In what might be one of the largest midterm election turnouts in U.S. history, reports of frustratingly long voting lines are flooding social media from all around the country, with some would-be voters facing three- and even four-hour wait times. Michael J. Ryan, executive director of New York City’s Board of Elections, told the New York Times that the maddening mob scenes should be taken as a sign of a “robust democracy,” a comment that did not go over too well on Twitter.
Fortunately, the good work of volunteers is making the wait times a little more palatable (and delicious) for the folks who just want to participate in our democracy. A group called Pizza to the Polls does exactly what it sounds like, using the pizza-ordering app Slice to bring sustenance to hungry voters who report long lines.
At last check, the group said it has delivered more than 6,000 pizzas to 366 polling places so far. If you search the hashtag #PizzaToThePolls, you can see this service is sorely–and sadly–needed, as people report long lines and tweet their respective thank-yous to these food-bearing heroes.
3 hour long line at the Senoia Community Center, Ga #PizzaToThePolls #hangryvoters #voteearlynexttime pic.twitter.com/Ldx2YxpyMQ
— Nicole Thompson (@nthomp01) November 6, 2018
.@PizzaToThePolls A friend at PS87 160 West 78th St. NY 10024 Reports 3 out of 5 broken scanners…Enormous crowds, frustration, people giving up and going home instead of voting — they need #PizzaToThePolls pic.twitter.com/6ysPB5hG1b
— S Shanahan (@SueShanny) November 6, 2018
Pizza to the Polls is accepting donations to fulfill its mission, so if you feel like helping make democracy happen, have at it.
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