'Our votes do matter': Detroiters cast their ballot on Election Day 2024
Music and dancing marked Election Day morning in Detroit as voters stood in lines across the city to cast their ballot.
A Howard University alum — a first time voter — and an Army veteran were among the residents who voted in person on a breezy Tuesday. As autumn leaves fell and Detroiters milled in and out of polling locations on a consequential day in the battleground state of Michigan — the culmination of back-to-back campaign stops as presidential candidates sought votes in a tight race. Abortion and the economy were among the issues top of mind for Detroiters who made their way to the voting booth. Overwhelmingly, though, Detroit voters said they want to see Vice President Kamala Harris elected and they are hopeful of seeing that outcome.
For lifelong Detroiters like Lauryn Allen, it would be "monumental" if Harris becomes president. She waited in line for more than half an hour at the Northwest Activities Center, but that didn't matter for the 27-year-old. It's exciting because a line means people are voting.
"It's humbling because I have that chance, the opportunity to have a voice, and at one point, my ancestors didn't," Allen, who lives on the west side of Detroit, said after casting her ballot shortly after polls opened at 7 a.m.
Allen said she expects to stay up all night for the results. In 2016 — the first presidential election she voted in — she recalls sitting in her dorm room in the quiet of her campus after Donald Trump won. This year, however, she anticipates a different outcome. She's not even thinking about the alternative — a Trump presidency — she said.
"Now, me being back home and me just feeling so energized and happy and excited for the future, I believe that when it gets closer to midnight and through the night, I'll be excited, versus in 2016, I was like 'oh, no,'" she said.
When Shanel Adams voted for Harris, she unexpectedly teared up. Though she doesn't agree with all of Harris' and the Democratic Party's policies, this particular vote mattered for Adams, as a fellow alum of Howard University, a historically Black institution.
"I did get emotional because I think I just see that little girl in me who would have loved that example and I do think that means way more than I think we're giving it credit," Adams, 33, of Detroit, said.
Adams, who grew up in Detroit, said she faced pushback when she decided to attend Howard University instead of going to a predominantly white institution because she was considered smart. But going to Howard changed her life.
"It made me know that it was important to take care of your community. So, seeing Kamala at such a high level now, it just shows me that our institutions do matter and coming back to your community, you can end up being somebody powerful like her," Adams said.
Adams is a middle school teacher in Detroit and so she was also attuned to education-related ballot questions, like who is running for the school board. Voting for Adams is a significant act — a right African Americans had to fight for, she said.
"Just voting for a person of color is great, but voting for a woman that's a person of color, it has special significance for me because even in little ways in my life, I think I'm still fighting for my voice to be heard just because I am a woman, and to just see her at a national stage, it does inspire me," she said.
Cameron Collins, who at 19 years old voted for the first time, also sees his vote as a privilege. Although voting at the booth felt like the mock elections he would do in school, the moment still felt surreal.
"Our votes do matter," he said.
Enthoni Shorter said he is voting for his future daughter and his family. For him, that means access to abortion — a decision which, he said, should be left to women.
"Trump will probably take us 10,000 steps back. That's how I look at it," Shorter, 28, of Detroit, said.
Collins, who has sisters and nieces, echoed a similar sentiment and said women should have control of their own bodies.
Both men spoke outside of the Northwest Activities Center, where Jacqueline Kapilango, who goes by "DJ Asset," played music, energizing voters with songs like "Happy" by Pharrell Williams just after 7 a.m. She's a volunteer with DJ at the Polls, a group that partners with community organizations and local DJs to perform at polling sites.
"We're trying to bring excitement to voters, to get them out vote. This is (an) important time in our history, and we just want to support that through music," Kapilango said.
The momentum was also alive over at the Pasteur Elementary School, a polling location where people danced as another DJ performed.
Over at First Congregational Church in Midtown, Andrew Burks-Wright said a Harris win would restore his faith in the country. The doctoral candidate at Wayne State University said he is feeling cautiously optimistic, but still worries about the prospect of a Trump presidency.
"I know that, for that whatever reason, millions of American voters are not holding the same values that I do. I'll carry on. Life will go on. I will start thinking more seriously about getting out of the country. I have some options in mind," Burks-Wright, 50, said.
It's time for change, said 77-year-old Linda Morrow. As she cast her ballot, she found herself sweating because it felt like history in the making, as she voted for someone who could be the first woman elected president.
"If we can raise presidents," said Morrow, "we can be president."
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