Tardy Exercisers of the Right to Vote Waited in Line Until 3 A.M.

Would you wait in line until 3 a.m. to cast your vote?

A lot of Chicagoans did. And at least one was inspired by Gov. Pat Quinn’s refusal to concede defeat to Bruce Rauner.

“He’s not giving up, we’re not giving up,” Decorda McGee told the Chicago Tribune. “It was really important.”

She was really “pumped up” after hearing Quinn say “every vote must be counted,” and she finally got to cast hers at 3 a.m. Wednesday after more than an eight-hour wait.

“I just didn’t want to be denied,” McGee said after leaving her polling place in Ravenswood. “I wasn’t going to be denied my right to vote, and that was the sentiment of everybody in there.”

Illinois implemented a new provisional ballot law this year that allowed people to register to vote and vote on election day. Their registration information will be authenticated later. With only five same-day registration locations available in a city of more than 2 million people, the lines were long. And voters were confused. The Chicago Board of Elections issued a statement saying anyone in line as of 7 p.m. would be allowed to stay, register and vote.

On the plus side, Mayor Rahm Emanuel showed up with pizza for those waiting in line.

Jodi Swanson of Lakeview, a 10-year Chicago resident, registered on Tuesday after her boyfriend shamed her into doing so.

“He made a really good point. He said, ‘Every time I wait to vote, I think about the people who died’” for the country’s freedoms, Swanson told DNAinfo Chicago.

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» Gov. Pat Quinn Refuses to Concede to Bruce Rauner

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