Voters Hesitate to Answer Exit Poll in West Columbus

More voters admitted to casting a ballot for Barack Obama than John McCain at the Westland Recreational Center in Columbus, Ohio today.

However out of 75 persons surveyed during a one and a half hour period, 23 said they voted for Obama and 17 said McCain. Thirty-five people chose not to respond. Of the voters who chose not to respond, one was African-American.

The one person who did all the talking, Don Elijah Eckhart, independent candidate for the 15th congressional seat running against Mary Jo Kilroy and Steve Stivers, appeared to have convinced some voters.

"I'm a positive person and I've never said anything negative about anyone," said Eckhart, who also told passersby that he's from the neighborhood -- Johnson Road -- and that his son went to Westland High School. "I don't take money from lobbyists."

Don Elijah Eckhart appeals to voters for the 15th Ohio Congressional seat.

Sharon, an Obama voter who did not want to give her last name, said that she had to complete a provisional ballot because her name did not appear in the registration books. She said that in past elections she had voted at that same location and that both her husband and her son, with whom she lives, voted there already.

"I am not really comfortable doing this way," said Sharon, who walked out of the polling site about 25 minutes after her husband. "I am not sure whether they will get to my vote compared to those in the system."

Still, few voters had any problems. Randy Mayhew, who said he voted for John McCain, said he noticed one very big difference between this election and the last -- the short line meant that a lot of people exercised their right to vote early compared to the 2004 election, which to him was a good thing.

"The essential basis of a true democracy is for everybody's voice to be heard," said Mayhew. "If people can't express themselves there is always the question whether the candidate chose was the one they preferred."