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  • Exercising privilege of casting votes

    Richmond Times Dispatch, VA
    Nov. 3, 2004

    Exercising privilege of casting votes

    Richmond-area voters report long waits, but they aren't deterred

    BY NICOLE JOHNSON
    TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 3, 2004


    Haik Varteressian, 92, punches the air with the vigor of a man a
    quarter of his age when talking about the importance of voting.

    The first-generation Armenian-American refused to accept an absentee
    ballot this year - something that would have made voting a lot easier
    for the wheelchair-bound New York City native.

    Instead, he told daughter Jeanne Chapman he wanted to wait in line with
    the rest of the people at the polls.

    "If you breathe the air in the United States, you should vote until you
    don't breathe air anymore," said the World War II veteran.


    People across the Richmond area did not let anything stand in the way
    of exercising their right to vote yesterday.

    Varteressian, whose parents fled persecution in their homeland in the
    late 1800s, acknowledged that this might be his last presidential
    election. Since 1932, he has voted in every presidential election. The
    first time, the Depression had taken its toll on his family, and the
    young man had been forced to drop out of school to help support them.

    He cast his first vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt. "He was the only hope
    we had," he recalled. "He had a plan to help us."

    Seated in his wheelchair yesterday, Varteressian scooted his white
    orthopedic sneakers around the packed auditorium of Chesterfield
    County's Watkins Elementary School and, with a smile, cast the 955th
    vote about 11 a.m.

    His nurse, Rae Hernandez, had cast her vote earlier. The first-time
    voter said Varteressian's appreciation for the process inspired her to
    register.

    "I can't explain it, I just felt good after I voted . . . knowing my
    vote counts," Hernandez said.

    Scores of voters complained of long lines and unseasonably warm weather
    at the polls yesterday. Others expressed a special appreciation for the
    opportunity to turn out with the masses to cast their ballot for
    president, members of Congress and several local issues, including an
    elected mayor for the city.

    In Hanover County, Kristen Jensen went against family traditions in her
    first time voting.

    As the 20-year-old Doswell native stood in line at Patrick Henry High
    School to vote, she said she planned to vote for Sen. John Kerry. "But
    don't tell my dad," she said, giggling.

    Her reason: "The fact that [President] Bush wouldn't really talk to
    people my age and didn't take the time to sit down with places like
    MTV, and other people my age because he said it didn't fit his
    schedule," she said.

    At the Fairfield Library voting precinct in Henrico County, Alvin
    Bolden, 47, exited the building slightly exasperated.

    The Infineon employee had gone to the wrong precinct earlier that day.
    Once he arrived at the library, he realized he'd left his
    identification in the car after standing in line.

    "I stuck with it, because it's a privilege to vote," Bolden said
    slightly out of breath. "I would have gone to 10 polling places if I
    had to. It's not a Democratic or Republican thing, it's what's best for
    your own community."

    Later that evening, in Richmond, Raymond Burke III, a partially blind
    middle-aged man, put on his walking shoes in determination to cast his
    vote.

    The Grace Street resident walked all the way to City Hall from his
    apartment so someone could tell him his correct polling precinct.

    By 4 p.m., Burke arrived at the city's election registrar's office at
    Ninth and Broad streets to find out where to vote. A clerk checked his
    card and informed him his precinct was at the Main Street Station,
    about 10 blocks away.

    Burke politely asked for directions, and set out to vote for the first
    time. He used his red-and-white cane to carefully locate curbs and
    intersections before him.

    "I'm going to walk all the way down there and vote," he said. "All I
    have to do is get there by 7 . . . I just registered for the first time
    for this election and I'm going to vote."
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