ARTICLE: In some cases, voters in North Carolina face emotional decisions

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-election-day-2016-1478625622-htmlstory.html

A young woman walked toward a polling station, tears trickling down her cheeks as she struggled with her choice on Election Day.

“I don’t really believe in who I’m going to vote for,” said C.N. Martin, a 35-year-old African American, her voice shaking as she approached a polling station in a neighborhood north of downtown Charlotte.

“Donald Trump is backed by the Klan,” Martin said of the Republican presidential candidate, wiping her eyes. “So I’m going to go vote for this woman, and she’s going to support wars, and that’s not what I believe in."

Martin, who said she works in customer service, had resolved not to vote in this election, but decided – reluctantly – to vote for Hillary Clinton, the Democrats’ presidential candidate.

North Carolina is one of the nation’s tightest battleground states, and Democrats have long set their sights on mobilizing enough African Americans here to put Clinton in the White House.

According to the latest polling from Monday’s RealClearPolitics average of North Carolina polls, Trump had taken a narrow lead in the state in the campaign's final days. This is partly because early voting turnout among African American voters was down 8% from 2012 when Barack Obama won the state, according to data from the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

How many African Americans show up at the polls today may shape the future of the nation.

“We won’t win this election, potentially, if we don’t win North Carolina,” President Obama told Clinton supporters at a rally last week in Chapel Hill. “I hate to put a little pressure on you, but the fate of the republic rests on your shoulders.”

At the Oaklawn Language Academy polling station in north Charlotte, some African American voters were enthused about Clinton.

“I’m just fired up and ready to go,” said Patricia Dykes, 49, a black home care business owner from Charlotte who wore a Hillary button as she came out of the polling station.

Terrance Hobbs, 32, a media specialist for a pro-sports firm, said independents like him found it difficult to settle on a candidate.

In the end, he said, he had leaned toward Clinton because of her experience, as well as his view that Trump was a “clear cut bigot.”