THE VOTE
Format
9:16 vertical
Genre
Faith-based ensemble thriller
Season
30 episodes
Location
Atlanta
The story
THE VOTE
LOGLINE
SYNOPSIS
Every person is born into a tied election. God has voted for them. Satan has voted against them. The deciding ballot is their own. THE VOTE follows one Election Day in Atlanta and five people who cast that ballot, change it, or refuse to cast it at all.
MARCUS BELL drives rideshare and lives by one rule: stay out of it. He doesn’t do politics, he doesn’t do religion, he does five stars. His first fare is MOTHER EVELYN HARRIS, 78, on her way to open the polls at Greater Mount Carmel Baptist Church. She leaves a roll of “I Voted” stickers on his dash and a warning: polls close at seven, and every set of polls does. When she is gone a quiet man knocks on his window and asks for a ride. Marcus drives away.
Over thirteen hours Marcus carries four people bound together by money none of them can see whole. NAOMI PIERCE, a campaign finance director and single mother, finds dirty donations in the books of her candidate and is offered a promotion to sign them clean. VICTORIA COLE, the candidate, took that money from developer GRANT CALLOWAY in exchange for a rezoning vote, because she believed she could not help anyone if she lost. PASTOR RAYMOND TUGGLE is quietly selling Mount Carmel’s land to Calloway to bury $62,000 he took from the building fund. And DEZ HARRIS, 19, three weeks home from county jail and Evelyn’s grandson, is carrying an envelope for his cousin TRAY with $40,000 of Calloway’s cash inside. Two strangers work the precinct all day: THE ADVOCATE only knocks and waits; THE ACCUSER is warm, generous, and never states a false fact. Neither can touch anyone’s ballot.
Dez panics and leaves the envelope in Marcus’s back seat. Marcus locks it in his glovebox and keeps driving. It is not his business. Naomi refuses to sign and is fired by mid-afternoon, in the rain. Victoria chooses the win and goes up nine. Raymond sits with a pen over the contract, then tears it in half at 6:30 and confesses to his deacons. At 6:45 every storyline walks into the Mount Carmel fellowship hall — the candidate and her cameras, the accountant with the ledger, the pastor, the boy with the truth, and the cousin with a gun — while Marcus sits outside with the engine running, the money three feet from his hand, and a new ride request on his phone. He waits too long. Evelyn steps in front of her grandson. Marcus walks in holding the envelope and takes a side for the first time in his life, in time to save the boy and too late to save her. At 7:00 the polls close.
The epilogue is the count. Victoria wins by nine points and loses everything within six months. Naomi, who looked like the day’s loser, is the one left standing. Raymond loses his pulpit and keeps his church. Dez takes his grandmother’s chair at the poll table. And at 5:58 one morning someone knocks on Marcus’s window again. This time he unlocks the door.
Casting List
The characters.
Age: 41
MARCUS BELL
Role: SERIES LEAD — THE NON-VOTER
Age: 78
MOTHER EVELYN HARRIS
Role: THE ONE WHO ALREADY VOTED
Age: 34
NAOMI PIERCE
Role: THE VOTE WITH GOD
Age: 46
VICTORIA COLE
Role: THE VOTE WITH SATAN — THE CANDIDATE
Age: 58
PASTOR RAYMOND TUGGLE
Role: THE RECOUNT
Age: 19
DESMOND "DEZ" HARRIS
Role: THE FIRST-TIME VOTER
Age: 27
TRAY HARRIS
Role: DEZ'S COUSIN — THE GUN
Age: 38
DARNELL PRICE
Role: CAMPAIGN MANAGER
Age: 50s
THE ACCUSER
Role: THE CANVASSER — SATAN'S VOTE
Age: 40s
THE ADVOCATE
Role: THE CANVASSER — GOD'S VOTE
Age: 60s
GRANT CALLOWAY
Role: THE DEVELOPER
Age: 40s-50s
PRUITT
Role: CALLOWAY'S FIXER
Age: 60s
SISTER ODESSA LYLE
Role: DEACON BOARD TREASURER
Age: 9
IMANI PIERCE
Role: NAOMI'S DAUGHTER
Age: 30s-40s
OFFICER REYES
Role: PRECINCT SECURITY OFFICER
Age: 50s-60s
RADIO PREACHER
Role: VOICE-OVER
Featured role · SERIES LEAD — THE NON-VOTER
MARCUS BELL
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black male, 41. Rideshare driver, pressed shirt, tired eyes, 4.97 rating earned by agreeing with every passenger and remembering nothing. A former city bus driver who once reported a supervisor and lost his job, then his marriage, over it — and learned the lesson wrong: keep your head down. Decent, observant, and absent from his own life. He appears in every episode, often in a five-to-ten-second car beat with the glovebox, the mirror or the sticker roll.
The series asks whether a good man who never chooses is a good man. He turns the radio up so a crying passenger can have her privacy and so he doesn’t have to ask; he tells a candidate it’s not his place to say; he lets a lost-item call ring out twice; he tells a frightened nineteen-year-old he didn’t see anything. In Ep 27 he sits with both hands on the wheel and sits there too long. The performance is almost entirely in what he does not say until the moment he walks into the hall with the envelope over his head: “It’s here. It’s been in my car all day. This is on me.”
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 27 — "TEN FEET"
Read for the role of MARCUS BELL.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 27 — "TEN FEET"
EPISODE 27 — “TEN FEET”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — PARKING LOT — CONTINUOUS
SUPER: 6:55 PM. 5 MINUTES.
The thumb is still hovering. Through the windshield: the
church doors, closed, ordinary.
ACCUSER
There’s a sworn police officer
inside that building. Badge,
sidearm, training. That’s his job.
(beat)
It isn’t yours.
Marcus looks at the Advocate through the two inches of open
window. The Advocate looks back. He has already said what
he has to say.
Marcus’s thumb comes down.
ON PHONE: RIDE ACCEPTED.
He puts the car in DRIVE. Eases off the brake.
The car rolls. Five feet. Ten.
The roll of “I VOTED” stickers, on the dash since 5:58 this
morning, slides across the dashboard and bumps against the
windshield in front of him.
He hits the brake.
He sits there. Both hands on the wheel. The stickers. The
doors. The stickers.
The back seat is empty. The window is empty. He’s alone
with it.
He sits there too long.
From inside the church, flat and small and unmistakable:
A GUNSHOT.
HOLD ON MARCUS’S FACE. We see nothing else. Everything that
just happened in that hall happens here, in his eyes.
Then he’s moving. Tears at the glovebox key. Drops it. Gets
it. The envelope is in his hand, the car door is open, and
he’s running.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 28 — “THE POLLS ARE CLOSED”
EPISODE 28 — “THE POLLS ARE CLOSED”
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — FELLOWSHIP HALL — CONTINUOUS
SUPER: 6:57 PM. 3 MINUTES.
NO MUSIC. Breathing. Crying. A radio squawking on Reyes’s
shoulder. Shoes on linoleum.
Evelyn is on the floor. She stepped in front of her
grandson.
Dez is on his knees beside her. His hands hover over her.
He doesn’t know where to press.
DEZ
Grandma. Grandma. Somebody!
Grandma…
Tray stands frozen, the gun still up, still on Dez, the
most terrified person in the room.
OFFICER REYES
Drop it! I will fire! Drop it!
The main doors BANG open.
Marcus. Rain-wet, out of breath, the manila envelope held
high over his head.
MARCUS
It’s here!
Every face turns.
MARCUS (CONT’D)
It’s been in my car all day.
(his voice breaks)
It’s on me.
Tray turns toward the envelope. The gun swings off Dez.
Reyes hits him. They go down hard. The gun skitters under a
voting booth.
Marcus sees Evelyn. The envelope drops from his hand. In
the doorway, Victoria is staring at it. At the bank straps
showing through the flap. She knows exactly what it is.
Evelyn’s hand finds Dez’s face.
EVELYN
(a breath)
Already voted, baby.
Her hand falls.
A wall clock clicks over. 7:00.
A POLL WORKER, 60s, shaking, stands up behind the table
because the law requires it.
POLL WORKER
It is seven o’clock. The polls…
(she tries again)
The polls are closed.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · THE ONE WHO ALREADY VOTED
MOTHER EVELYN HARRIS
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black female, 78. Church hat, sensible shoes, a metal cash box and a fat roll of “I Voted” stickers. Poll manager at Greater Mount Carmel; has watched the two canvassers work every election since 1968 and is the only character who sees them for what they are. Dez’s grandmother; has prayed for him for nineteen years and knows she cannot cast his ballot for him. Funny, unsentimental, and afraid of nothing. “Desmond. Eat something before you go anywhere. No. A Pop-Tart is not something.”
