Kiley Wellendorf + Justice Gage | Contributors
On Tuesday, November 8, Storm Lake residents piled into three poll locations for this year’s Election Day. Voting booths were located at Storm Lake City Hall, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, the FireHouse and Chautauqua Park.
While locations featured lines throughout the day, some voters took the initiative to vote early.
Storm Lake Bakery business owner, Lisa Funk, submitted her ballot prior to Election Day.
She felt ease after attending Donald Trump’s political rally in Sioux City, Iowa this past Sunday, an event she described as one of the best birthday gifts she could have received.
Funk believes Trump’s children are ideal role models for her four children – hard-working, confident – the rally allowed her to see their character in action.
“When we went Sunday, I really wanted to just get peace of mind,” Funk said. “It only took the first fifteen minutes.”
Across the street, Celia’s Antiques business owner, Celia Knoffloch, voted on Election Day – although she enjoys the ability to vote in the comfort of her home via mail. Regardless of the day or location, she believes people should vote.
“I think everybody should [vote],” Knoffloch said. “You can’t complain later if you didn’t try and vote, and if you don’t vote, you’re just voting for the other side.”
A block away from Knoffloch’s business on Erie Street, George Rodriguez volunteered to work as a Poll Observer, where he translated for non-English speaking voters who attended the City Hall polls.
“You should express your ideas by voting for the people that you think can do a job that you like,” Rodriguez said. “The most important thing is that when people get involved and get older, they get more civic-minded and volunteer for more important things that need to get done.”
Much like Rodriguez, Dr. Ashley Farmer-Hanson at Buena Vista University believes the community should express their ideas by taking the opportunity to vote.
As Assistant Dean of Student Life & Director of Civic Engagement, Farmer-Hanson vowed to make voting accessible to BVU students who might not have transportation to vote.
Besides offering rides to students interested in voting, Farmer-Hanson’s department also provided students with leases that showed evidence of being a resident on BVU’s campus.
“We’ve had at least two dozen students come in and get those leases so they could take it to the polls,” Farmer-Hanson said.
While Storm Lake’s polls closed at 9PM, many remember the importance of voting, whether this was their first election to vote in or one of many.
Photo by Kiley Wellendorf
Multimedia by Justice Gage + Kiley Wellendorf
