Ted Behrmann, right, has found the election to be mentally exhausting and has spent lots of time caring for their own mental health and that of their friends. So much so that they almost forgot to vote. “I don’t like Biden, I don’t like Trump, but I don’t want to watch more people die,” they said after casting a vote for Biden at a drop box in Burien. “It’s a utilitarian situation.” (Agueda Pacheco Flores/Crosscut)
Lin Wilson waves to voters outside the CenturyLink Field Event Center on Nov. 3, 2020. Wilson says she is there to support voters and help spread awareness about the flu. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut)
A banner promoting voting hangs above the street in downtown Kirkland on Nov. 2, 2020. (Jovelle Tamayo for Crosscut)
Chad Meis, 32, poses for a portrait with his son, Max, 2, after dropping off his ballot on Nov. 3, 2020, at Rainier Beach Community Center, in Seattle. “I’m hoping for peace in the community, regardless of the outcome,” he said. “It’s important we have the freedom to vote, and that we exercise it, regardless of what party we’re voting for. I’m excited to see people coming out, I’m excited to involve my kids in it. We want to see peace in the community, we want to see justice in the community, we want to see hope in the community. Regardless of who wins on every single decision on the ballot, I really just want to see families in this community supported.” (Jovelle Tamayo for Crosscut)
Leora Dillow, 30, a resident of Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood, said she has grown concerned recently about the rise of right-wing extremist groups like the Proud Boys, which President Donald Trump recently told to “stand back and stand by” during a presidential debate. “I’m hoping for peace and solidarity, but I am sort of expecting uprisings no matter what,” Dillow said, when asked what she expects to happen on election night. As someone who is Jewish, she said, “The Proud Boys have been something really stressful for me and my family.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group is primarily misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration, and “some members espouse white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideologies and/or engage with white supremacist groups.” (Melissa Santos/Crosscut)
Dan Moore, 51, after dropping off his ballot at Rainier Beach Community Center, in Seattle. “It feels more important in general,” Moore said. “It’s hard to tell how it’ll all play out, but it feels better than most years.” (Jovelle Tamayo for Crosscut)
A ballot drop-box worker navigates the rain. Nationally, rain showers have often meant lower than normal voter turnout, but Washington's mail-in voting avoids such hurdles. (Jovelle Tamayo for Crosscut)
Campaign signs for presidential candidate Donald Trump line a street corner in Kirkland on the eve of the election day, Nov. 2, 2020. (Jovelle Tamayo for Crosscut)
A sign that reads “vote him out” outside a home in Seattle on Nov. 3, 2020. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut)
Patti Gorman, dressed as "Lady Liberty," cheers on voters at Seattle Central College on Election Day, Nov. 3. (Margo Vansynghel/Crosscut)
Alex Hernandez has never voted in an election before. When the 20-year-old dropped off his ballot at the box outside the Lake City library, he said he thought it was important to use the power he has — his vote — to help steer the country in a new direction. He said he thinks it is particularly important for people who are eligible to vote to use their voice at the ballot box, since not everyone has that ability. His parents, for instance, cannot vote, because they immigrated from Mexico and aren’t citizens. “My parents don’t have the privilege to vote, but I do,” he said. (Melissa Santos/Crosscut)
King County election workers tend to the Capitol Hill ballot box on Nov. 3, 2020. King Country reported boxes across the region would be emptied throughout the day to avoid overstuffed drop boxes that would delay voting. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut)
A group from Drop the Vote cheers on voters outside the CenturyLink Field Event Center on Nov. 3, 2020. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut)
Tom Johnson, 72, drops off his ballot on Nov. 3, 2020. “It’s important to vote so people in D.C. know they’re being watched,” Johnson said. (Jovelle Tamayo for Crosscut)
Diana Tellez, 23, of Yakima, was feeling unsure about Election Day, and said it’s “a little bit of a mess.” She was turning in her ballot on Election Day because she’s a procrastinator, she said, but also wanted to do it in person because she was concerned about her vote being counted. “I’m just hoping that my vote goes in as soon as they get it — [that] it doesn’t get left out or doesn’t get, how they say like, it disappears,” Tellez said. (Emily McCarty/Crosscut)
King County Elections worker Kyle Daley waits for voters to drop off their ballot at the Beacon Hill drop box on Nov. 3, 2020. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut)
Crosscut Framed is a column featuring unique visual storytelling about the people, places and issues of the Pacific Northwest, from staff photojournalists of and visual contributors to Crosscut. See more stories here.