Tells the campaign manager that polls close at seven, for everybody. Holds Victoria’s sticker one second too long. Steps in front of her grandson in Ep 28 and gets out three words: “Already voted, baby.” Her outcome was never in doubt.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 1 — "THE KNOCK"
Read for the role of MOTHER EVELYN HARRIS.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 1 — "THE KNOCK"
EPISODE 1 — “THE KNOCK”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — PRE-DAWN
SUPER: 5:58 AM. ELECTION DAY. 13 HOURS, 2 MINUTES UNTIL THE
POLLS CLOSE.
Dark. Dashboard glow on MARCUS BELL, 41, pressed shirt,
tired eyes. A phone in a dash mount shows his driver
profile: MARCUS — 4.97.
PREACHER (V.O.)
(radio)
God voted for you. The devil voted
against you. That makes it a tie,
church. And you? You cast the
deciding vote.
Marcus punches a button. Traffic and weather. The phone
PINGS. He accepts.
EXT. EVELYN’S HOUSE — CONTINUOUS
MOTHER EVELYN HARRIS, 78, church hat, sensible shoes,
climbs in with a metal cash box and a fat roll of “I VOTED”
stickers. Phone at her ear.
EVELYN
(into phone)
Desmond. Eat something before you
go anywhere. No. A Pop-Tart is not
something. I love you too. Act
like it.
She hangs up, smiling to herself.
EVELYN (CONT’D)
My grandson. Nineteen and thinks
the toaster is a stove.
MARCUS
Yes, ma’am.
EVELYN
You voting today, baby?
MARCUS
I don’t get into all that.
EVELYN
Politics?
MARCUS
Politics. Religion. Any of it. I
do five stars.
She studies him in the mirror like a woman reading small
print.
EXT. GREATER MOUNT CARMEL BAPTIST CHURCH — MOMENTS LATER
A sign on the lawn: VOTE HERE. Evelyn gets out. The sticker
roll sits on his dashboard.
MARCUS
Ma’am, you left your…
EVELYN
I know what I left. Polls close at
seven. Every set of polls does.
She goes. Marcus reaches for the gearshift.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
At his window: THE ADVOCATE, 40s, work boots, canvas
jacket, clipboard. Calm as a man with nowhere else to be.
ADVOCATE
I need a ride.
MARCUS
Got to book through the app, boss.
The Advocate nods. He does not argue. Marcus pulls away.
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR: the man stands at the curb, getting
smaller, not moving.
SUPER: 6:01 AM.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 28 — “THE POLLS ARE CLOSED”
EPISODE 28 — “THE POLLS ARE CLOSED”
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — FELLOWSHIP HALL — CONTINUOUS
SUPER: 6:57 PM. 3 MINUTES.
NO MUSIC. Breathing. Crying. A radio squawking on Reyes’s
shoulder. Shoes on linoleum.
Evelyn is on the floor. She stepped in front of her
grandson.
Dez is on his knees beside her. His hands hover over her.
He doesn’t know where to press.
DEZ
Grandma. Grandma. Somebody!
Grandma…
Tray stands frozen, the gun still up, still on Dez, the
most terrified person in the room.
OFFICER REYES
Drop it! I will fire! Drop it!
The main doors BANG open.
Marcus. Rain-wet, out of breath, the manila envelope held
high over his head.
MARCUS
It’s here!
Every face turns.
MARCUS (CONT’D)
It’s been in my car all day.
(his voice breaks)
It’s on me.
Tray turns toward the envelope. The gun swings off Dez.
Reyes hits him. They go down hard. The gun skitters under a
voting booth.
Marcus sees Evelyn. The envelope drops from his hand. In
the doorway, Victoria is staring at it. At the bank straps
showing through the flap. She knows exactly what it is.
Evelyn’s hand finds Dez’s face.
EVELYN
(a breath)
Already voted, baby.
Her hand falls.
A wall clock clicks over. 7:00.
A POLL WORKER, 60s, shaking, stands up behind the table
because the law requires it.
POLL WORKER
It is seven o’clock. The polls…
(she tries again)
The polls are closed.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · THE VOTE WITH GOD
NAOMI PIERCE
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black female, 34. Finance director on the Cole campaign, blazer over yesterday’s blouse, laptop open in the back seat. Single mother of Imani, 9, two months behind on rent with an eviction filing set for 9:00 tomorrow morning. Precise and proud and has never been the brave one. Her ballot arrives as a signature line on an amended finance report, with a deputy chief of staff job on the other side of it.
She refuses. Fired, locked out and walked to the curb with a box at 2:15 in the rain — after photographing the ledger first. Gives Victoria one chance to fix it herself (Ep 24) and is told nobody will believe a fired employee. Testifies for the state in the epilogue with her daughter watching from the gallery. This is what the vote with God looks like at 2:15 in the afternoon.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 2 — "THE MIRROR"
Read for the role of NAOMI PIERCE.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 2 — "THE MIRROR"
EPISODE 2 — “THE MIRROR”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — MORNING
SUPER: 6:40 AM. 12 HOURS, 20 MINUTES.
NAOMI PIERCE, 34, blazer over yesterday’s blouse, laptop
open on her knees. Beside her IMANI, 9, backpack bigger
than she is.
IMANI
Mama. The field trip form.
NAOMI
Friday. I get paid Friday.
IMANI
It’s due Thursday.
NAOMI
I know when it’s due, Imani.
The car stops at a school. Imani kisses her cheek, hops
out. Naomi goes back to the screen.
ON THE LAPTOP: a donor spreadsheet. She sorts a column.
Nine lines jump together.
NINE LLCs. ONE MAILING ADDRESS. $180,000.
Naomi stops breathing for a second.
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR: Marcus sees the screen. Sees her
face change.
He reaches up and tilts the mirror toward the ceiling.
Naomi types the address into a search bar. The result
loads:
CALLOWAY DEVELOPMENT GROUP — SUITE 900.
NAOMI (CONT’D)
(barely)
No.
Her phone BUZZES.
ON PHONE: DARNELL: Come see me. Now.
She looks up, needing a witness.
NAOMI (CONT’D)
Sir, did you…
The mirror shows her nothing but headliner.
MARCUS
Ma’am?
NAOMI
Nothing.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 21 — “ONE CHANCE”
EPISODE 21 — “ONE CHANCE”
INT. NAOMI’S APARTMENT — KITCHEN — EVENING
SUPER: 6:05 PM. 55 MINUTES.
The cardboard box on the counter. Imani does homework at
the table. Naomi scrolls the ledger photos on her phone.
IMANI
Did you get in trouble at work?
NAOMI
I got fired, baby.
IMANI
What did you do?
NAOMI
Nothing. That’s why.
On a small TV, local news: a reporter outside Mount Carmel.
REPORTER (V.O.)
…frontrunner Victoria Cole is
expected to cast her own ballot
here at 6:45, just ahead of the
seven o’clock close…
Naomi looks at the screen. At a COLE FOR COUNCIL magnet on
her own refrigerator. She put it there herself, a year ago.
ON PHONE: a contact. STATE ETHICS COMMISSION — TIP LINE.
Her thumb hovers.
She lowers the phone.
NAOMI
I knocked on four hundred doors
for that woman. I believed her.
IMANI
Do you still?
NAOMI
(a long beat)
I believe she gets one chance to
fix it herself. Tonight. After
that it’s not up to me anymore.
She grabs her keys. Knocks on the neighbor’s wall twice.
NAOMI (CONT’D)
Miss Pat’s coming over. Finish
your fractions.
IMANI
Where are you going?
NAOMI
To give somebody one last chance.
EXT. NAOMI’S BUILDING — CURB — MOMENTS LATER
Her ride is waiting. Marcus. Third time today. They both
know it.
NAOMI
Mount Carmel.
The church where he just left the boy. A beat too long.
MARCUS
Yes, ma’am.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · THE VOTE WITH SATAN — THE CANDIDATE
VICTORIA COLE
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black female, 46. A Southside organizer running for Atlanta City Council to protect the neighborhood she grew up in. Campaign-ready, rehearsing a victory speech from index cards in the back of a rideshare because her field director thinks it looks like the people. She took Calloway’s money because she believed she could not help anyone if she lost. Not a villain — a good woman who keeps choosing the win by one more inch.
