HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Melanie Driver got her first job at the BakerRipley House but she’s having a hard time looking at the building on Wednesday.
It was her polling place for the midterms -- well, it was supposed to be.
“When I drove up right now, it was like déjà vu and (I) shook my head,” she said.
Driver and a handful of other voters showed up during the extra voting hour in Harris County on Election Day. They were told to fill out affidavits for provisional ballots. Oscar Morales described what happened next.
“We were about to get in and vote,” he said. “They got some message over the phone saying the Supreme Court had revoked it and we couldn’t vote. So 11 of us that had filled out affidavits didn’t get a chance to vote. That’s not fair. I’m a U.S. citizen and I have a right to vote.”
Driver was just as stunned.
“It just feels disappointing,” she said. “That's my voice.”
Driver doesn’t plan to fight what happened on election night but does feel empowered.
“To figure out how to prevent this from happening,” she said. “What do we need to do? What do we need to sign? We can’t just let this slip through the cracks. It will continue to happen. This taught me to get more involved and now really raise my voice because my voice does matter.”
Driver said the reason she didn’t get to the polls sooner was that she juggles work and helps to care for her aging father. During the next election, she hopes to manage her time better and vote early.