He  arrived at the Frank McCourt High School in the Upper West Side to vote with his wife, Nancy and four-week-old rescue cat, Gizmo , one of 17 rescue animals he owns. But the kitten was not a welcome sight to elections workers who refused to let Sliwa take Gizmo to witness his big  moment.

And it went downhill from there.

After handing Gizmo to campaign aide, election workers  asked him to remove his “Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor” jacket stating it was considered electioneering, but he refused to take it off and instead challenged them to arrest him, which they did not.

“So one hour and 20 minutes, we’re being told first we couldn’t have Gizmo,” said Sliwa. “And obviously the garb. We wore this garb last Saturday when Nancy voted, no problems, we were in and out.”

Next he had problems casting his vote.

After Sliwa inserted the first page of his ballot, the voting machine jammed and an error message stating the ballot had been counted, but not deposited appeared. Repairmen spent over one hour restoring the machine and Sliwa’s ballot was successfully counted.

“You see the incompetence and the inefficiency, and if it was just directed at me I could understand,” said Sliwa. “I’ll be going to polling locations all day until the final tally at nine, and I will hear stories from Democrats, Independents and Republicans that their name wasn’t in the book even though they voted in the presidential election. They were told to go to another polling location and then were shuttled around, or their ballot was not properly received by the scanner.”

NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa speaks with members of the press with his four-week-old rescue kitten, Gizmo, outside Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Sliwa was barred from entering the polling location with Gizmo due to election site rules.Photo By Julia Bonavita

NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa’s wife, Nancy adjusts his mask before entering Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Photo By Julia Bonavita

The media and onlookers surround NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa’s wife and his wife  Nancy  as he prepares to vote at Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Photo By Julia Bonavita

NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa was asked to remove his “Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor” jacket while inside Frank McCourt High School on the grounds of electioneering in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Photo By Julia Bonavita

NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa fills out his ballot with his wife, Nancy at Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Photo By Julia Bonavita

An error message is displayed on the voting machine Sliwa used to cast his ballot at Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The machine became jammed before Sliwa could submit the second page of his ballot, stating the ballot had been counted but not deposited.
Photo By Julia Bonavita

New York City Commissions of Elections President Fred Umane addresses reporters after Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa ran into multiple issues while trying to vote at Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

A mechanic from the NYC Board of Elections repairs a voting machine after technical issues failed to clear Sliwa’s ballot. Photo By Julia Bonavita

NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa inserts the first page of his ballot into the polling machine at Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The machine counted, but failed to deposit, Sliwa’s ballot due to mechanical issues and took over an hour to recover.
Photo By Julia Bonavita

NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa and his wife, Nancy address reporters after voting at Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, Nov. 2.Photo By Julia Bonavita

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On Wednesday afternoon, Biden, who received over 71 million votes, the most in U.S history, was joined by his running mate Kamala Harris at a news conference. He said that he expected to win the presidency, but he did not blatantly declare himself the winner.

“After a long night of counting, it is clear that we are winning enough states to reach 270 votes to reach the presidency,” said Biden. “I will govern as an American president. There will be no red states and blue states when we win. Just the United States of America.”

His statement was by and large in stark contrast to Trump, who falsely proclaimed that he had won the election on Wednesday morning despite millions of uncounted votes and a declared definite win. 

Trump who falsely claimed to win the election took to Twitter to tweet out: 

“We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!” he followed up minutes later in a tweet that was subsequently taken down by Twitter for promoting falsified information. 

In 2016, President Trump won Michigan by about 10,704 votes. The president’s success with white working-class voters was crucial to his 2016 victory. While he succeeded in counties like Macomb and Monroe, he also flipped working-class areas in mid-Michigan like Saginaw County.

During the 2020 campaign period, Democrats also worked fervently to increase the turnout in cities with predominantly Black voters, including Detroit and Flint. Three days before the election, Biden and former President Obama held drive-in events in both cities, hoping to create enthusiasm among their supporters. 

Before a mostly African-American audience at Flint’s Northwestern High School on Saturday afternoon, Obama referred to his former vice president as “my buddy” and said Biden would unfailingly restore decency and competence to the White House. 

In a 25-minute speech, Obama stressed the importance of voting.

“This Tuesday, everything is on the line,” Obama said. “Our jobs are on the line. Our health care is on the line, and whether or not we get this pandemic under control is on the line.”

In Tuesday’s election, Michigan set a voter turnout record that surpassed the 2008 record set when former president Barack Obama was elected. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, while election workers counted ballots, officials had already tallied over 5.1 million votes in the political race between Biden and Trump. This number surpassed the 5,039,080 benchmark set in 2008.

