Barbara Taylor stepped through the metal detector Sunday and confronted the ranks of voting booths moments after leaving Barack Obama’s rally in Civic Center.
“They said I could vote, and I decided to come over and do it,” Taylor, 39, said of the campaign workers promoting a Sunday trip to the polls. “I would have voted early anyway.”
Polls were open Sunday at the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Building, near Obama’s rally, and at the Elections Division headquarters on East Mexico Street in southeast Denver.
Though people have been flocking to vote since early voting began Oct. 20, turnout at both Sunday polling places was light, said Tina Romero, Elections Division spokeswoman.
The rally drew a huge crowd, but after it broke up, few stopped at the Wellington Webb building, where about 50 voting booths waited.
“I’m guessing that many of these folks are plugged into politics and have already voted,” said poll worker Tim Ludwig, 53.
Taneka Sanders, 22, didn’t know she could vote after the rally. But when she found out the Webb building was open for business, she came in to cast her ballot.
This election will be the first time she has voted, she said. She decided to cast a vote for Obama after considering his positions on the economy and other issues, she said.
On the street in front of the building a pair of poll workers staffed a bright red ballot box where voters dropped off mail-in ballots. “It’s not full yet, but it is filling up,” said poll worker Judy Richoz, 67.
The sparse turnout at East Mexico Street made voting painless, said Amy Miller, 37, a chief financial officer for real estate company East West Partners who also teaches yoga.
It took less than 10 minutes from the time she walked in until she dropped the lengthy ballot into a ballot box. “I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to vote. I had sorted out what I was going to do beforehand,” she said of her ballot.
Steve Ewalt, 50, decided to vote at the division’s headquarters on Sunday to avoid the crush of voters expected over the days left until Election Day, he said.
He added, “This was very convenient.”
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
