While many have remarked on the tragic irony of?the death?of Barack Obama’s grandmother two days before she could have seen him elected to the most powerful job in the world, the late Madelyn Dunham has imparted a final gift to her beloved grandson: her vote.?
Election officials in Hawaii, where Dunham, 86, had lived, confirmed that her absentee ballot will be counted, the Associated Press reports.?
Explaining his state’s law, Kevin Cronin, chief elections officer for Hawaii, said Tuesday that absentee ballots cast by someone who dies before an election are discarded only if a state death notice arrives before Election Day.?
Dunham’s ballot was received Oct. 27, said Cronin, adding that her death notice had yet to appear.?
“Because she was alive on the 27th and [her ballot] had the same processing as other absentee ballots, it will be counted,” he said.?
Talking about his grandmother on Election eve, Obama said, “She has gone home. … I’m not going to talk about it too often because it’s hard to talk about.” ?(Source)
In an emotional address to a jubilant and tearful crowd in Chicago?s Grant Park, US president-elect Barack Obama led followers in chants of ?Yes we can? as he spoke of the hope of a better day and called for unity and sacrifice in facing the hard challenges ahead.?
Hello Chicago. If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.?
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.?
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.?
We are, and always will be, the United States of America. (Full Text)
Great job people! ?Even though Georgia was one of the red states, we still did it. No ifs ands or buts about it. Barack Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States. ?Change has finally come…even Jessie Jackson had to shed some tears!
“Free at last, free at last. ?Thank God almighty, we’re free at last…”
I got chills watching this! Eddie Carlisle, 88, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio votes for the first African American to be on a major party ticket for the presidency, and reflects on the enormity of the day. ?This is why your vote is so important…
Sean “Diddy” Combs?made a point to invite the press to his New York City polling place, as he casts his vote for Sen. Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race. ?So, for all you skeptics who think that Diddy and the team are all talk and no action…take notes!
Who’s Talking?