It is a difficult task to overemphasize Michigan’s importance in the 2020 election. The state — along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — is critical to Biden becoming the United States president.

In 2016, president Trump flipped Michigan and became the first Republican since George H.W. Bush in 1988 to win the state. For nearly 25 years, Michigan has been a reliably blue state regarding choosing a president. During his 2020 presidential campaign, President Trump made a total number of eight trips to the state of Michigan, including a final stop a day before election day.

In his 2020 campaign, Trump tried to repeat history partly by organizing his final campaign to rally in Grand Rapids, just like he did in 2016

“This is a poll,” Trump said to the crowd. “This is not the crowd of somebody who’s going to lose this state.”

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris also spent most of her Tuesday in Detroit, where Biden campaigned with former President Barack Obama on Saturday. During his campaign with Obama on Saturday, Biden reminded voters that the Obama administration had rescued Michigan’s automobile industry with government investment after the 2008 recession hit the nation.

By contrast, this year, unemployment rates were starkly high in Michigan; therefore, the pandemic coupled with the economic crisis were pertinent issues in Michigan, where thousands in the state vehemently protested Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s ordered restrictions to curb the coronavirus.

Trump also openly disagreed with Whitmer’s approach to curbing the pandemic and seemingly shrugged off the threat she faced from a domestic terrorist group’s plot to kidnap her, downplaying its effect.

Following Tuesday’s election, as votes in Michigan continued to be counted on Wednesday, however, President Trump’s reelection campaign filed a lawsuit in Michigan’s Court of Claims, seeking to delay the counting of ballots indicating inadequate access to vote-tallying locations. In addition to seeking to halt counting the votes “until meaningful access has been granted,” the Trump campaign also demanded to review the ballots that were previously opened and counted. The lawsuit came after Trump tweeted several times, spreading misinformation about the overall election process.

How come every time they count Mail-In ballot dumps they are so devastating in their percentage and power of destruction?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2020

While he scored a win in Michigan, Biden also secured a win in Wisconsin, flipping a battleground state that helped President Trump win the election in 2016. 

Even before Biden was officially declared a winner in the state, Trump’s campaign said it would request a recount. Like Michigan, Wisconsin is a crucial swing state, and a recount of votes and a lawsuit in Michigan could further delay election results.

Joe Biden’s narrow win in Michigan was also the outcome of an extremely high voter turnout in Detroit. In 2016, Detroit’s Black voters’ underwhelming performance caused Hillary Clinton’s electoral loss. Biden, however, managed to improve on Clinton’s performance in the significant counties around Detroit. 

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“I feel decently awful about it,” Knight, a 19-year-old NYU student, said. “I have a little bit of comfort knowing that the residential part of the tower he doesn’t own anymore. It is definitely icky. Something that made me wonder if coming back to New York was worth it at all.”

River Knight  is voting for Biden. Photo courtesy of River Knight.

Knight, who lives in an apartment owned by his grandmother, casted his vote for Joe Biden which he mailed to Salt Lake City, Utah, his hometown. 

“I read somewhere that if you sent it after October 20 who knew whether or not it was gonna make it,” said Knight. “I just got confirmation this past Friday that it was counted.”

Utah is historically a red voting state, but Utah Senator Mitt Romney has recently confirmed that he himself had not voted for Trump.

“I think there’s a chance that Utah could go not fully blue but purple or pink,” Knight said. There is a semblance of a chance that Trump will not get the majority of our electors and that’s because Romney didn’t vote for Trump and the Mormons like Romney,” said Knight. 

Knight hailed from a suburb just outside of Salt Lake City Utah, approximately 9400 blocks south from the Mormon Temple. All of Salt Lake’s streets are labelled by their distance from the temple. Whether or not Utah votes semi-blue, Knight believes Biden will win the election.

“I think Joe Biden will win. God, knock on wood though,” said Knight. “Trump is an evil, lying, disgusting human being. Biden has run his political campaign on the side of decency, and will be on the right side of history in a way Trump could never be.”

This is the first election Knight will be voting in along with many others, with predictions of the highest youth voter turnout since 1984, according to the Harvard Gazette. He is a registered independent and so did not vote in the primary elections this year. 

“I’m voting for Biden cause I don’t think he’s evil. I think he’s rational and would be more of a ‘man of the people,’” said Knight. “And everyone my age I know is voting. Not all of them are voting for Biden, but a good amount are.” 

