VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Salina man brings family dog to the polls
Caleb Spinner: Dale Fragola doing his civic duty.
Dale Fragola: I think it’s a responsibility. I think you have to. I mean, the people that, people that don’t go and vote and then complain about what’s going on, well, you had your chance. You had your choice.
Spinner: Fragola usually votes with his mother, a tradition the two have had for the past several elections. But today, Fragola is alone, casting his ballot for the first time since his mother passed away.
Fragola: She was one to make sure she came and voted.
Spinner: In her memory, Fragola brought his mother’s dog, Manny, with him to the polls. Fragola says the two are inseparable.
Fragola: I bring him everywhere with me.
Spinner: In Salina, Caleb Spinner, NCC News.
SALINA, N.Y. (NCC News) — Dale Fragola is typically joined at the polls by his mother. Voting was a tradition for the two until 2022 when his mother passed away.
“She was one to make sure she came and voted,” Fragola said.
Fragola has been living in Salina for more than 60 years, taking time every election to do his civic duty.
“I think it’s a responsibility,” Fragola said. “I think you have to. People that don’t go and vote and then complain about what’s going on, well, you had your chance. You had your choice.”
Today is the first Election Day that Fragola came to the polls alone. Well, not quite alone.
To keep his mother’s spirit with him, Fragola brought his late mother’s dog, Manny. Manny doesn’t just vote with Fragola. The two do almost everything together.
“I bring him everywhere with me,” Fragola said.
It’s not the same, but Manny is helping Fragola remember his mother and the bond the two had while casting their ballots.