Snapshots from Jersey City: A Family at the Polls

JERSEY CITY — It’s the Election Day morning rush in Hamilton Park, Jersey City. But even among harried commuters who cast their ballot and power walk to their next flight or meeting, Don Mankoff stood out. He left P.S. 37, the Rafael de J. Cordero Elementary School, with his family in tow.

“We always vote and we take our kids,” said Mankoff. “They actually came into the voting booth with us, and my son pressed all the buttons. We went through all the questions and all the reasons we were voting for everyone.”

For the Mankoffs, the election is a chance to educate their children about the civic process and to offer some much needed clarity. “Do you guys have a sense of the difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton,” Don Mankoff asked his children.

“Donald Trump is a loser,” his daughter said.

“No, but that’s just an adjective,” Mankoff admonished gently as his wife laughed. “What’s the big difference about certain issue, something that matters?”

She declined further comment, but Mankoff’s son decided to chime in: “He lies?”

“He does lie, that’s right,” said Mankoff. “More than other politicians.”