Knight plans to watch the election inside of his apartment in the Trump International. He said he believes civil unrest will come in the weeks after the election, not the night of. Some news sources predict that because of mail-in voting, the election will not be over on election day, and that the results may take several days.

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But Hussain of Bloomingdale, New Jersey will not be deterred by the hate. She said Muslims are just as affected by the issues that plague this country as any other American. 

“We live in this country where the economy affects us, big decisions made by our government  affect us, just like it would affect any other American person or family,” Hussain said.

With the elections looming, Muslim and Arab American voters across the United States are just as caught up in the stress and drama of the 2020 Presidential Election.

Hussain, like most Americans, is worried about COVID-19.

“There is misinformation on the national level that’s definitely making all our communities less safe, especially communities of color,”said  Hussain.

Hussain, is part of the 71% of  the Muslim American community that back Biden according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The poll showed only 18% percent of Muslim voters support Trump.

Despite the support, Hussain holds some reservations about the Democratic Party. 

“If the Republican Party is completely fine with being extreme in the other direction, the Democratic Party should be comfortable being bold in their efforts to improve and progress the United States,” she  said,

Pollsters say back in the 1990s, Muslim voters were split almost evenly in their support for Republicans and Democrats. But that gap began to widen post 9/11, when the Republican Party was perceived as more hostile to Islam.

And Trump’s presidency began with a Muslim ban.

Executive Order 13769 banned travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. 

Trump again went after, the Muslim and Arab community  just a few days ago when he tweeted that his administration has suspended, “the entry of refugees from terror-compromised nations like Syria, Somalia and Yemen.”

My Administration has suspended the entry of refugees from terror-compromised nations such as Syria, Somalia and Yemen. Biden’s plan surges refugees 700% into Minnesota, Michigan & Pennsylvania—burdening schools & hospitals while opening the floodgates to Radical Islamic Terror.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2020

“I know many Muslims in the community don’t agree that it is a Muslim ban and they call it a refugee ban, but we know that the countries that are on the list are Muslim majority countries,” Basma Alawee, a former refugge and first time voter said.

She hopes that Muslims and Arabs see how much they have in common with other targeted communities. 

 “I think it’s important for our Muslim and Arab Americans to understand that we are a part of a bigger community and we need to show up and stand in solidarity with others, including the Black community, so they can be there for us when we need them,” Alawee said.

Even though some Muslim Americans may not be thrilled by the candidates they need to choose between, they are serious about change, said Nihad Awad, the National Executive Director at CAIR.

“American Muslims want to get rid of policies and attitudes that harm them and they believe in the alternative,” Awad said. “The alternative is just to be normal. We live in  abnormal times and they want it to end.” 

In Greenville, South Carolina, Robyn Sadoon, an Irish and French Muslim American voter ,is disturbed by how the United States is viewed by the world under this administration. She said their policies have lost a lot of credibility especially when it comes to Syria, Israel-Palestine, NATO and the refugee crisis.

“I don’t think that any of us would have ever imagined that the president of this nation would be laughed at on the world stage by other world leaders,” Sadoon said. “ Much less be given such a negative and critical welcome as we have seen with massive protests against the arrival of this President in so many of the countries that he visited pre-covid.” 

A Palestinian Muslim American of Newark, New Jersey, Wajeeh Abushawish, took a different turn on the presidential election. He said he will be voting for Green Party candidate, Howie Hawkins because his overall point is less money on wars and more money put into American lives. 

“I am a believer in voting for the person whose ideals match yours the most,” Abushawish said. “He is not afraid to support Palestine either, which is taboo for some reason in the United States.” 

Arab Americans share similar concerns.

“Arab Americans have problems with Biden,” Susan Muaddi Darraj, an Arab American novelist from Maryland said. “But our energy right now needs to go in making sure that Trump doesn’t get reelected. My hope is that after the election, we can return to a respect for facts and data. I also hope we find a way to heal the different communities that have been pitted against each other under this administration.”

According to a poll by the Arab American Institute, 59% of Arab voters say they are casting their ballots for Biden compared to 35% voting to reelect Trump.

Biden wasn’t Alana Bannourah’s, a Palestinian Christian American of California, first choice but she said she will be casting her vote for him since the Democratic Party’s values align with hers. 

“I am a registered Democrat and I am definitely voting for Biden, besides the fact that I abhor Trump,” Bannourah said. “I feel like the Democratic Party’s values that match mine are the economy, healthcare, the environment lately and especially  immigration.”