In Ep 16 the polish drops and she asks a stranger what he’d do if he’d started something wrong for a right reason; she needed one word and didn’t get it. Up nine at 3:00. Walks into the booth at 6:40, votes for herself and smiles for the cameras. Wins on election night — the brightest room in the series — and sits in an office full of boxes six months later. “I never lied to you. I said you’d win.”
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 4 — "ONE MORE INCH"
Read for the role of VICTORIA COLE.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 4 — "ONE MORE INCH"
EPISODE 4 — “ONE MORE INCH”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — MORNING
SUPER: 8:15 AM. 10 HOURS, 45 MINUTES.
VICTORIA COLE, 46, campaign-ready, rehearses from index
cards. Next to her, a shared-ride passenger scrolls his
phone: the Accuser.
VICTORIA
(rehearsing)
I grew up four blocks from this
church. I watched this
neighborhood get sold one lot at a
time. Tonight we said, not this
one.
Her phone RINGS. She checks it. Answers low.
VICTORIA (CONT’D)
Mr. Calloway.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
(phone, soft,
unhurried)
Councilwoman. I like saying it
early. The rezoning is first on
your calendar after the swearing-
in. And your field support is on
its way over. Forty volunteers.
Victoria shuts her eyes. She knows exactly what forty
volunteers are.
VICTORIA
I’d rather not discuss…
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
Then don’t discuss. Just win.
CLICK. Victoria stares at the dead phone.
ACCUSER
(not looking up)
You can’t help anybody if you
lose.
VICTORIA
Excuse me?
ACCUSER
Fourteen years organizing this
side of town. How many zoning
votes did you win from the
sidewalk?
A long beat.
VICTORIA
None.
ACCUSER
None.
MARCUS
(to the mirror)
Music okay back there, ma’am?
VICTORIA
Fine.
She turns to the window. HER REFLECTION in the glass. Over
her shoulder, smiling faintly, his.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 15 — “TWO PROBLEMS”
EPISODE 15 — “TWO PROBLEMS”
EXT. PRECINCT SIDEWALK — UNDER AN AWNING — DAY
SUPER: 3:00 PM. 4 HOURS.
Rain drumming. Victoria shakes a last voter’s hand, smile
fixed, and turns to Darnell.
VICTORIA
What.
DARNELL
Naomi’s out. She wouldn’t sign. I
handled it.
VICTORIA
You fired my finance director on
Election Day.
DARNELL
There’s a second thing. The field
money never showed. Courier’s in
the wind.
Her phone RINGS. She knows who it is.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
(phone, soft as ever)
Victoria. I’m told forty thousand
dollars of mine went for a walk.
VICTORIA
We’re looking into…
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
Find my money. Or find a new
friend.
CLICK.
Victoria stands very still. We watch it assemble behind her
eyes.
VICTORIA
Naomi ran the books.
DARNELL
She can’t prove…
VICTORIA
She saw the withdrawal, Darnell.
Forty in cash. And now there’s
forty in cash that nobody can
find. Those aren’t two problems.
DARNELL
(quietly)
She doesn’t have to prove it.
VICTORIA
She just has to say it.
For one second the candidate is gone. Just a woman under an
awning.
VICTORIA (CONT’D)
Get me a car. I need ten minutes
where nobody’s talking to me.
Darnell taps his phone.
ON PHONE: YOUR DRIVER: MARCUS — 4.97. 2 MIN AWAY.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · THE RECOUNT
PASTOR RAYMOND TUGGLE
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black male, 58. Thirty-one years in the pulpit at Greater Mount Carmel. Covered the church’s shortfalls from the building fund, then his own, until the hole was $62,000. Selling the land to Calloway at a 7:30 PM closing erases it. He wears God’s jersey and has been voting the other way for three years. Lies to a woman he has pastored for thirty years (Ep 17), sits with a pen over the contract, and hears a knock on his study door he does not answer.
Then he hears a nineteen-year-old in the church kitchen telling the truth about money he never stole. Ep 23 is the recount: he calls Sister Odessa and two deacons into the study, confesses the amount, the years, the sale, and tears the contract in half — collapsing the deal every other thread hangs on. Steps forward with his hands up when the gun comes out, a pastor again for the first time in years. Loses the pulpit and sweeps the fellowship hall of a church that still owns its land.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 7 — "I'LL WAIT"
Read for the role of PASTOR RAYMOND TUGGLE.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 7 — "I'LL WAIT"
EPISODE 7 — “I’LL WAIT”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — MORNING
SUPER: 9:45 AM. 9 HOURS, 15 MINUTES.
Raymond in the back, gripping his own knees. Marcus clocks
it in the mirror.
MARCUS
Music okay, Pastor?
RAYMOND
I’d rather have quiet.
MARCUS
Quiet I can do.
INT. CALLOWAY DEVELOPMENT — CONFERENCE ROOM — LATER
Glass, steel, a view of the Southside from above. PRUITT,
50s, gray suit, a voice that never rises, squares a
contract on the table. A speakerphone glows.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
(speaker)
Pastor. Forgive me for not being
there in person. Election Day.
PRUITT
Purchase and sale. Closing at
seven-thirty tonight, after your
polls close. The price retires the
mortgage and builds you a new
sanctuary across town.
Raymond reads the number. It is a very good number.
RAYMOND
And the congregation votes on…
PRUITT
Your bylaws give the pastor
signing authority on property. We
checked.
(a beat)
Mr. Calloway is also aware of the
situation with the building fund.
Sixty-two thousand. He considers
it covered.
Raymond’s head comes up slowly. They know. They have always
known.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
Nobody needs to be embarrassed,
Pastor. That’s what closings are
for.
EXT. MOUNT CARMEL — FRONT STEPS — LATER
Marcus’s car pulls off. Raymond climbs the steps, contract
folder under his arm.
Sitting on the top step, clipboard on his knee: the
Advocate.
Raymond steps around him.
RAYMOND
Church is closed for the election.
ADVOCATE
I’ll wait.
Raymond goes in. The door shuts. The Advocate does not
move.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 23 — “THE RECOUNT”
EPISODE 23 — “THE RECOUNT”
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — PASTOR’S STUDY — EVENING
SUPER: 6:30 PM. 30 MINUTES.
Odessa and TWO DEACONS stand inside the door. Raymond stays
on his feet behind the desk. The contract lies between
them.
RAYMOND
Sixty-two thousand, four hundred
dollars. Over three years. It
started with the church’s light
bill and a bad month. Then it was
my bad month. Then I stopped
keeping track of whose month it
was.
Nobody speaks.
RAYMOND (CONT’D)
Sister Odessa asked me plainly
today, and I lied to her face in
the sanctuary.
(to her)
I’m sorry. You deserved better
from me. You always did.
Odessa’s jaw is tight. Her eyes are wet.
DEACON
(looking at the
contract)
And this?
RAYMOND
That sells this land to Grant
Calloway tonight at seven-thirty.
It would have covered everything.
Including me.
He picks the contract up. Holds it a moment. It is a very
good number.
He tears it in half. Then in half again.
RAYMOND (CONT’D)
You’ll want my resignation. You’ll
have it Sunday, from the pulpit,
with the whole truth attached.
I’ll pay back every dollar if it
takes the rest of my life.
ODESSA
(quietly)
It might.
RAYMOND
Yes, ma’am. It might.
INSERT — THE TORN CONTRACT in the wastebasket.
On the desk, Raymond’s phone BUZZES.
ON PHONE: PRUITT: Notary confirmed. 7:30.
It buzzes again. Nobody picks it up.
EXT. MOUNT CARMEL — PARKING LOT — SAME
Marcus pulls in. Naomi gets out and walks toward the doors
without looking back.
Trip over. He shifts into drive. Holds the brake.
Shifts back into park.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · THE FIRST-TIME VOTER
DESMOND "DEZ" HARRIS
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black male, 19. Three weeks home after fourteen months in county. No job, a probation fee due Friday and a grandmother whose roof leaks into a bucket. Smart, ashamed, and sure one good payday fixes everything. Takes an easy run for his cousin — an envelope, across town, five hundred dollars, no questions — and opens it in Marcus’s back seat: forty thousand dollars in bank straps and a nineteen-year-old doing the math.
Panics at a police cruiser and leaves it under the seat. Given until seven. Uses the app’s lost-item feature to reach the driver, is lied to, and goes to Mount Carmel to tell his grandmother the truth before anyone else gets the chance — “I did not take a dollar of it.” Holds her on the fellowship hall floor with hands that don’t know where to press. Sits in her chair at the poll table in the epilogue.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 20 — "I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING"
Read for the role of DESMOND "DEZ" HARRIS.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 20 — "I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING"
EPISODE 20 — “I DIDN’T SEE ANYTHING”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — LATE AFTERNOON
SUPER: 5:30 PM. 90 MINUTES.
