Shahela Jahan cast her vote at a polling booth at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn on Saturday.
One of the 95 million US citizens who have voted early, she was very excited about exercising her franchise for the first time in her life.
Before moving to New York in 2014 with her husband and daughter, the Dhaka University graduate had not had the chance to vote in any of the parliamentary or local elections in Bangladesh.
The 30-year-old, who lives with her family in Brooklyn, now works as a senior analyst at a consulting firm, after she became a naturalized US citizen in 2018.
Her family members also voted on Saturday, two days before Election Day when the country will vote to choose its next president amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic that has killed over 231,000 Americans so far.
The last day for early voting in New York was Sunday. Shahela said she did not wait more than 10-15 minutes to cast her vote. "I was excited to vote for the first time. There was no problem. It was simple, easy and quick for us.
"But it's possible that people will have to wait a couple of hours on November 3, since many will choose Election Day to vote."
She said she saw that most of the African-American and Hispanic citizens of New York were also eager to cast their votes early, compared to their interest in past elections — presidential or local.
"That was great to see. They know what their right is and what they should do this time around," Shahela said.
She identifies herself as a Democrat, but, with a laugh, said she would not say who she had voted for — Donald Trump or Joe Biden. She, however, voiced strong opinions and criticisms regarding both presidential candidates while talking to Dhaka Tribune.
Early voting
Until Monday, Reuters has reported, more than 95 million early votes had been cast either in person or by mail, according to the US Elections Project.
Just a day before Election Day, it said, the record-breaking number is equal to 69% of the entire voter turnout for the 2016 election and represents about 40% of all Americans who are legally eligible to vote.
This unprecedented level of early voting includes 60 million mail-in ballots that could take days or weeks to be counted in some states, meaning a winner might not be declared in the hours after polls close on Tuesday night, reports Reuters.
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