Machhadie Assi putting her ballot into the ballot box in Michigan on October 30, 2020. Photo courtesy of Machhadie Assi

If there is one major issue on the minds of all American voters entering November 3, it is post-election violence. Machhadie Assi, a  Lebanese Muslim American and a Victim Advocate for Michigan’s Attorney General Office, is frightened at the prospect of how Biden and Trump voters will react because people are emotional going into this election.  

“I am actually more concerned about the reaction of people if Biden wins than if Trump wins” Assi said. “Our  country has gone through a lot of hate and it’s in a sensitive stage right now. The result of the election will either escalate the division or not and I worry it will.” 

But Assi is trying to remain  hopeful of what is to come in the next four years.

“I hope we can gain back the respect the world has had for the United States of America under the new administration,” said Assi.

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Virzi had been celebrating the end of her final exam period and had gotten “drunker than [she] normally would have.” She doesn’t remember much else from the night after downing a shot with her group of friends. What she does remember is waking up the next morning naked in bed with someone she’d had no intention of having sex with. 

“As someone who has experienced sexual harassment and survived sexual assault, I have no interest in advancing the political or power agendas of people who have perpetrated assault,” said Virzi. “Both of the leading candidates in this year’s Presidential election have been accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault. I feel like it would be a disrespectful disservice to any of their accusers to help elevate their potential abusers.”

Virzi like millions of others are not expected to cast a vote this election. While some have personal reasons  others  feel as though their vote or voice wouldn’t change anything.

In a recent FiveThirtyEight study, 25% of those polled believed that their votes “don’t count” or “don’t matter”, and of this 25%, many are under the age of 35. And according to a study done by the Pew Research Center following the 2016 election, personal dislike of candidates was cited as one of the leading reasons individuals don’t participate in Presidential elections.

At this time of publication, 19 women have come forward to accuse President Trump of sexual misconduct, ranging from rape to non consensual kissing and physical touch.  Several women  have come forward alleging inappropriate workplace sexual advances by formal Vice President Biden, with Tara Reade accusing Biden of overt sexual assault. Both candidates have vehemently denied these accusations, but nonetheless the allegations of abuse may have rattled some voters like Virzi who have experienced sexual violence or harassment. 

“This just goes to show you how allegations like this do nothing to hinder the ambitions of rich, white, powerful men.” said Virzi. “I feel like voting for either of these people would just further emphasize how little we care about survivors and about vulnerable people.”

Martin Zamarripa, 22 a resident of Pico Rivera, California, won’t be voting either. He is the son of two undocumented parents, and doesn’t believe that either candidate has advocated strongly enough for the undocumented community. Their responses in the last debate was a huge disappointment.

“The Biden Administration and the Trump Administration couldn’t answer definitively answer how they are even going to reunite the undocumented children that have been ripped from their families and separated in US detention centers by ICE,” said Zamarripa.

In the last Presidential debate, some viewers criticized the candidates for being unable to specify their own policy tactics to reunite the 545 migrant children to their separated families.

 “They supposedly are ‘working hard’ to reunite families but it has been too long.” said Zamarripa. “How does this inaction prove that either candidate’s administration is going to care and prioritize immigrants and immigrant needs? Especially during this pandemic?”

For Deven Chevannes, 24, of Brooklyn, lack of enthusiasm stems from the candidates responses  to police brutality. 

“Neither candidate has made a strong enough effort to protect and empower the Black community, especially following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many other victims of police brutality,” said Chevannes. “After everything that went down in May, I realized just how badly we need to dismantle police forces and change our ‘justice system.’ I’m going to be voting in local elections, but I can’t participate in this Presidential election, because I think we deserve so much more from our candidates.”

Some complaints Americans have regarding both candidates is how they consider – or don’t consider – certain policy issues. 

“I disagree with both candidates on a lot of policy items, especially on issues regarding climate change and fracking. I’d never vote for Trump, but Biden is way too moderate,” said Daniel Pemberton, 23 a graduate student living in Brooklyn. “I live in Bushwick and I just know that both my district and my state are going to vote for the democratic candidates, so I don’t really think my vote is necessarily going to sway or change anything.”

The electoral college is also a source of frustration. Some Americans have voiced doubts regarding the efficacy and fairness of using the electoral college to decide winners during modern-day elections. 

“If I lived in a state like North Carolina or in Pennsylvania, maybe I’d feel differently about casting a Presidential vote.” said Pemberton. “But I don’t. I live in a state that has consistently voted for the democratic candidate and leftist causes in general. But we have the same electoral sway as a state like Kansas. Since I live here in New York, I know my state won’t go red. And since I disagree with both candidates and their ideologies, I’m not going to vote knowing my vote doesn’t matter.”