Parked at a gas station. Dez jogs across the lot and climbs
in the back. The hoodie. The kid who bailed at the light.
DEZ
Thank you for picking up, sir. For
real. Third try, I almost quit.
His eyes search the floor, the seat pocket, the gap under
the driver’s seat. Nothing.
DEZ (CONT’D)
(careful)
It was an envelope. Under your
seat. You find it?
Marcus looks at him in the mirror. A scared teenager.
His eyes go to the kid’s phone, face down on his knee.
Recording? A setup?
His hand rests on the glovebox.
MARCUS
I looked after you called. I
didn’t see anything.
Dez searches his face. Finds nothing to hold on to. He
sags.
DEZ
Okay.
(beat)
Can you run me to Greater Mount
Carmel? I got twelve dollars.
MARCUS
The church?
DEZ
My grandmother’s working the
polls. I’m going to tell her the
truth before somebody else tells
her something worse.
EXT. MOUNT CARMEL — MOMENTS LATER
Dez gets out. Stops. Leans back in.
DEZ (CONT’D)
She rode with somebody this
morning. Said he was polite and
didn’t believe in nothing.
He goes in.
On Marcus. Desmond. The Pop-Tart. It lands.
His hand is still on the glovebox. He doesn’t open it.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 26 — “WHERE’S THE MONEY”
EPISODE 26 — “WHERE’S THE MONEY”
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — FELLOWSHIP HALL — DUSK
SUPER: 6:52 PM. 8 MINUTES.
The last voters in line. Naomi against the back wall, phone
in hand, deciding. OFFICER REYES, precinct security, by the
far exit. Through the open double doors, in the hallway:
Victoria gives an interview to the cameras.
At the check-in table, Dez hands out stickers beside
Evelyn.
EVELYN
Peel from the corner. You’re
wasting my stickers.
DEZ
There’s like nine hundred on here.
EVELYN
And every one of them is mine.
He grins. First time all day.
Raymond comes in from the hallway, a man twenty pounds
lighter.
Tray walks in through the main doors. He scans the room.
Finds Dez.
He crosses the floor. Voters step out of his way without
knowing why.
TRAY
(low)
Where’s the money.
DEZ
Tray. Not here. My
grandmother’s…
TRAY
(louder)
Where is the money, Dez.
The room begins to notice. In the hallway, a camera swings.
Victoria stops mid-sentence.
DEZ
I don’t have it. I’m not lying to
you. I don’t have it.
TRAY
It’s six fifty-two!
His hand goes under his shirt and comes out with the gun.
SCREAMS. Voters drop. Officer Reyes draws, but there are a
dozen people between him and a clean line.
OFFICER REYES
Drop it! Drop the weapon!
Tray isn’t hearing anything. The gun shakes in his hand.
He’s crying. It’s pointed at Dez’s chest.
Raymond steps forward. Hands up. Open. Steady.
RAYMOND
Son. Look at me. Look at me. I’m
the pastor here.
Tray’s eyes flick to him. The gun doesn’t move.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — SAME
The church doors through a wet windshield. No sound reaches
him. The thumb, still hovering.
BACK TO THE HALL
Behind the table, slowly, a hand on the edge for balance,
Evelyn gets to her feet.
Reyes sidesteps for an angle. Finds half of one.
OFFICER REYES
Last time! Drop it NOW!
Tray flinches toward the shout. The gun jerks with him.
Evelyn steps in front of her grandson.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · DEZ'S COUSIN — THE GUN
TRAY HARRIS
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black male, 27. Fresh fade, nervous, a middleman who answers to Calloway’s fixer. Says “yes sir” four times on a call while explaining the easy run to Dez, and his hand isn’t steady when he hangs up. He is not a killer at 6:00 AM. By 6:50 PM, after Pruitt has read his mother’s address off a phone, he is a frightened man with a gun, which is worse. “He is not a villain. He is the third frightened person this money has touched.” Draws on his own cousin in a church full of cameras and freezes when the shot goes into the wrong person. Requires an actor who can be pitiable with a gun in his hand.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 8 — "EASY RUN"
Read for the role of TRAY HARRIS.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 8 — "EASY RUN"
EPISODE 8 — “EASY RUN”
INT. EVELYN’S HOUSE — KITCHEN — MORNING
SUPER: 10:00 AM. 9 HOURS.
A bucket on the floor. DRIP. From a brown stain on the
ceiling. DRIP.
DESMOND “DEZ” HARRIS, 19, sits at the table with an
untoasted Pop-Tart and an open letter: PROBATION SERVICES —
FEE DUE FRIDAY. Under it, a roofer’s estimate: $10,800.
The back door opens. TRAY HARRIS, 27, fresh fade, nervous
energy.
TRAY
Cousin. Three weeks home and you
ain’t called me once.
DEZ
That was on purpose.
TRAY
I got something easy. Pick up an
envelope downtown. Carry it across
town. Five hundred. No questions.
DEZ
Nah. Whatever it is. Nah.
Tray’s phone RINGS. He looks at the screen and his whole
body changes.
TRAY
(into phone)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. No, he’s
solid, he’s family. Yes, sir. Yes,
sir.
He hangs up. His hand is not steady. He puts it in his
pocket so Dez won’t see. Dez sees.
DEZ
Who was that?
TRAY
Work.
DRIP. Dez looks at the bucket. The probation letter. The
estimate.
Tray holds out a slip of paper. An address.
TRAY (CONT’D)
Five hundred, Dez. For a car ride.
DRIP.
Dez looks at it for a long time.
He takes it.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — SAME
PING. NEW RIDE REQUEST — DESMOND H.
Marcus hits ACCEPT without reading the name. He never reads
the names.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 26 — “WHERE’S THE MONEY”
EPISODE 26 — “WHERE’S THE MONEY”
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — FELLOWSHIP HALL — DUSK
SUPER: 6:52 PM. 8 MINUTES.
The last voters in line. Naomi against the back wall, phone
in hand, deciding. OFFICER REYES, precinct security, by the
far exit. Through the open double doors, in the hallway:
Victoria gives an interview to the cameras.
At the check-in table, Dez hands out stickers beside
Evelyn.
EVELYN
Peel from the corner. You’re
wasting my stickers.
DEZ
There’s like nine hundred on here.
EVELYN
And every one of them is mine.
He grins. First time all day.
Raymond comes in from the hallway, a man twenty pounds
lighter.
Tray walks in through the main doors. He scans the room.
Finds Dez.
He crosses the floor. Voters step out of his way without
knowing why.
TRAY
(low)
Where’s the money.
DEZ
Tray. Not here. My
grandmother’s…
TRAY
(louder)
Where is the money, Dez.
The room begins to notice. In the hallway, a camera swings.
Victoria stops mid-sentence.
DEZ
I don’t have it. I’m not lying to
you. I don’t have it.
TRAY
It’s six fifty-two!
His hand goes under his shirt and comes out with the gun.
SCREAMS. Voters drop. Officer Reyes draws, but there are a
dozen people between him and a clean line.
OFFICER REYES
Drop it! Drop the weapon!
Tray isn’t hearing anything. The gun shakes in his hand.
He’s crying. It’s pointed at Dez’s chest.
Raymond steps forward. Hands up. Open. Steady.
RAYMOND
Son. Look at me. Look at me. I’m
the pastor here.
Tray’s eyes flick to him. The gun doesn’t move.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — SAME
The church doors through a wet windshield. No sound reaches
him. The thumb, still hovering.
BACK TO THE HALL
Behind the table, slowly, a hand on the edge for balance,
Evelyn gets to her feet.
Reyes sidesteps for an angle. Finds half of one.
OFFICER REYES
Last time! Drop it NOW!
Tray flinches toward the shout. The gun jerks with him.
Evelyn steps in front of her grandson.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · CAMPAIGN MANAGER
DARNELL PRICE
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black male, 38. Rolled sleeves, Cole for Council posters behind him. Calm. He does Calloway’s asking for him and does not see himself as corrupt — he sees himself as how things get done. Has the amended report already prepared and a deputy chief of staff job ready to go with it; texts Naomi every twenty minutes; asks Mother Evelyn for one small favor — hold the doors ten minutes past seven — and is told no. Fires Naomi and has her walked to the curb. Never raises his voice; the pen is simply on the desk.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 13 — "SHOPPING"
Read for the role of DARNELL PRICE.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 13 — "SHOPPING"
EPISODE 13 — “SHOPPING”
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — FELLOWSHIP HALL — DAY
SUPER: 1:10 PM. 5 HOURS, 50 MINUTES.
