Orange County woman so determined to vote, she stopped to cast ballot on her way to giving birth

An Orange County woman did her civic duty for two on Tuesday afternoon when she cast her ballot from the parking lot of the Supervisor of Elections office on Kaley … while in labor and en route to the hospital to give birth.

The woman, who has not been identified (because privacy), demanded that her husband make a quick pit stop at the Kaley Street polling location to early vote on the way to the hospital.

Helpful Supervisor of Elections staff brought the ballot out to her and checked her ID in the couple’s parked car, which she promptly filled out with a minimum of fuss. [Editor’s note: What’s your excuse for not voting yet?]

“I gave her an ‘I voted’ sticker and she was on her way to the hospital,” said elections employee Karen Briceño González to ClickOrlando. “She was very happy that she got to vote.”

After her ballot was cast, her husband drove her on to Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital.

And as this story goes viral – covered in national outlets like the Independent, Poltico, and Talking Points Memo – a state’s populace fervently hopes that this image will replace “hanging chads” as what people think of when they hear the words “Florida election.”

Early voting continues in Florida through Sunday, Nov. 1.

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This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2020.