Local Voters Arrive Early on Rainy Election Day

The line began at 6 a.m.

Voting wouldn't officially start for another hour, but that didn't deter Seminole Heights and east Tampa residents from waiting outside the C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library at 2607 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. on an overcast Tuesday morning.

As rain fell on both poll workers and voters, cars lined 26th Street near a cemetery. Election signs buckled from the raindrops and leaned toward the ground.

Standing on the corner of 26th Street and East 33rd Street, poll worker Loretha Barthel said Seminole Heights residents often vote at the Blythe library, and were prepared for wet weather on Election Day.

"People had chairs and umbrellas when I got here at 6:30 a.m.," she said. "They were lined up and ready to go. They said they'd stay in line."

Barthel said this year's election is crucial - especially for black people.

"It's an important race, because everything is on the line," she said. "They said black people won't come, or we'd put it off because of the weather. But 240 people have voted so far."

What are you seeing at the polls? Tell us in the comments.