Others are turning to other parties, like the Green Party because of their dislike of Trump and Biden.

“Since I live in the Bay Area in California, which is an extremely liberal area, I just don’t feel like my decision to not vote is going to change much.” said Madelyn Dolan, 22 of Moraga, California. “ I’m going to be voting Green Party instead and participating in voting for local propositions. I know how my district isn’t going to vote for Trump, so I don’t feel a great pressure or obligation to vote for the other Presidential candidate, who I also dislike and disagree with immensely.”

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“My mother had a health complication and my dad who was living in Florida, in Orlando, he got us a ticket for our entire family to leave the island,” said Nava Alsina. “We couldn’t stay in the island if my mom was not able to get the medicine she needed.”

Nava Aslina still remembers the day Trump visited the island and threw rolls of paper towels to hurricane survivors, an action that has snowballed along with the various negative comments Trump has said about the island, which left many Puerto Ricans unhappy with the Trump administration.  

“For us, it was a complete lack of respect to the people,” said Nava Alsina “It’s just something that you don’t do. I wasn’t expecting him to go that low.” 

The Category 5 hurricane tore through the island leaving it without electricity or water for months and an estimated death toll of 1,427.  But Hurricane Maria was just one of the many disasters the island has confronted in the past years. In 2019, the island was hit by governmental corruption and underwent a tumultuous transition in  after people took to the streets to protest against then governor Ricardo Roselló. Throughout the beginning of 2020, earthquakes began shaking different parts of the island, destroying homes and damaging an already fragile power grid.

With the Puerto Rican population on the island shrinking dramatically since the landfall of Maria, Florida has become a key battleground state for the 2020 presidential election. Both candidates have been competing to win over the Latino vote in the state and Puerto Ricans have proven to be a key demographic there, making up 27% of the overall eligible Latino voters in the state.  

Nava Alsina has been working with the Florida Democratic Party to mobilize the Puerto Rican vote in the state. As part of a group called Boricuas con Biden, Nava Alsina has helped make over 60,000 calls to Puerto Rican voters. The group, which is led by volunteers, has also relied on text messaging initiatives, zoom calls and Puerto Rican artists to motivate voters. 

While working on this initiative, Nava Alsina has had the chance to listen to what many Puerto Ricans have to say about Hurricane Maria and  the Trump administration handled the aftermath of the storm on the island. 

Natascha Otero, founder of Boricuas con Biden, said  that Florida is a key state for the Puerto Rican vote because most  have close ties to the island. Some have  family members who still live on the island or they fled to the state  after the hurricane. Otero said  these Puerto Ricans still recall what the island went through the past four years.

As part of the  group’s initiative, Puerto Rican voters speak with fellow Puerto Ricans who are still on the island over the phone. This process has been a key element when campaigning. Especially now that their efforts are limited to social media, texts and phone calls due to Covid-19. 

“As opposed to other groups, we know what Puerto Rico has suffered because of the Trump administration,” said Otero. “We don’t want four more years of that for the island.” 

But there’s still a group that favors president Trump’s reelection. Among them are top officials that form part of Puerto Rico’s local government.  The island’s appointed governor, Wanda Vázquez Garced, endorsed Trump during an interview with Telemundo. Nayda Venegas Brown, a conservative senator who’s a member of the New Progressive Party (PNP) on the island, participated in a caravan to support president Trump in Puerto Rico. 

Puerto Ricans participate in a “Puerto Ricans for Trump” rally held in Puerto Rico. Photo provided by Nelson Albino

But the efforts from the island to try and branch out to Puerto Rican voters in the diaspora has been from both sides. For the first time in 50 years, the island’s main newspaper, El Nuevo Día, endorsed a presidential candidate; it was Joe Biden. The editorial piece highlighted Biden’s plans for the island if elected and condemned the way President Trump has behaved towards the island describing the way Puerto Rico has been treated by his administration as, “an overwhelming amount of inattention, disdain and prejudice against our people.” 

But there is not much either of them can do except hope that the message gets through to Puerto Ricans who live on the mainland. Why? Because Puerto Ricans on the island cannot vote in the presidential elections due to the island’s territorial status.  However,  that  has not discouraged Puerto Ricans on the island to stand behind the candidates they support, especially in an election that puts so much at stake.

Nelson Albino, a co-founder of Puerto Ricans for Trump, has been clear in his support for president Trump’s reelection even though he cannot vote for him. Albino was also one of the organizers of the Puerto Ricans for Trump caravan in which Venegas Brown participated.

