Chloe and Barney were only supposed to be on a 10-minute walk.
But the 9- and 8-year-old Yorkshire Terriers were walking laps around the parking lot with their mom, Ann Mackin, at St. Andrews First Presbyterian Church, precinct 538 and 551, for a little longer than expected.
They were waiting for Mackin's husband to cast his vote inside, and the dogs didn't seem to mind.
"They enjoy this sort of thing," Mackin said.
The line didn't appear long, but she understood the ballot is long this year. Her 10-minute stroll with Chloe, on a pink retractable leash, and Barney, on a mint green one, turned into at least a 20- or 30-minute walk. The lunch rush line was an hour or longer wait for many voters at that precinct.
"They're here to vote," Mackin said playfully as she passed the line.
Chloe had plenty of time to give a merry tail-wag greeting to as many voters as her leash would allow her to reach. Barney clung to Mackin's side. He wasn't as outgoing, Mackin said.
Mackin, from Belfast, Ireland, said she could not vote because she was not a U.S. citizen, but her husband, also from Ireland, became a citizen a few years ago.
She said she didn't apply to become a U.S. citizen at the time because she wouldn't be able to have dual citizenship. She didn't want to completely relinquish her Irish citizenship, she said.
"I regret it now," she said, looking toward the entrance of the precinct, from where she expected her husband to appear any moment.
See Also:
- Dunedin Church Precinct Becomes Battleground for Campaign Space
- Voting A Family Affair For Curtis Fundamental Teacher
- Even Dogs Head to the Polls in Dunedin
- No Wait to Vote at Mease Manor
