As the end of the day drew near in Clarkston, voters hurried into Jolly Elementary before it was too late.
The polls closed at 7 p.m. across DeKalb County, at least everywhere but a Dunwoody precinct, which was expected to be open an extra 30 minutes to make up for time lost during a small electrical fire. Elections officials were looking into complaints about accessibility at three other precincts, two in Lithonia, one in Chamblee.
In Clarkston, voters were like most any this Election Day – worried about who will be the next president.
Greg Williams, a long-haul trucker who just got in from Florida, was weary for more reason than one. He’s watched the dragging campaign and ended up a supporter of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
He said she wasn’t his first choice, but he didn’t like how Republican Donald Trump dodged tough questions.
“I didn’t really take him seriously from the (beginning),” Williams said.
Jay Taylor, pastor of Tucker’s Mosaic Fellowship church, wasn’t voting for his first choice either. He describes himself as an evangelical Christian voter.
He wants the next leader of the free world to protect “faith-based freedoms.”
“I’m asking Trump to do that,” Taylor said, adding that he has been put off by some of Trump’s statements but had to make the best of the pool of candidates.
Sam Meng, a U.S. citizen from Ethiopia, isn’t buying talk that Trump is “anti-immigrant.” He said he just thinks Trump is against those who would come here illegally.
Meng, a limo driver, likes to hear Trump speak his mind, not holding anything back.
Fellow Ethiopian immigrant Mengistu Asalefew, who emerged a few minutes later from the precinct, doesn’t think Trump is against legal immigration either – or at least he’s about 60 percent sure. The other 40 percent of his gut sees the candidate another way, though he does enjoy some of the tough talk on fighting terrorists.
He wishes Clinton would do more of that.
But when asked why he chose Clinton, Asalefew said he wants to see history made.
It’s important for a woman to win, “to make equality,” he said.
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