“I wanted to send a message to the political establishment in the island that there are Republicans in Puerto Rico who no longer believe the lies of the establishment and the media, and also to send a message to the national Republican leadership that there are conservatives in Puerto Rico,” said Albino.  

For Albino, the way the Trump administration managed the aftermath of Hurricane María was mostly influenced by  the island’s history with corruption, an ongoing problem. He said  that many politicians on the island have an axe to grind with president Trump because of the way he “drained the swamp” in the Puerto Rican government. Albino also believes that statehood for Puerto Rico is not an option for the island in the foreseeable future because Puerto Rico is simply not ready to become a state. 

But regardless of the opposition many Puerto Ricans have shown against the Trump administration, Albino is optimistic that president Trump will win the reelection and continue to do the work that he believes has helped the island progress and move forward. 

“I believe he will be elected,” said Albino

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“I know a lot of cats who were wronged by our justice system and got locked up till today for it,” said Thomas, 41 of Grand Rapids, Michigan and a barber at Jay’s Den. “We hear about the George Floyds and the Jake Blakes on the news who were victims of a flawed justice system, but there are also many other brothers out there whose lives and freedom got taken away for crimes that they did not commit, or whose crime did not warrant the punishment they got. It’s crazy. We gotta vote like our lives depend on it to change that. I know I will.”

For many Black male voters, the upcoming election feels like a life or death issue. With police brutality, unemployment raging under the pandemic, racism and domestic terrorism on the rise, Black men are disproportionally affected. 

“The Black vote is super important,” said Thomas.  “It changes the whole narrative. Our forefathers died and risked their lives so that we could have these rights, and we have to show them that we don’t take it for granted.” 

Byron Brooks, 25, an activist, social entrepreneur and student at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan,

Byron Brooks believes that Black America needs to put politicians in office who will stand for social equity. Photo courtesy of Byron Brooks.

said  that this upcoming election differs starkly from the rest because of the spotlight on racial  injustice.

“One thing that stands out about this election is that we are now in an era where people are bolder in their ideologies of racism,” he said. “With the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others, we need to put people in office who will stand for social equity.” 

Darren Davis, a Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame University and an expert in political behavior and racial politics, believes that the security and safety of the Black man are at stake because of how President Donald Trump has handled the Black Lives Matter movement.

Darren Davis, a Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame University and an expert in Political behavior and racial politics, believes that the security and safety of the Black man are at stake in the upcoming election. October 24, 2020. Photo Courtesy of Darren Davis.

“People are encouraged to be punitive and to fear AfricanAmerican men because of the rhetoric that President Trump puts out there,” said Davis. “That has been very clear from the beginning.”

African-American men have been one of the main targets of police brutality. According to research carried out by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Black men are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by the police in their lifetime compared to their white counterparts. 

“To personalize it a bit, I am fearful, and I have friends who are fearful because of the way the current president has endorsed the police,” Davis said. “The big dog whistle in his discourse is his endorsement of the police.” 

According to recent polling by the Democracy Fund, 83 percent of potential Black voters favored former Vice President Joe Biden. In comparison, 10 percent favored President Trump, and 8 percent said they were unsure of who they would pick as their presidential candidate. 

Although a significant portion of Black voters gravitate towards the Democratic party, there are still influential Black men who are rooting for the Republican party. Rappers like 50 Cent and Ice Cube recently attracted a lot of media attention with their support  of President Trump, seemingly highlighting a small faction of Black conservative male voters.  

Every side is the Darkside for us here in America. They’re all the same until something changes for us. They all lie and they all cheat but we can’t afford not to negotiate with whoever is in power or our condition in this country will never change. Our justice is bipartisan. https://t.co/xFIXXpOs8B

— Ice Cube (@icecube) October 14, 2020

👀you see that, I post something on IG while watching the News and I end up on the front page of the paper.🤦‍♂️hey get the app STARZ. pic.twitter.com/oFQAkEjxXy

— 50cent (@50cent) October 21, 2020

Roland Martin, a journalist and News One commentator, believes  the Democratic Party is  overlooking the Black male vote.

Hey @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris. Y’all better pay more attention to Black men! I’ve gotten a dozen calls in the last 48 hours about the lack of attention on Black males. These brothers from all walks of life have hit me. The disconnect is REAL. 1/2

— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) October 7, 2020

Armani Madison, 26, a Harvard Law School student and Editor in Chief at the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Review,  believes the Black male vote is complex and driven by a variety of issues.

