These are only some of the stories we encounter during this fascinating look at politics played out at its most local — and therefore most personal — level. Chevigny chose to shoot this film in a cinema verite style, which means that the camera tells us the whole story. There is no narrator, no celebrity voice intoning a message, no Michael Moore-caliber personality to interpret events or insinuate themselves into the proceedings. By allowing us to witness events as they unfold and come to our own conclusions, by allowing these citizens to speak in their own voices, Chevigny acknowledges our ability to figure things out for ourselves. The closest we get to a point of view perhaps comes from Shanta Guate, an Australian observer who is reporting on the election for an organization called Fair Election International. While her job is to observe and not insinuate herself into the proceedings, the expressions on her face as she documents polling place chaos speak volumes.
If you are a white voter from a middle-class or affluent voting precinct, you will likely have your eyes opened by Election Day. My own voting experiences over the decades have been simple and straightforward. I have never not known where to go to cast my vote. I have never had my identity or my eligibility challenged. The poll workers I have encountered have been unfailingly competent and polite. Most importantly, I have never had any doubt that the ballot I cast would be counted. Clearly the American voting experience is not the same for everyone, and if Election Day paints an accurate picture, then it is difficult to escape the conclusion that it is the poor and those who belong to racial or ethnic minorities who are most often asked to vote in the face of seemingly huge obstacles.
Perhaps this shouldn't come as a huge surprise in a country in which election laws are made locally and voting procedures are anything but uniform. This means that in some places voters can register and vote on the same day. In others, people must register by a deadline in order to vote. Some people vote by machine, and others cast paper ballots that are stuffed into a locked ballot box. Voters in tiny communities will cast their votes amongst their friends and neighbors, while voters in large urban precincts may be unknown to the poll workers. That the people who must surmount these obstacles persist in doing so, understanding that they do indeed have a stake in the outcome, speaks volumes about our collective faith in the process. For every citizen who refuses to vote because "nothing ever changes", there are countless others who will spend an entire day and then some pursuing the opportunity to exercise their rights and make their voices heard. I challenge anyone to watch this film and entertain second thoughts about voting this November.
Election Day has screened at festivals and elsewhere to much critical acclaim. It will have its national broadcast premiere on July 1 as part of PBS's P.O.V. series. The show will air at 10pm Eastern, but check your local listings.
Article comments
1 - Josh Lasser
Congratulations! This article has been selected for syndication to the Advance family of websites and to Boston.com, which will allow even more readers to enjoy it.