will I get my free Blooming Onion at Lone Star? #Trump #MAGA
— VOTE4TRUMP (@OldSalz) November 8, 2016
The fact that Union County NJ doesn’t give out “I voted” stickers is a bummer every election. Just sayin’. #VOTE #ImWithHer
— Mich (@MissDS17) November 8, 2016
Feeling jipped that I didn’t get an “I voted” sticker in my NJ absentee ballot @bergencountynj
— Amanda Triglia (@amandatrigs) November 8, 2016
Beyond the sticker stink, another surprise: Donald Trump was getting a surprising amount of support, for a traditionally blue state that has voted Democratic in the past six presidential elections.
“I supported Trump because I believe that Hillary will win,” said Christie O’Shaughnessy of Princeton, New Jersey. “She will win tonight, the general election. She will most certainly win New Jersey, and for the next four years that she’s in office, I want her thinking: ‘In 2016, I got lucky. I got to run against the crazy guy. In 2020, I’m probably not gonna be so lucky. I’m going to have to run against someone more moderate, more electable.’ I want her remembering that when she’s off deciding what policies to pursue. I want the popular vote to be as close as possible.”
#MAGA hashtags abound on social media. That’s MAGA, as in Trump’s signature slogan “Make America Great Again.”
I just voted in NJ even missed an appointment because line was so long. America first! #Women forTrump #Cubans4Trump
— MAYRA (@sg07840_mayra) November 8, 2016
#ElectionDay Just voted for @realDonaldTrump in NJ. Packed with people like never before. #myvote2016
— Politicality (@PoliticalMB) November 8, 2016
Still, election watchers expect Hillary Clinton win New Jersey despite Trump’s former casino empire in the state and Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s support.
In Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Amy Wolfe voted for Clinton.
“I’m voting for Hillary because she has spent her life doing good things,” Wolfe said. “She has accomplished a lot. She is very well-qualified for the position. As a feminist, I am very excited to have the first nominee for president be a woman, for her to be the first woman president. But it’s because of her and her ideas, regardless of sex, that I’m voting for her.”
Only a few polling places in the Garden State have reported problems so far today.
In Jersey City, for example, it took more than an hour before people could vote in Ward F, District 6 at County Prep High School because someone brought the wrong keys for the voting machines. The line eased by 8 a.m. John Brzozowski, Hudson County’s deputy superintendent of elections, said lines are long in some areas because voter turnout is higher than past years, and the ballot is longer, leaving voters to linger longer behind the curtain. Hudson County added another 13 machines today to the 500 they started the morning with, to offset the bigger crowds, Brzozowski said.
And in Burlington County, election officials say a printing error, discovered this morning, will force them to hand count most of the more than 19,000 mail-in ballots submitted. Officials couldn’t guarantee they’d be able to count all the ballots by tonight.
Polls in New Jersey close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
In addition to the presidential race, New Jersey voters have two public questions on statewide ballots. One would expand casino gambling to northern New Jersey and the other would dedicate the recent gas tax increase to transportation projects.
New Jersey editor Alan Tu and the Associated Press contributed.
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