 “Issues like policing, mass incarceration, funding for education, social programs, and issues impacting low-income urban environments come to mind,” said Madison.”I also think about undocumented Black immigrants and how my vote will affect them. The stakes are higher than they have ever been before. Now that we have seen the policy effects of Trump in office, it puts urgency in people’s minds about the election.”

Arturo Puckerin, an executive director of the Muskegon-Oceana Community Action Partnership (MOCAP), and a politician, said that he agrees with a vast range of Trump initiatives, and will be voting for him in the upcoming election. Photo courtesy of Arturo Puckerin.

Although the numbers may show that a large majority of the Black vote goes to the Democratic Party, there are exceptions.

Arturo Puckerin, 37, a politician, president, and executive director of Muskegon-Oceana Community Action Partnership (MOCAP) in Muskegon, Michigan, is a member of the Republican Party and believes that the Trump administration is doing an excellent job.

“I voted for Trump in 2016, and I will vote for him again this year,” said Puckerin. “Yes, he can be a little racist, but at least you know that he is looking out for the interest of the people. He goes in and does his job.” I like what he [Trump] has done so far.”

In what seems to be one of the most high stakes elections in recent history, Black voting is on the rise. 

 “It is a proportional increase because there has been a general uptick in voting across the city,” said Joel Hondorp, Grand Rapids Michigan City Clerk, “However,  I have observed that people in the Black community are  spreading more information in their communities about voting and are very keen on getting members of their demographic to vote. That’s a good thing. Voting is power. If you’re not voting as a bloc, you are giving up a lot of your political power.”

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Despite being U.S. citizens since 1917, despite holding a U.S. passport and despite being able to join the U.S. army, Puerto Ricans who live on their home island do not have the right to vote in the U.S. presidential election. A study conducted in 2012 by economist Rosario Rivera Negrón, former President of the Puerto Rico Economists Association and a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, demonstrated that “in a typical year (2008), the Puerto Rican economy received a total of $4.6 billion in U.S. federal dollars, while contributing $71.6 billion dollars to the U.S. economy.” Despite all that and much more, unless they live in the U.S., Puerto Ricans can’t vote for “their” President.

“If we die in the army for this country why shouldn’t we be able to vote for our Commander in Chief?” says Adriana Rozas, a Journalism graduate student in Syracuse who is voting for the second time in her life, but for the first time in the U.S. She was one of several Puerto Rican friends who I contacted to discuss voting as a Puerto Rican. She graduated from Amherst College in 2019 and just sent in her absentee ballot for Massachusetts, where she had worked on Ed Markey’s campaign. She explained, “It felt weird, knowing that I’m going to vote but not my parents. Honestly it hurt because yes I voted but there are three million people that aren’t going to vote for their president.”

It is a strange privilege that we don’t take for granted, not only having the right to vote in the U.S. but being able to choose whether to vote in the U.S. or in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico holds its election on the same day as the U.S. does and in fact, it’s a national holiday. María del Mar Fournier, a graduate student at Columbia’s Teacher College explains, “That was a very hard decision for me because I obviously want to get rid of Trump and I have a very clear idea of what I want in the U.S. but in Puerto Rico there is a lot more uncertainty.” Fournier is one of many who feel it is a tough and often unfair decision to have to make. Rozas agrees, explaining, “I feel very connected to Puerto Rico and when I moved, that connection became even stronger, I put more effort into that connection knowing I’m not on the island. It was a hard decision because it felt a little bit like I was betraying ‘la patria’ (Spanish for homeland) by not voting in Puerto Rico but I think the most important thing right now is to get rid of Donald Trump.” Tatiana Rotger, who graduated from Penn State and is currently looking for work in Chicago, chose to vote in the U.S. elections both in 2016 and 2020. She says one of her motivations is knowing that Puerto Ricans in the island can’t vote. “I feel like I have to represent [them].” she says.

Of the millions of Puerto Ricans who get to choose where to vote, not everyone feels that voting in the U.S. rather than in Puerto Rico is the obvious choice. Pia Montilla, who lived in New York City for nearly five years and is now temporarily back home in Puerto Rico, explains it can feel hypocritical “to vote somewhere that wouldn’t give you the right to vote if you didn’t live in mainland U.S.A. It feels like a business deal. Someone can convince you to vote for them but that very person won’t fight for your right to vote if you were in Puerto Rico.” However, at the end of the day, no matter where or for who they vote for, everyone I talked to has one priority in common: Puerto Rico.

