Fishburne Military School senior J.T. Beard expected to see lines of people voting at the Waynesboro Public Library today. Just not at six in the morning.
“It was a long line for about the first half-hour. There were probably close to a hundred people when we first got here,” said Beard, a native of Aguila, Ariz., one of three cadets from FMS volunteering at the polls in Waynesboro on Election Day.
They were on-site at the library, one of the city’s four voting precincts, at 5:45 a.m., ready for the long, 13-hour day working as pages.
“If they need someone to help pass out flyers, help with curbside voters, straightening up inside, things like that. Basically, what they need, we’re here to help,” said Russell Leslie, a Fishburne senior from Amelia, Va.
Beard assigned himself an additional role.
“The day started early, a little bit cold, not everybody was excited, because it’s a long day, but over time, I noticed people just really excited to get in here. That inspired me, so I went around and made it my job to make sure that everyone left with a smile on their face,” Beard said.
Christian Fountain, an FMS senior from Spotsylvania, Va., said the day was a good learning experience, seeing representative democracy literally at work.
“I saw some people who were really interested in expressing their views, and also noticed something that’s been clear for a while, that this election is really different. I heard somebody say that they hadn’t voted before in their life, somebody probably in their early 50s. That tells you how different this year is,” Fountain said.
Story by Chris Graham/Photos by Chris Richmond
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