First one here -- by far

Seventeen were in line at North Heights Alternative School waiting for the polls to open, but no one was there earlier than Sylvania Jeffery. When he got to North Heights, there was no line. Jeffery was there at 6 a.m., sitting in a chair in the hallway and killing time chatting to a custodian.

"I'm always the first in line to vote," said Jeffery, a 30-year employee at Xcel Energy. "It's kind of tradition. I never vote early. I always vote on Election Day."

So this is not the first time to be first?

"Oh, no," he said. "Oh, no, no, no."

Jeffery, who has voted in every presidential election since 1972, said the right to vote is almost sacred.

"I want to be down here to voice my opinion," he said. "I haven't missed any kind of vote since I was 18. I don't care if a dog is running. People have died for my right to vote, and I'm always going to honor that."