Alejandro Auffant, who was working in sales for the Chicago Cubs and has come back to Puerto Rico during the pandemic says that, “Through all my actions I keep in mind that my end-goal is being back in Puerto Rico. For me the way to vote in the U.S. is about who would do better for Puerto Rico.” Rozas agrees, “As a Puerto Rican in the ‘diáspora,’ I vote based on the issues I care about but [being] Puerto Rican, I need to think about who is going to be better for Puerto Rico. I think about who would have handled Hurricane Maria better. What candidate is going to treat us better regardless of whether they give us statehood or independence?” Fournier reinforces the same feeling, that it’s Puerto Rico or bust. She says, “My priority will always be Puerto Rico, I consider myself Puerto Rican even if I’m living here, I feel like I’m on vacation here and my heart is always there. My priority will always be what benefits Puerto Rico.” states Fournier. Javier Álvarez, who attends Tulane Law School, explains, “For so many years we’ve been part of a community that has been marginalized and not been at the forefront of the national conscience. As a Puerto Rican it’s our duty to vote in order for those issues to enter the national conscience.”

Explaining Puerto Rico isn’t easy and the feelings that come with being Puerto Rican aren’t either. On one hand, it’s a relief to hear presidential candidates talk about Puerto Rico, to Puerto Ricans. But when they address Puerto Ricans, with the full awareness that island-dwellers cannot vote for them, it feels disingenuous. Although Puerto Ricans can’t vote in the U.S. elections, they can in fact vote in the primaries from the island, granting candidates much needed delegates. Although Puerto Ricans can’t vote for President, they can possibly influence their family members who are among the 1.2 million Puerto Ricans in Florida alone. The influence of the non-voter becomes almost as important as the vote itself.

At the end of the day, people in Puerto Rico don’t pay federal income taxes, which has landed us in a “no representation without taxation” situation. There is a Resident Commissioner, who is the equivalent of a non-voting member of Congress. But if the 15th Amendment to the Constitution is meant to protect U.S. citizens’ votes, can not paying federal taxes take away that protection? Is the Puerto Rican land that the American government uses for army bases not enough? Were the women left sterilized after birth control experimentation at the hands of U.S. doctors not enough? Are our soldiers not enough? Do we only get to be first-class citizens when our address has U.S.A. on it? Only when you need us?

The post Voting Puerto Rican appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

“When Trump was first elected I just thought to myself, damn, my whole family is about to be deported,” Angeles Cavallo of Teaneck, New Jersey said. “That has been a constant worry in my family for the last four years.”

Cavallo and her family emigrated to the United States from Argentina when she was 3.  Although her family has green cards, they still worry.

“My mom didn’t leave the house for months, like if it wasn’t for work she wouldn’t leave the house,” Cavallo said. “This was the time when people were being randomly pulled over by the police to check if they had papers or not. And if you didn’t have them you were done. She stayed in the house for a total of eight months.”

Cavallo’s roommates, Alina Tiburcio and Darlyn Rebolledo, are also worried about a possible Trump reelection.

Tiburcio grew up in a Dominican multigenerational household in New York surrounded by many other Domincan families. Rebolledo was raised in a Colombian household in New Jersey.

“The fear that immigrant families face comes from the lack of knowledge about U.S. laws,” Tiburcio said. “Even though my mom has her papers she is still scared of the cops because of the political climate we live in today.”

Even with the lack of popularity Trump has in the Latino community, there are still those who are supporting him. This past Monday in Phoenix, Arizona, hundreds of Latinos gathered indoors for Trump’s “Latinos for Trump” event. 

“I know minorities who have voted for Trump and say that they vote for him because he’s going to take away all these programs that abuse the government,” Rebolledo said.

“Which their own parents are on,” Tiburcio rebutted. 

According to  recent polls taken in Arizona, Biden leads with 62% of the Latino support compared to Trump who only has 29%. 

 “I am going to work like the devil to make sure I turn every Latino and Hispanic vote,” Joe Biden told the New York Times after a speech in Delaware on Monday.

Cavallo said she is feeling uneasy about the future if Trump is reelected.

“My whole life I’ve never felt uncomfortable living in America until President Trump came into office,” Cavallo said. 

Trump flags make Rebolledo feel uneasy. 

 “It’s an unwelcoming feeling I get every time I see that “Make America Great Again” flag hung at an establishment,” she said.

 Rebolledo has already started telling her nephews and nieces to comply with the police and they are only 12 and 14 years old. 

But Tiburcio hopes that if he is reelected a powerful voice will rise to combat his message.

“I hope it brings out the radicals, the Malcom Xs, the Martin Luther King Jr.s, the Maya Angelous,” Tiburcio said. “We haven’t had anyone like that in years and I think it’s time.”

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