By NBCNews.com and news services
Talk about getting out the labor vote.
One determined Chicago woman voted this
morning - even though she was in full-blown labor, with contractions five
minutes apart. After casting her ballot, she drove herself to the hospital.
Galicia Malone's contractions began at 3
a.m. on Election Day, she told WBBM Newsradio in Chicago. At 21, this is the first
presidential eleciton in which Malone is eligible to vote, so she held out until
polls opened.
"I never voted before, so this made a major
difference in my life. I wanted it to be a stepping stone for my daughter," she
told WBBM. The office of Cook County Clerk David Orr told NBC her water had already broken when she showed up
at her polling place, the aptly named New Life Celebration Church.
"If only all voters showed such determination to vote," Orr said. "My hat goes
off to Galicia for not letting anything get in the way of voting. What a
terrific example she is showing for the next generation, especially her new son or
daughter."
She worked her way through the ballot while
also working through several contractions. She told WBBM:
"You know what, I was just trying to read
and breathe, read and breathe. That's what I kept telling myself as I sat there,
read and breathe."
NBC News