Voters experienced a slow start, but enthusiasm for Prop A remains high as some hope for better development.
SAN ANTONIO — At 7:45 a.m., after a 45-minute wait, poll workers at Cameron Elementary welcomed their first voter.
The school, on Belgium Lane, is less than two miles from the Frost Bank Center and Freeman compound, which would see big changes if Prop A, the “Coliseum Complex Venue Project,” is approved by voters.
At Bowden Elementary on Willow Street, a little over two miles west of the venue, poll workers saw 24 voters in more than two hours at the start of the day.
On East Commerce Street, at the Claude Black Multi Service Center, the turnout was a bit more robust, especially for the mobility impaired, where numerous voters drove up for curb-side service.
The neighborhood near Cameron is a part of the United Homeowners Improvement Association.
It’s a legacy area, with many of the original homeowners who came to the area when the neighborhood was built back in the 1960s.
When it comes to signage at this polling place, it has been an equal split between those who are for and against the plan to bring development to the nearby Freeman compound.
Cameron had one small problem bringing ballot printers online, but it was solved in about 20 minutes.
At Cameron and other east-side polls, voters said they hope as people get off work the pace will pick up because participation matters.
Jackie Henderson said she has lived in the area for years.
Henderson said, “Get up and vote! Cause you won’t have a voice! If you don’t vote, then nothing is really going to work! So you have to vote! That’s the only way it’s going to change things. If you want it better, you have to make it better! So get up off the couch and come and vote!”
With regard to the outcome of the Prop A vote, Henderson said, “I think it’s important so we can have a better life over here. We need better quality!”
Henderson said, “I pray, pray, pray that this really works because we are tired of suffering.”
A 98-year-old voter, who declined to provide her name, left the Black Center slowly, relying on a cane to help navigate the parking lot.
She said, “I got up and I hated to leave my TV with all that bad news on it, but I like to keep up with it. And I got up and got dressed and come over here to vote because it’s that important!”