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In many parts of the country on Election Day, voters had to wait in long lines to cast their ballots for the 2018 midterms. To keep them committed to performing one of the most important civic duties on Nov. 6, celebrities tweeted "Stay In Line," encouraging voters to stay put despite the long wait at some polling places.
For many voters, waiting in line was no easy feat. There were reportedly hours-long wait lines in parts of New York, Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, and Georgia, among others. But celebrities like Lady Gaga, Ava DuVernay, Debra Messing, and others urged voters not to leave the polling station and forgo that voting power.
According to thousands of complaints made by activists and civil rights groups, voting machines in various states were in inadequate shape for voters to use. Especially for people in Georgia, the running complaint seemed to be about how voting machines did not match the needs of the local population.
In one instance in Atlanta, according to The Washington Post, 3,000 registered voters had only three voting machines initially. In other parts of the state, the lines for voters took up as long as four hours. After the burdensome wait was over in Gwinnett County, voters found out that the voting machines didn't work to begin with.
Given these issues, it would be understandable that voters felt discouraged from voting. Still, celebrities implored them to wait and cast their ballot.
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Ava DuVernay
The film director tweeted, "No matter how tired or aggravated you are. If they tell you, you can’t vote because the machine is broken or the polls are closing, dig deep and #StayInLine!"
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Debra Messing
The message from Messing was simple: Just stay in line and vote.
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Hillary Clinton
Although Clinton is not a Hollywood celebrity, she is still a highly well-known public figure in the United States. On Tuesday, she tweeted, "Please stay in line, encourage those around you to do the same, and help bring this home for @StaceyAbrams."
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Comedian Natasha Rothwell
Rothwell's message to her followers: "Exercise your right to vote and exorcize the right from office."
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Film Executive Franklin Leonard
For Leonard, the reason to stay in line came from a much more personal end. "If you live in Georgia, please vote on behalf of my father’s father, never finished the fifth grade, pitched against Satchel Paige, cooked in the Army, born and died in Georgia (in his 90s), and whose father was born a slave there and died a free man," Leonard tweeted.
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Common
Celebrity and rapper Common shared a list of actionable advice on who to contact if voters were experiencing any issues in casting their ballot.
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Sean Astin
You probably remember Astin from The Goonies and Stranger Things. On Tuesday, the actor wanted his followers to stay in line and vote for the Democratic Party.
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Kal Penn
Comedian Penn tweeted, "As long as you are in line by the time your poll closes, you have a right to vote."
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Other celebrities also asked people to stay in line to vote as long as they could and not waste their ballot. As Eichner tweeted, "We need your vote."
