Long voting lines are nothing after a lifetime's wait

These new citizens, in their 70s, tell how exciting it is to vote for the first time. Something we should all feel, every time we vote. DP

By DANIEL SHOER ROTH, EL NUEVO HERALD

The waiting time for early voting at some South Florida polling places has been as much as four or five hours, giving rise to no end of complaints.

But that is nothing. Mercedes and Antonio Sierra waited for eight -- not hours, but decades to be able to vote.

''My heart was beating really hard when I saw the ballot before me,'' admitted Mercedes, 78, outside a public library in Kendall.

The couple was careful not to get too worked up when it came time to fill out their ballots, especially after what happened to them when they became naturalized citizens May 1. Hours after being sworn in as Americans, Antonio suffered a sudden spike in his blood pressure, lost his speech, passed out and had to be rushed to the hospital.

''My blood pressure increased from the joy of getting my citizenship. It was just something within me,'' the 80-year-old said.

Like them, thousands of immigrants are making their voices heard. Many will vote for the first time; others have voted in their countries, but never in the United States and that, of course, is cause for pride. For those who come from foreign places, being part of deciding the future of their adoptive home symbolizes the close of one chapter and the beginning of another.

The Sierras arrived from Cuba in 2001 and discovered a different world in more than one way. The first change came when they had to ''get to work,'' despite being in their 70s. He began working as a gardener and she took a job as a seamstress.

''We adjusted well to what life is like in the United States,'' says Antonio.

Since arriving here, they have longed for the right to vote.

Before Fidel Castro's revolution walloped Cuba, they were not interested in political affairs or uprisings, as they were both young and focused on working, studying and enjoying life. By the time they were old enough to care about politics, communism had robbed them of the right to freely speak their minds.

Maybe that's why right after their naturalization ceremony -- outside the Miami Beach Convention Center -- they registered to vote.

''The only thing we could think of was becoming citizens, to exercise our right to vote,'' says Mercedes.

A couple of days ago they had received election information in the mail, describing the process and explaining how to use the machines, among other details that they studied diligently so they wouldn't make a mistake.

''When I entered the polling station, I told them it was my first time,'' says Mercedes. 'When I was leaving they told me, `You did it perfectly for it to be your first time.' ''

Finally being able to vote gave them both a really good feeling.

If that feeling could be expressed in words, what would it say?

''The free expression of feelings,'' replied the couple, who live in an efficiency in Southwest Miami-Dade and receive $956 each month from Social Security.

They view their vote as a gesture of gratitude for the country that welcomed them with open arms and gave them the freedom to choose their leaders.

It's a freedom worth remembering as you wait four or five hours in the long lines that Mercedes and Antonio so hoped to join for so many years. Just like the thousands of immigrants who still dream of becoming U.S. citizens so they can finally vote.