Naomi reaches the check-in table. Evelyn finds her name,
slides the book over, and looks at her. Really looks.
EVELYN
You alright, baby?
NAOMI
Yes, ma’am. Long day.
EVELYN
Mm. You look like somebody who
already knows the answer and is
shopping for a different one.
Naomi’s eyes fill. She signs the book and escapes to a
booth.
Evelyn’s gaze moves to the doorway. The Accuser leans
there, watching Naomi’s booth.
EVELYN (CONT’D)
You’re a long way inside for
somebody nobody invited.
ACCUSER
It’s a public building today,
Mother.
EVELYN
I’ve watched you work every
election since 1968. You ain’t
even changed the suit.
He smiles, touches his brow in salute, and drifts out.
EXT. MOUNT CARMEL — PARKING LOT — LATER
Marcus idles after a drop-off. Evelyn, on her break,
crosses the lot with a foil-covered plate and raps on his
roof.
EVELYN
You eat today?
MARCUS
I’m alright, ma’am.
EVELYN
That’s not what I asked.
She passes the plate through the window. Sees her sticker
roll, still on his dash.
EVELYN (CONT’D)
You kept my stickers.
MARCUS
You left them.
EVELYN
Mm-hm. Hold on to them.
She goes back in. He looks at the plate in his lap like
nobody has handed him one in years.
INT. COLE CAMPAIGN HQ — DARNELL’S OFFICE — LATER
Naomi, “I VOTED” sticker on her lapel, sets the amended
report on Darnell’s desk. Unsigned.
NAOMI
I can’t sign this.
DARNELL
Can’t, or won’t?
NAOMI
I’m the finance director. It’s the
same word.
DARNELL
Naomi. Think about Imani.
NAOMI
I am.
Darnell looks at her for a long moment. Then he picks up
his desk phone.
DARNELL
(into phone)
Security to my office.
(to Naomi)
Then we’re done.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 15 — “TWO PROBLEMS”
EPISODE 15 — “TWO PROBLEMS”
EXT. PRECINCT SIDEWALK — UNDER AN AWNING — DAY
SUPER: 3:00 PM. 4 HOURS.
Rain drumming. Victoria shakes a last voter’s hand, smile
fixed, and turns to Darnell.
VICTORIA
What.
DARNELL
Naomi’s out. She wouldn’t sign. I
handled it.
VICTORIA
You fired my finance director on
Election Day.
DARNELL
There’s a second thing. The field
money never showed. Courier’s in
the wind.
Her phone RINGS. She knows who it is.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
(phone, soft as ever)
Victoria. I’m told forty thousand
dollars of mine went for a walk.
VICTORIA
We’re looking into…
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
Find my money. Or find a new
friend.
CLICK.
Victoria stands very still. We watch it assemble behind her
eyes.
VICTORIA
Naomi ran the books.
DARNELL
She can’t prove…
VICTORIA
She saw the withdrawal, Darnell.
Forty in cash. And now there’s
forty in cash that nobody can
find. Those aren’t two problems.
DARNELL
(quietly)
She doesn’t have to prove it.
VICTORIA
She just has to say it.
For one second the candidate is gone. Just a woman under an
awning.
VICTORIA (CONT’D)
Get me a car. I need ten minutes
where nobody’s talking to me.
Darnell taps his phone.
ON PHONE: YOUR DRIVER: MARCUS — 4.97. 2 MIN AWAY.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · THE CANVASSER — SATAN'S VOTE
THE ACCUSER
CHARACTER PROFILE
Male, 50s. Immaculate suit, easy smile. Funny and generous — he always has what you need: a charger, an umbrella, a hundred-dollar cash tip, a file on you. He never states a false fact. He campaigns with true things bent toward a false conclusion: landlords in your building file on the third month; you gave this church thirty-one years and only borrowed; you are up nine with twenty minutes left; there is a sworn officer inside that building and this is his job, not yours. Rides in Marcus’s car, sits in the back pew, stands at Victoria’s shoulder, and stops in her doorway six months later: “I never lied to you. I said you’d win.” Never named on screen, never explained, and no character but Evelyn treats him as anything other than a man. The most charming person in the series.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 11 — "TWO RIDERS"
Read for the role of THE ACCUSER.
See The Character Script
THE VOT
Season One ·Episode 11 — "TWO RIDERS"
EPISODE 11 — “TWO RIDERS”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — LATE MORNING
SUPER: 11:30 AM. 7 HOURS, 30 MINUTES.
The Advocate gets in. Front seat. He booked through the
app. Clipboard on his knee.
They drive in silence. The Advocate looks at the road.
Then, once, at the glovebox.
ADVOCATE
You found something that isn’t
yours.
MARCUS
I didn’t find anything.
A beat. The Advocate nods.
ADVOCATE
Okay.
The car stops. He gets out. No argument, no lecture.
ON PHONE: Rider rated you 5 STARS. Tip: $0.00.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — AN HOUR LATER
The Accuser in the back, legs crossed, in a wonderful mood.
ACCUSER
See, the whole season comes down
to the bullpen. Always does. You a
baseball man?
MARCUS
I can take it or leave it.
ACCUSER
(delighted)
Of course you can.
(easy)
Twelve years driving the 49 bus
before this, right? Then you
reported that supervisor. Cost you
the job. Then it cost you the
marriage.
Marcus’s eyes snap to the mirror.
MARCUS
How do you…
ACCUSER
People talk in cars.
The car stops. The Accuser peels a hundred-dollar bill off
a clip and tucks it in the cup holder.
ACCUSER (CONT’D)
For minding your business. It’s a
skill.
He goes. Marcus looks at the hundred.
Then at the glovebox.
He picks up the hundred.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 25 — “THE BOY IS NINETEEN”
EPISODE 25 — “THE BOY IS NINETEEN”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — MOUNT CARMEL PARKING LOT — DUSK
SUPER: 6:48 PM. 12 MINUTES.
Engine running. Wipers on intermittent. Marcus hasn’t
driven away. He hasn’t gone in. He’s just here.
The back door opens. The Accuser slides in out of the rain,
shaking off an umbrella. He doesn’t ask.
ACCUSER
You don’t mind.
It isn’t a question. Marcus doesn’t answer it.
At the passenger window, standing in the rain, not getting
in: the Advocate. Marcus cracks the window two inches. No
more.
ACCUSER
(gently, like a friend)
The 49 bus. You saw that
supervisor put his hands in the
fare box and you did the right
thing. Filed the report. Signed
your name. And what happened?
Marcus says nothing.
ACCUSER (CONT’D)
They found a reason. Twelve years,
gone. Then Renee got tired of
being married to a man with
principles and no paycheck.
(beat)
Every time you spoke up, it cost
you. I’m not lying, am I?
MARCUS
(barely)
No.
The Advocate looks at the church doors. He says four words.
ADVOCATE
The boy is nineteen.
HEADLIGHTS sweep the lot. Tray’s car, parking crooked
across two spaces.
Tray gets out. Looks around. Reaches back in, and tucks a
HANDGUN into his waistband. Pulls his shirt over it. Walks
toward the church.
Marcus sees all of it.
His hand goes to the glovebox. Stops.
His phone PINGS.
ON PHONE: NEW RIDE REQUEST — 4 MIN AWAY. ACCEPT / DECLINE.
The Advocate watches him. The Accuser watches him. Neither
one touches him.
CLOSE ON: Marcus’s thumb, hovering over ACCEPT.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · THE CANVASSER — GOD'S VOTE
THE ADVOCATE
CHARACTER PROFILE
Male, 40s. Work boots, canvas jacket, a clipboard. He knocks on doors, car windows and office glass, and then he waits. He never pushes, never raises his voice, and never enters uninvited. Turned away from Marcus’s window at 5:58 AM; books through the app at 11:30 and says almost nothing — “You found something that isn’t yours.” Sits on the church steps all day; the shadow under Raymond’s study door that does not move. In Ep 25 he says four words: “The boy is nineteen.” Sits beside Marcus at the funeral: “For her, no. She was never in doubt. You were late for you. And you’re still here.” Very few lines, all of them weight-bearing. Stillness is the performance.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 11 — "TWO RIDERS"
Read for the role of THE ADVOCATE.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 11 — "TWO RIDERS"
EPISODE 11 — “TWO RIDERS”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — LATE MORNING
SUPER: 11:30 AM. 7 HOURS, 30 MINUTES.
