Singing security guard entertains early voters stuck in long lines

She says it's her patriotic duty

CREATED Nov. 2, 2012 - UPDATED: Nov. 2, 2012

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  • Southwest Florida security guard Ali Isaacs is singing to the long lines of early voters dealing with a long wait. Video by fox4now.com

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CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Southwest Florida security guard Ali Isaacs is singing to the long lines of early voters dealing with a long wait. 

Ali graduated from the police academy in Fort Myers and is looking for a full time job as an officer in Southwest Florida.
 
In the meantime, she's keeping crowds of early voters entertained with her singing ability and a portable p.a. system.
 
She's got a captive audience. 
 
"We've been here almost two and half a hours," said one voter waiting to vote early in Cape Coral.
 
"It is entertaining," says one voter of Ali's singing.
 
But not everyone answered "yes" when Fox 4 asked if the singing is helping make the wait easier.
 
"No, not all," said one voter.
 
"They should have more (voting) machines."
 
"They should have been better prepared," said another voter referring to elections officials.
 
Local elections officials are dealing with the cards they've been dealt by Governor Rick Scott and the Republican majority in the state legislature.
 
Scott and cut back the number of early voting days and hours for the 2012 election system.
 
It was a 180 from what happened during the 2008 election when then-Governor Charlie Crist extended early voting days and hours due to overwhelming turnout.
 
Governor Scott  has declined urgent requests from voters groups like the League of Women Voters to extend early voting this year.
 
Lee county's election supervisor has told 4 In Your Corner she will consider adding more early voting locations for the next election.
 
But in the meantime, many early voters are stuck waiting.
 
And Ali is doing her best to make them smile as they wait. 
 
She starts out with patriotic tunes like "America the Beautiful" and Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" which she describes as a "showstopper."
 
"And then I'll go into some stuff later on to get the crowd going to put some smiles on their faces," she says.
 
"Like maybe some "Shake, Rattle and Roll."
 
4 In Your Corner asked her why she spends her days in sun - facing frustrated voters in the hot sun.
 
"What do I get out of this?  Patriotism," she says. 
 
Thanks to her training at the police academy, Ali is ready to help in case some voters get overcome by the heat. 
 
"In fact, I had to stop singing, and ran over to somebody and took care of him," she says of one voter who got a little overheated.
 
"And then I ran back started singing again," she says with a laugh.
 
Ali has been very busy these days.
 
On the day we caught up with Ali, she was at the polling place at 7am after singing at a local bar until 1:30 that same morning.
 
"I'll sing anywhere but in the shower," she says.
 
The Lee county elections supervisor has invited Ali to keep early voters entertained on the last day of early voting, tomorrow, November 3rd.
 
She'll be outside a polling location in Fort Myers.
 
If you go to vote early, state law guarantees you'll get to vote - no matter how long it takes - as long as  you're in line by 7pm.
 
And chances are Ali will keep singing 'til the last voter casts his or her ballot.
 
So what happens after early voting?
 
Ali says she'll concentrate on getting a full time job as an officer with a local law enforcement department.
 
"That is my goal to protect and serve -- and sing."
 
As for avoiding lines at voting. If you don't vote early, you may have better luck on election day, Tuesday.
 
There will be hundreds of polling locations open that day (as opposed to just five in all of Lee county for eary voting) so maybe you'll be the one singing a song of joy in the event you find little or no wait at your local polling location!