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New Yorkers at polling sites around the city weren’t satisfied to just let their votes do the talking for them on Super Tuesday. Many had lots to say about the candidates, the campaign, the country – and themselves. Here’s a sampling:
In 2004, Janet Pommells, a Coney Island resident since 1990, crossed party lines to vote for George W. Bush because she believed his rhetoric about Saddam Hussein and the war in Iraq.
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Between classes and on the way to work, Super Tuesday brought young people out to vote in huge numbers. And among them, supporters of Barack Obama were easiest to find. Voters 18 to 33 were drawn to Obama because they thought he could unite a divided America — and for that matter, the world.
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Vote aquí!
Blue and red diamond-shaped signs in Korean, Spanish, English and Chinese urged residents to vote at the Saint Sebastian Parish polling station in Woodside, Queens.
The posters also were outside the Charles O. Dewey School in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, as well as hundred of other polling sites throughout the five boroughs – signs of the changing city.
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Local students, energized by the presidential race, signed up as campaign volunteers – passing out flyers, making phone calls and flocking to rallies leading up to Super Tuesday.
Whether they’re working for Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton, the political newcomers said they’re driven by a desire for change – and a hope they can help shape the country’s future.
“People want a renewed faith in politics,” said Anna Durret, leader of Students for Hillary Clinton at Columbia University.
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Annemarie Martinez, the poll coordinator for the city Board of Elections in Jamaica Estates, Queens, walked from table to table in P.S. 178’s gym, checking on her staff of poll officers – a group of 13 middle aged men and women who sat ready for a giant stream of voters to pour in.
“Maybe they’ll come after work,” poll official Jay Dean said.
But maybe there weren’t many voters because P.S. 178 is off the beaten path – and there weren’t any signs to help those unfamiliar with the Radnor Road school.
