With only eight days left until Election Day and nearly 60 million votes already cast, early voters are finding joyful ways to turn long voting lines into a celebration.
Early voting is rising around the country amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, with states reporting record voting turnouts by mail or early in person before Election Day in November.
Among those waiting in line: New York voter Rhonda Le, who turned up to vote at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday.
While in line, Le spotted and captured video of Brooklyn United, a lively youth marching band, paraded down the street alongside dancers to provide energy to voters.
“The dancers definitely brought energy and positivity to those who have been waiting for hours in line,” Le, who posted video of the band on Instagram, told CNN. “There were people clapping and dancing as the dancers and band went by.”
Dolores McMullan, another New York voter, said the line was already around the block when she arrived 15 minutes before her polling station at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn opened Saturday morning.
During her almost hour-long wait to cast her vote, she spotted a fellow Brooklynite two spots ahead of her in line, who spent the wait dancing the time away. She shared a video of the moment online.
“The woman in my video was bopping for pretty much the full hour of waiting, but she had earbuds in, so she was dancing by herself,” said McMullan.
In Pennsylvania, a line of voters broke out into a full line dance of the “Cha Cha Slide” outside a polling station in Philadelphia on Saturday.
The Resistance Revival Chorus, which took part in the celebration, posted a video of the dance to Twitter.
Election Defenders, a group of volunteers fighting voter harassment and intimidation, brought music to that particular Philadelphia polling center as part of its movement called Joy to the Polls.
The program, part of The Frontline, is a new initiative serving as a way to push back against voter suppression and intimidation across the country by filling the voting experience with music, Election Defenders Campaign Director Nelini Stamp told CNN.
“Because we know that voter suppression efforts especially in Black and Brown communities have a long history in this country and, particularly living in a global pandemic right now,” Stamp said, “our effort to bring music to people who are going to be waiting in long lines at the polling places (is) so we can we can do something for the voters on Election Day.”