The Advocate gets in. Front seat. He booked through the
app. Clipboard on his knee.
They drive in silence. The Advocate looks at the road.
Then, once, at the glovebox.
ADVOCATE
You found something that isn’t
yours.
MARCUS
I didn’t find anything.
A beat. The Advocate nods.
ADVOCATE
Okay.
The car stops. He gets out. No argument, no lecture.
ON PHONE: Rider rated you 5 STARS. Tip: $0.00.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — AN HOUR LATER
The Accuser in the back, legs crossed, in a wonderful mood.
ACCUSER
See, the whole season comes down
to the bullpen. Always does. You a
baseball man?
MARCUS
I can take it or leave it.
ACCUSER
(delighted)
Of course you can.
(easy)
Twelve years driving the 49 bus
before this, right? Then you
reported that supervisor. Cost you
the job. Then it cost you the
marriage.
Marcus’s eyes snap to the mirror.
MARCUS
How do you…
ACCUSER
People talk in cars.
The car stops. The Accuser peels a hundred-dollar bill off
a clip and tucks it in the cup holder.
ACCUSER (CONT’D)
For minding your business. It’s a
skill.
He goes. Marcus looks at the hundred.
Then at the glovebox.
He picks up the hundred.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 29 — “THE COUNT BEGINS”
EPISODE 29 — “THE COUNT BEGINS”
INT. HOTEL BALLROOM — NIGHT
SUPER: 9:04 PM. ELECTION NIGHT.
The brightest room we have seen. Balloons, a jumbo screen:
COLE WINS — 54.5 TO 45.5. The crowd ROARS. Victoria takes
the stage, radiant, arms raised.
At the back of the room, applauding politely: the Accuser.
INT. POLICE EVIDENCE ROOM — SAME TIME
Gloved hands slide the manila envelope into a clear
evidence bag. The bank straps are visible through the
plastic. A TECHNICIAN writes on the label.
TECHNICIAN
(reading a strap)
Commercial account.
A DETECTIVE looks over.
TECHNICIAN (CONT’D)
I’ll pull it.
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — SANCTUARY — DAY
SUPER: FIVE DAYS LATER.
Full. Standing room only. A white casket under the stained
glass. A choir hums low. Dez in the front row in a borrowed
suit, Odessa’s arm around him. Raymond sits in the pews,
not the pulpit.
Marcus sits in the last row, alone.
The Advocate sits down beside him. Work boots. No clipboard
today.
A long silence.
MARCUS
I was too late.
ADVOCATE
For her, no. She was never in
doubt.
(beat)
You were late for you. And you’re
still here.
Marcus takes it. It lands twice.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — CHURCH LOT — LATER
He gets in. Shuts the door on the sound of the choir.
On the dash: her sticker roll.
He reaches for it. His fingers touch the edge of the first
sticker.
His hand stops.
He takes it back. Puts both hands on the wheel. Sits.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · THE DEVELOPER
GRANT CALLOWAY
CHARACTER PROFILE
Male, 60s. The developer who never raises his voice. His money runs through nine LLCs at one mailing address, a $40,000 cash withdrawal coded as field expenses, a rezoning vote first on Victoria’s calendar after she’s sworn in, and a church land sale closing at 7:30. “Find my money or find a new friend.” A handful of phone and office scenes; the calm at the center of everything. Indicted in the news crawl.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 7 — "I'LL WAIT"
Read for the role of GRANT CALLOWAY.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 7 — "I'LL WAIT"
EPISODE 7 — “I’LL WAIT”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — MORNING
SUPER: 9:45 AM. 9 HOURS, 15 MINUTES.
Raymond in the back, gripping his own knees. Marcus clocks
it in the mirror.
MARCUS
Music okay, Pastor?
RAYMOND
I’d rather have quiet.
MARCUS
Quiet I can do.
INT. CALLOWAY DEVELOPMENT — CONFERENCE ROOM — LATER
Glass, steel, a view of the Southside from above. PRUITT,
50s, gray suit, a voice that never rises, squares a
contract on the table. A speakerphone glows.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
(speaker)
Pastor. Forgive me for not being
there in person. Election Day.
PRUITT
Purchase and sale. Closing at
seven-thirty tonight, after your
polls close. The price retires the
mortgage and builds you a new
sanctuary across town.
Raymond reads the number. It is a very good number.
RAYMOND
And the congregation votes on…
PRUITT
Your bylaws give the pastor
signing authority on property. We
checked.
(a beat)
Mr. Calloway is also aware of the
situation with the building fund.
Sixty-two thousand. He considers
it covered.
Raymond’s head comes up slowly. They know. They have always
known.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
Nobody needs to be embarrassed,
Pastor. That’s what closings are
for.
EXT. MOUNT CARMEL — FRONT STEPS — LATER
Marcus’s car pulls off. Raymond climbs the steps, contract
folder under his arm.
Sitting on the top step, clipboard on his knee: the
Advocate.
Raymond steps around him.
RAYMOND
Church is closed for the election.
ADVOCATE
I’ll wait.
Raymond goes in. The door shuts. The Advocate does not
move.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 15 — “TWO PROBLEMS”
EPISODE 15 — “TWO PROBLEMS”
EXT. PRECINCT SIDEWALK — UNDER AN AWNING — DAY
SUPER: 3:00 PM. 4 HOURS.
Rain drumming. Victoria shakes a last voter’s hand, smile
fixed, and turns to Darnell.
VICTORIA
What.
DARNELL
Naomi’s out. She wouldn’t sign. I
handled it.
VICTORIA
You fired my finance director on
Election Day.
DARNELL
There’s a second thing. The field
money never showed. Courier’s in
the wind.
Her phone RINGS. She knows who it is.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
(phone, soft as ever)
Victoria. I’m told forty thousand
dollars of mine went for a walk.
VICTORIA
We’re looking into…
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
Find my money. Or find a new
friend.
CLICK.
Victoria stands very still. We watch it assemble behind her
eyes.
VICTORIA
Naomi ran the books.
DARNELL
She can’t prove…
VICTORIA
She saw the withdrawal, Darnell.
Forty in cash. And now there’s
forty in cash that nobody can
find. Those aren’t two problems.
DARNELL
(quietly)
She doesn’t have to prove it.
VICTORIA
She just has to say it.
For one second the candidate is gone. Just a woman under an
awning.
VICTORIA (CONT’D)
Get me a car. I need ten minutes
where nobody’s talking to me.
Darnell taps his phone.
ON PHONE: YOUR DRIVER: MARCUS — 4.97. 2 MIN AWAY.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · CALLOWAY'S FIXER
PRUITT
CHARACTER PROFILE
Male, 40s–50s. Sits in the passenger seat of Tray’s car, reads Tray’s mother’s address off his phone, says “seven o’clock,” and gets out. Never raises his voice. One scene (Ep 19) that converts a nervous middleman into a man with a gun. Quiet menace, no theatrics.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 7 — "I'LL WAIT"
Read for the role of PRUITT.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 7 — "I'LL WAIT"
EPISODE 7 — “I’LL WAIT”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — MORNING
SUPER: 9:45 AM. 9 HOURS, 15 MINUTES.
Raymond in the back, gripping his own knees. Marcus clocks
it in the mirror.
MARCUS
Music okay, Pastor?
RAYMOND
I’d rather have quiet.
MARCUS
Quiet I can do.
INT. CALLOWAY DEVELOPMENT — CONFERENCE ROOM — LATER
Glass, steel, a view of the Southside from above. PRUITT,
50s, gray suit, a voice that never rises, squares a
contract on the table. A speakerphone glows.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
(speaker)
Pastor. Forgive me for not being
there in person. Election Day.
PRUITT
Purchase and sale. Closing at
seven-thirty tonight, after your
polls close. The price retires the
mortgage and builds you a new
sanctuary across town.
Raymond reads the number. It is a very good number.
RAYMOND
And the congregation votes on…
PRUITT
Your bylaws give the pastor
signing authority on property. We
checked.
(a beat)
Mr. Calloway is also aware of the
situation with the building fund.
Sixty-two thousand. He considers
it covered.
Raymond’s head comes up slowly. They know. They have always
known.
CALLOWAY (V.O.)
Nobody needs to be embarrassed,
Pastor. That’s what closings are
for.
EXT. MOUNT CARMEL — FRONT STEPS — LATER
Marcus’s car pulls off. Raymond climbs the steps, contract
folder under his arm.
