Pregnant Florida woman pushes labor aside to cast vote

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A pregnant Florida woman didn’t let labor stop her from casting her vote in the presidential election, refusing to go to the hospital until she filled out her ballot.

Officials with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections said the woman was already in labor when she arrived at the polling site with her husband Tuesday afternoon, news outlets reported.

Elections employee Karen Briceño González said the husband asked for a ballot for his wife and later told the staff that she was in the car, in labor and refusing to go to the hospital until she was able to vote.

Briceño González said she rushed outside to give the woman her ballot and check her ID. The staffer thought the woman would fill it out later, but while doing some controlled Lamaze breathing, the woman filled the ballot out right away.

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Elections clerk Eileen Deliz said the couple never mentioned why the woman waited until she was in labor to cast her vote.

“Maybe she wanted to come in-person at one point and that’s why she was waiting, who knows. But she wouldn’t go to the hospital until she voted,” Deliz said.

Deliz said the unexpected incident delivered a bunch of smiles to the election workers.

“We are very, very busy, but when something like that happens it just makes our day,” Deliz said. “Every election cycle brings us a great little story.”

Officials said the woman’s husband later drove her to an Orlando hospital.

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