By mid- to late morning Tuesday, election voters appeared to be moving quickly in and out of polling locations in Camden, Dover and Woodside.

Waynenicka Cooper said she initially arrived at Polytech High School just after the polls opened and found a line stretching around the corner of the school. She estimated that several dozen citizens were waiting to vote.

Fearing a long wait, Ms. Cooper said she left and returned about three hours later to find the crowd had lessened significantly. It took her around five minutes to complete the process of voting, she said.

Exiting East Dover Elementary School, Shawn Walker reported a similar experience. He lives across the street from the school and saw about 50 people lined up at around 6:30 a.m. After deciding not to arrive at the polling place early, Mr. Walker waited until just before 11 a.m. and reported entering and exiting quickly when he did vote.

Magnolia resident Karen Bonavita’s fears of a long wait were allayed upon arrival at Polytech High.

“There weren’t long lines that were talked about,” she said. “Everyone was wearing a mask even though they didn’t have to. That was a good thing because I knew some people were scared of people not doing so.”

To Ms. Bonavita, voting in person was a must.

“I didn’t trust the idea of mailing it in because I’ve had other mail get lost, so I didn’t want it to happen,” she said. “I’m just glad to have it in there, glad it was quick and glad there was no line, really.

“There was even more people in there than I’ve ever seen before. But it was efficient, and they were prepared. It went really good, and I’m glad to have it done.”

Dover’s Jayne Dick said the process took her about a minute and that “my mind was made up four years ago, and I think that pretty much tells you (who I voted for).

“And I’m wearing red.”

Relief was the mantra for Broadus Merritt, who joined his spouse, Betty, at Caesar Rodney High School.

“The news on TV and stuff was really getting on my nerves, so I’m glad this day is here,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to it all year.”

Anna and Jason Medina exited East Dover Elementary School after casting ballots that were well-earned. They arrived at Dover Air Force Base from Japan on a military transfer about a month ago and scrambled to establish residency to vote here.

“We made it happen because it was important to make our voices heard,” Ms. Medina said. “I feel like I did my duty today. I feel like I did good.

“I’m a minority. It is what it is, and I felt like I needed to be heard. I may have a little, tiny mouse voice, but I wanted to make sure it got heard.
“I vote for the little people. I vote for equality, which is what I just did today.”

Just before 9 a.m. in Townsend, the tight parking lot at the fire company was completely full as 40 or more voters stood in line waiting.

Standing nearby was Wann Reed, who said he’d voted in Blackbird at 7 a.m. and planned to escort family members to other polling spots to assure their security.

As to what motivated him most to vote, Mr. Reed said, “It’s time for (President Donald Trump) to go.

“Our democracy is almost broken, and we need to get back to what our Founding Fathers envisioned. You can’t have one person call all the shots because that’s a dictatorship.”

Peter Kirch pulled a 14-seat passenger bus in front of East Dover Elementary, unloading senior citizens to vote as he has for more than 20 years. He estimated he had ferried about 30 Luther Towers and Luther Village residents to that school and Fairview Elementary School, as well. The bus was only half-full due to COVID-19 restrictions, he said.