Sitting on the top step, clipboard on his knee: the
Advocate.
Raymond steps around him.
RAYMOND
Church is closed for the election.
ADVOCATE
I’ll wait.
Raymond goes in. The door shuts. The Advocate does not
move.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 19 — “SEVEN O’CLOCK”
EPISODE 19 — “SEVEN O’CLOCK”
INT. TRAY’S CAR — PARKED — DAY
SUPER: 4:30 PM. 2 HOURS, 30 MINUTES.
Tray behind the wheel. In the passenger seat, as relaxed as
a man waiting for a bus: Pruitt. He scrolls his phone.
PRUITT
(reading)
Twenty-two fourteen Delmar Lane.
Yellow house. Your mother keeps a
nice yard.
Tray stares straight ahead. His knee is bouncing.
PRUITT (CONT’D)
Seven o’clock.
He gets out. Closes the door gently. Walks away without
looking back.
Tray grips the wheel until his knuckles go pale. He’s
twenty-seven. Right now he looks twelve.
The back door opens. Dez gets in.
DEZ
Tray. I lost it. The envelope.
There was a cop, I panicked, I
left it in the car. A rideshare.
Tray doesn’t yell. That’s the frightening part.
TRAY
(shaking)
You know who that man was? That
just got out? That’s who I answer
to. And he answers to somebody who
don’t ever have to raise his
voice. At seven o’clock that
money’s where it’s supposed to be,
or he goes to see my mama’s yard.
(turns around)
And then I come see you, Dez. I
won’t want to. I’ll do it anyway.
EXT. STREET CORNER — LATER
Dez digs through his phone. Finds this morning’s receipt.
Under it, a button: LOST AN ITEM? CALL YOUR DRIVER.
He presses it.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — MOVING — SAME
A PASSENGER in the back, earbuds in. Marcus’s phone lights
up on the mount.
ON PHONE: RIDER CALLING ABOUT A LOST ITEM — DESMOND H.
Marcus looks at it. At the glovebox. He lets it ring out.
It rings again. He lets it ring out.
It rings a third time. The passenger pulls out an earbud.
PASSENGER
You going to get that?
CLOSE ON: Marcus’s thumb, over ANSWER and DECLINE.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · DEACON BOARD TREASURER
SISTER ODESSA LYLE
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black female, 60s. Reading glasses on a chain, a ledger page in her hand. Stops the pastor in the hallway: the building fund does not balance and the board already knows something is wrong. Comes back at 3:45 with the bank statements and asks him once, plainly, whether there is anything he wants to tell her before Sunday. She is the person he lies to and the person he confesses to. Steady, unshowy, church-exact.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 6 — "THE LEDGER PAGE"
Read for the role of SISTER ODESSA LYLE.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 6 — "THE LEDGER PAGE"
EPISODE 6 — “THE LEDGER PAGE”
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — HALLWAY — MORNING
SUPER: 9:20 AM. 9 HOURS, 40 MINUTES.
Raymond walks fast, still wearing his camera smile. SISTER
ODESSA LYLE, 60s, reading glasses on a chain, steps out of
the finance office holding a single sheet of paper.
ODESSA
Pastor. A minute.
RAYMOND
Sister Odessa, it’s Election Day,
I’ve got…
ODESSA
It doesn’t balance.
He stops.
ODESSA (CONT’D)
The building fund. I have run it
four times. I’m a retired
bookkeeper, Pastor. I don’t run
things four times.
She holds up the ledger page. A column of figures. One
circled in red.
Raymond freezes. Half a second. Then the smile comes back,
warmer than before.
RAYMOND
Transfers between accounts.
Timing. You’ll have every
statement tonight.
ODESSA
For Sunday’s audit.
RAYMOND
For Sunday’s audit.
He pats her arm and moves past. He’s almost to the door.
ODESSA
Good.
He turns.
ODESSA (CONT’D)
Because the board already knows
something’s wrong.
On Raymond: the smile still on his face, with nothing left
behind it.
His phone lights up in his hand.
ON PHONE: YOUR DRIVER MARCUS IS OUTSIDE.
THROUGH THE GLASS DOORS: Marcus’s car idling at the curb,
wipers off, driver looking at nothing.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 17 — “ANYTHING YOU WANT TO TELL ME”
EPISODE 17 — “ANYTHING YOU WANT TO TELL ME”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — PARKED — DAY
SUPER: 3:45 PM. 3 HOURS, 15 MINUTES.
Marcus takes the Accuser’s hundred out of the cup holder.
Unlocks the glovebox to stash it. The envelope stares back
at him. He drops the bill in on top of it and shuts the
door fast. CLICK.
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — SANCTUARY — SAME
Empty pews, stained-glass light. Raymond sits in the front
row, not praying, just sitting. Muffled from below: the
shuffle of voters in the fellowship hall.
A man slides into the pew behind him. A voter resting his
feet, by the look of him: the Accuser. He leans forward,
elbows on the pew back.
ACCUSER
(quiet, reasonable)
Thirty-one years you gave this
church. No pension. No raise in
nine. You didn’t steal. You only
borrowed.
Footsteps in the aisle. The Accuser sits back and opens a
hymnal. Just a man in a pew.
Sister Odessa comes down the aisle with a thick envelope
from the bank. She gives the stranger half a glance and no
more. She sits beside Raymond. She does not open the
envelope.
ODESSA
I didn’t wait for tonight. I went
to the branch.
Raymond looks at the envelope. He doesn’t reach for it.
ODESSA (CONT’D)
You baptized my daughter. You
buried my husband. You sat with me
in that hospital nineteen nights.
(beat)
So I am going to ask you one time,
plainly, as your sister. Is there
anything you want to tell me
before Sunday?
Over her shoulder, the man with the hymnal looks up. He
doesn’t say a word. He already said it.
Raymond looks at the woman he has pastored for thirty
years.
RAYMOND
No, Sister.
Odessa closes her eyes. A small nod. She stands, leaves the
envelope on the pew between them, and walks back up the
aisle.
Her footsteps. The door.
Raymond alone with the envelope. When he looks again, the
pew behind him is empty. The hymnal lies open on the seat.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · NAOMI'S DAUGHTER
IMANI PIERCE
CHARACTER PROFILE
Black girl, 9. In the back seat on the way to school while her mother finds the pattern in the books. Her bedroom is what the signature line is worth. Watches from the gallery in the epilogue; one look between mother and daughter is the whole scene. Two or three scenes, natural and unforced.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 2 — "THE MIRROR"
Read for the role of IMANI PIERCE.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 2 — "THE MIRROR"
EPISODE 2 — “THE MIRROR”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — MORNING
SUPER: 6:40 AM. 12 HOURS, 20 MINUTES.
NAOMI PIERCE, 34, blazer over yesterday’s blouse, laptop
open on her knees. Beside her IMANI, 9, backpack bigger
than she is.
IMANI
Mama. The field trip form.
NAOMI
Friday. I get paid Friday.
IMANI
It’s due Thursday.
NAOMI
I know when it’s due, Imani.
The car stops at a school. Imani kisses her cheek, hops
out. Naomi goes back to the screen.
ON THE LAPTOP: a donor spreadsheet. She sorts a column.
Nine lines jump together.
NINE LLCs. ONE MAILING ADDRESS. $180,000.
Naomi stops breathing for a second.
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR: Marcus sees the screen. Sees her
face change.
He reaches up and tilts the mirror toward the ceiling.
Naomi types the address into a search bar. The result
loads:
CALLOWAY DEVELOPMENT GROUP — SUITE 900.
NAOMI (CONT’D)
(barely)
No.
Her phone BUZZES.
ON PHONE: DARNELL: Come see me. Now.
She looks up, needing a witness.
NAOMI (CONT’D)
Sir, did you…
The mirror shows her nothing but headliner.
MARCUS
Ma’am?
NAOMI
Nothing.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 21 — “ONE CHANCE”
EPISODE 21 — “ONE CHANCE”
INT. NAOMI’S APARTMENT — KITCHEN — EVENING
SUPER: 6:05 PM. 55 MINUTES.
The cardboard box on the counter. Imani does homework at
the table. Naomi scrolls the ledger photos on her phone.
IMANI
Did you get in trouble at work?
NAOMI
I got fired, baby.
IMANI
What did you do?
NAOMI
Nothing. That’s why.
On a small TV, local news: a reporter outside Mount Carmel.
REPORTER (V.O.)
…frontrunner Victoria Cole is
expected to cast her own ballot
here at 6:45, just ahead of the
seven o’clock close…
Naomi looks at the screen. At a COLE FOR COUNCIL magnet on
her own refrigerator. She put it there herself, a year ago.
