OUTSIDE CHICAGO, IL -- The contractions were coming five minutes apart, her water had broken—but a local woman took a detour while en route to deliver her first child, a daughter. 

Galicia Malone, 21, popped into Precinct 88 around 8:30 a.m., to cast her vote at the aptly named New Life Celebration Church, in south suburban Dolton. 

“I never voted before so this made a major difference in my life,” Malone told a WBBM reporter, as quoted by CBS. “And I wanted this to be a stepping-stone for my daughter.”

As she worked her way through the ballot, her contractions increased in frequency and intensity. 

“I was just trying to read and breathe, read and breathe,” she told the reporter. “That’s what I kept telling myself, ‘Read and breathe, read and breathe.”

She finished voting, then drove herself to the hospital. 

"If only all voters showed such determination to vote," said Cook County Clerk David Orr in a release. "My hat goes off to Galicia for not letting anything get in the way of voting. What a terrific example she is showing for the next generation, especially her new son or daughter."

Want to follow the election action live? Check out our live blog, beginning at 10 a.m. 

Before you head to the polls, check out everything you need to know. 

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