German Campaign Volunteer Encourages Dormont Residents to Vote

At a glance, Lilo Camp looks like any other campaign volunteer, knocking on doors on Election Day and encouraging Dormont residents to get out and vote. But when she speaks, her accent is one that's not usually heard in the borough.

Camp, a volunteer with the Obama campaign, is German and is still a citizen of Germany. She moved to the Pittsburgh area with her husband, who is a United States citizen, and they have a daughter, who she said has dual citizenship.

Whether it was the volunteers' encouragment, or simply the draw of the presidential race, larger-than-usual numbers of people headed to the polls on Tuesday morning.

Before noon, nearly 500 people had passed through the doors of Dormont Presbyterian Church to vote in districts three and five. Clerks at that location said they expected larger crowds during the lunch hour, and possibly long lines Tuesday evening after work hours.

The situation in Brookline was similar, where a majority clerk at Brookline Boulevard United Presbyterian Church said a line formed out the door and onto the sidewalk just after 7 a.m. Things had slowed by mid-morning, but nearly 200 people cast their votes at that location before 11 a.m. Voters still were steadily filing in through the doors, which the clerks considered promising.

Camp might not be able to cast a vote in the 2012 election herself, but she said she hopes others will take advantage of their right.

She said Dormont is truly an area of hard working people—most of them were at work as she made her rounds through the neighborhood Tuesday morning. She said those she talked to told her they'd already voted.

"It's good to hear that people are out and voting," Camp said. "That's what we want. We are trying to get people out to vote."

For information about local polling places, click here.

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