ON PHONE: a contact. STATE ETHICS COMMISSION — TIP LINE.
Her thumb hovers.
She lowers the phone.
NAOMI
I knocked on four hundred doors
for that woman. I believed her.
IMANI
Do you still?
NAOMI
(a long beat)
I believe she gets one chance to
fix it herself. Tonight. After
that it’s not up to me anymore.
She grabs her keys. Knocks on the neighbor’s wall twice.
NAOMI (CONT’D)
Miss Pat’s coming over. Finish
your fractions.
IMANI
Where are you going?
NAOMI
To give somebody one last chance.
EXT. NAOMI’S BUILDING — CURB — MOMENTS LATER
Her ride is waiting. Marcus. Third time today. They both
know it.
NAOMI
Mount Carmel.
The church where he just left the boy. A beat too long.
MARCUS
Yes, ma’am.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · PRECINCT SECURITY OFFICER
OFFICER REYES
CHARACTER PROFILE
Latino male, 30s–40s. The sworn officer inside the building — the true fact the Accuser hands Marcus in the parking lot. Present at the fellowship hall through the standoff; takes Tray to the floor when Tray turns toward the money. Eps 26–28. Physical, controlled.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 26 — "WHERE'S THE MONEY"
Read for the role of OFFICER REYES.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 26 — "WHERE'S THE MONEY"
EPISODE 26 — “WHERE’S THE MONEY”
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — FELLOWSHIP HALL — DUSK
SUPER: 6:52 PM. 8 MINUTES.
The last voters in line. Naomi against the back wall, phone
in hand, deciding. OFFICER REYES, precinct security, by the
far exit. Through the open double doors, in the hallway:
Victoria gives an interview to the cameras.
At the check-in table, Dez hands out stickers beside
Evelyn.
EVELYN
Peel from the corner. You’re
wasting my stickers.
DEZ
There’s like nine hundred on here.
EVELYN
And every one of them is mine.
He grins. First time all day.
Raymond comes in from the hallway, a man twenty pounds
lighter.
Tray walks in through the main doors. He scans the room.
Finds Dez.
He crosses the floor. Voters step out of his way without
knowing why.
TRAY
(low)
Where’s the money.
DEZ
Tray. Not here. My
grandmother’s…
TRAY
(louder)
Where is the money, Dez.
The room begins to notice. In the hallway, a camera swings.
Victoria stops mid-sentence.
DEZ
I don’t have it. I’m not lying to
you. I don’t have it.
TRAY
It’s six fifty-two!
His hand goes under his shirt and comes out with the gun.
SCREAMS. Voters drop. Officer Reyes draws, but there are a
dozen people between him and a clean line.
OFFICER REYES
Drop it! Drop the weapon!
Tray isn’t hearing anything. The gun shakes in his hand.
He’s crying. It’s pointed at Dez’s chest.
Raymond steps forward. Hands up. Open. Steady.
RAYMOND
Son. Look at me. Look at me. I’m
the pastor here.
Tray’s eyes flick to him. The gun doesn’t move.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — SAME
The church doors through a wet windshield. No sound reaches
him. The thumb, still hovering.
BACK TO THE HALL
Behind the table, slowly, a hand on the edge for balance,
Evelyn gets to her feet.
Reyes sidesteps for an angle. Finds half of one.
OFFICER REYES
Last time! Drop it NOW!
Tray flinches toward the shout. The gun jerks with him.
Evelyn steps in front of her grandson.
CUT TO BLACK.
Featured role · VOICE-OVER
RADIO PREACHER
CHARACTER PROFILE
Male, 50s–60s, voice only. Mid-sermon on the car radio at 5:58 AM: “God voted for you. The devil voted against you. That makes it a tie, church. And you? You cast the deciding vote.” Bookends the season — Marcus switches him off in Ep 1 and leaves him on in Ep 30. One session; needs a real preaching cadence.
SIDES
Audition sides
Episode 1 — "THE KNOCK"
Read for the role of RADIO PREACHER.
See The Character Script
THE VOTE
Season One ·Episode 1 — "THE KNOCK"
EPISODE 1 — “THE KNOCK”
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — PRE-DAWN
SUPER: 5:58 AM. ELECTION DAY. 13 HOURS, 2 MINUTES UNTIL THE
POLLS CLOSE.
Dark. Dashboard glow on MARCUS BELL, 41, pressed shirt,
tired eyes. A phone in a dash mount shows his driver
profile: MARCUS — 4.97.
PREACHER (V.O.)
(radio)
God voted for you. The devil voted
against you. That makes it a tie,
church. And you? You cast the
deciding vote.
Marcus punches a button. Traffic and weather. The phone
PINGS. He accepts.
EXT. EVELYN’S HOUSE — CONTINUOUS
MOTHER EVELYN HARRIS, 78, church hat, sensible shoes,
climbs in with a metal cash box and a fat roll of “I VOTED”
stickers. Phone at her ear.
EVELYN
(into phone)
Desmond. Eat something before you
go anywhere. No. A Pop-Tart is not
something. I love you too. Act
like it.
She hangs up, smiling to herself.
EVELYN (CONT’D)
My grandson. Nineteen and thinks
the toaster is a stove.
MARCUS
Yes, ma’am.
EVELYN
You voting today, baby?
MARCUS
I don’t get into all that.
EVELYN
Politics?
MARCUS
Politics. Religion. Any of it. I
do five stars.
She studies him in the mirror like a woman reading small
print.
EXT. GREATER MOUNT CARMEL BAPTIST CHURCH — MOMENTS LATER
A sign on the lawn: VOTE HERE. Evelyn gets out. The sticker
roll sits on his dashboard.
MARCUS
Ma’am, you left your…
EVELYN
I know what I left. Polls close at
seven. Every set of polls does.
She goes. Marcus reaches for the gearshift.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
At his window: THE ADVOCATE, 40s, work boots, canvas
jacket, clipboard. Calm as a man with nowhere else to be.
ADVOCATE
I need a ride.
MARCUS
Got to book through the app, boss.
The Advocate nods. He does not argue. Marcus pulls away.
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR: the man stands at the curb, getting
smaller, not moving.
SUPER: 6:01 AM.
CUT TO BLACK.
Episode 30 — “THE POLLS ARE OPEN”
EPISODE 30 — “THE POLLS ARE OPEN”
INT. CITY HALL — COUNCIL OFFICE — DAY
A brass plate: COUNCILMEMBER VICTORIA COLE. She sits down
behind the desk for the first time. Runs her hand along the
wood. She takes her time.
SUPER: SIX MONTHS LATER.
SAME OFFICE. Boxes on the desk. The brass plate lies face
down in one of them. On a muted TV, a crawl: DEVELOPER
GRANT CALLOWAY INDICTED — COUNCILMEMBER COLE RESIGNS.
In the doorway: the Accuser.
ACCUSER
I never lied to you. I said you’d
win.
He goes.
Victoria stands among the boxes. She has no answer.
INT. COURTROOM — DAY
Naomi on the witness stand, right hand raised. In the
gallery: Imani. Mother and daughter hold a look. That’s the
whole scene.
INT. MOUNT CARMEL — FELLOWSHIP HALL — ANOTHER ELECTION DAY
The check-in table. Dez sits in his grandmother’s chair,
poll manager’s badge on his shirt, a fresh sticker roll in
front of him. He peels one from the corner and hands it to
a voter.
Behind him, in work clothes, no collar, no title: Raymond
pushes a broom across the linoleum. A member passes and
squeezes his shoulder. He keeps sweeping. Through the
window, the church sign still stands on church land.
INT. MARCUS’S CAR — PRE-DAWN
SUPER: 5:58 AM.
Dark. Dashboard glow. The same radio.
PREACHER (V.O.)
(radio)
God voted for you. The devil voted
against you. That makes it a tie,
church…
Marcus’s hand goes to the dial.
And rests there. He leaves it on.
PREACHER (V.O.) (CONT’D)
…and you cast the deciding vote.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
At the window: the Advocate. Work boots. Clipboard. Same as
the first morning.
Marcus looks at him for a long moment. The man waits. He
has always been willing to wait.
Marcus reaches for the door lock.
CLICK.
The Advocate gets in.
Marcus peels one sticker off the roll. Presses it flat to
the dashboard with his thumb.
He puts the car in drive.
CUT TO:
TITLE CARD: THE VOTE
UNDER IT: THE POLLS ARE OPEN.
END OF SEASON ONE.