Political Discussions
Have you voted? And how were the polls by you?
Posted by MidwestMom • 11/04/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: 2008 presidential election, election day, polls, turnout, voting
I just returned from voting. The polls were as crowded as I have seen them. There was a mixture of ages and races I've never seen before in my area.
I must say, I left energized.
My husband went to the polls when they opened, and the line was out the door. My son's teacher said the same for her polling place. She went at 5:50 a.m. and did not vote until 6:30.
If this is the type of voter participation we will see nationwide, this has the chance to be the most participated-in election we've seen in our lifetime. To me, that bodes well for the American republic.
Have YOU voted? If so, can you describe the polls where you are? (I am in rural Illinois, in a town of 35,000).
User Comments
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To avoid lines, I'm planning to go after lunch and before the 9 to 5 people leave work.-
That's smart. I live on the border of IL and IN, and several of the IN voters were concerned because they are on Eastern Standard time and the polls close at 6pm (5pm, Illinois time). They are going to have to burn rubber to get there after work.
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My wife went to vote when the polls opened @ 7 a.m. She reported that the line was out the door and around the corner of the school we go to to vote - unheard of in my district! It took her over an hour to cast her vote. Historically, if we went first thing, we could cast our vote and leave without waiting. I will enter the frey, unfortunately, at around 5 p.m.-
Here in Illinois, the country election commissioner has said that they will hand out tickets or bracelets at 7p.m. and let everyone who is in line vote, however long it takes. But no one who gets in line after 7 p.m. will be allowed.
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I just voted - but I went right after the morning rush - so I was in and out. But my district had already had a 30% + turnout by 9 am, which is very high for the area. By lunch you can expect another 20% or more, and after 5, forget it.
They're expecting 90% turnout for my city.-
In our area 8% voted by early voting. Do you have numbers for your area?
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I don't have the early voting numbers - but I do know the city clerk was inundated with absentee ballots so much so, that they had to hire extra help.
Yowza! -
@MidwestMom: CT, I believe.
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@mark so noted (edit completed, thank you)
@Anok
Ours, too. They've hired extra runners and technical help to run supplies between the polling stations, too. Usually two runners are enough for the county. They have 8 this year, and from what the volunteers said at our polling place, they are working hard! -
Yup - this year instead of the usual two checkers, two asst registrars two tenders and one moderator - they've added back in a challenger, and "floaters" to help ease any congestion or relieve workers who are not being allowed to leave the polling place this election. (That's a first, moderators are used to not leaving, but other poll workers were always allowed to leave - not this time!).
And, of course since I'm not working it this year I'm all extra nosy. "Whats the count? How are the campaigners behaving? The unofficial checkers? Any snags/ How many spoiled ballots so far? Any challenges?"
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Nosy isn't a bad thing ... but I imagine they're a little reticent to give details to a masked woman.
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What? You mean you don't have masked election super heroes where you live? How odd!
Nah, I know everyone at the polls, so I always get the scoop -
I didn't poke anyone for information (although my daughter was in her "Supergirl" tee shirt, so superheroes were not in short supply, thank you!)... I just made sure to thank the volunteers for giving their time. They are doing important work.
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What a trip! I came to the polling place 15 minutes early...and it was raining cats and dogs...which is the first such rainfall in So Cal (The OC) of the year. Ten minutes before the place opened the power went out!
I was third in line and the first two voters actually had to do a paper ballot. Even though they had a generator for the electronic polling booths, there was a glitch in starting them.
They were able to get it up and running for me in a couple minutes...but those poll workers were frantic! Checking names in a nearly completely dark room. (the power was for the booths only).
Anyways, I was done in 15 minutes feeling happy to vote and hopefull the rest of the day goes good for those poll workers.-
Oh noes! It's a good thing they got back on track, I'll bet the poll workers were panicked for a minute.
I had that happen to me on the first election I worked. The machines broke, candidates were trying to stroll on in to see what happened (can't do that!) and we had to go to paper ballots for the entire day. Then I had to hand count every single vote at the end of the night. 0_o
Talk about a hard first day, it was mayhem! -
Good for you, Alex! (That's quite a dramatic story!) I'm glad you braved the weather.
Were they ready for a crowd like they are out here? -
I am assigned to go to a place in a quiet community...a beautiful trailer park nook next to Pacific Coast Hwy...overlooking the ocean. It's never been busy there in the 3 times I have voted there. I just don't think that many voters are assigned to go there.
The supervisor of the place was trying to stay calm...he was calling for candles...the generator is only good for a couple of hours...they may have to go paper after all. -
[I will preface this by saying this is a joke.]
Did it concern you that lightning struck as you were about to vote? -
You know what...it's great when you are LOOKING to see God's work around you. I was wondering how the rain and the power outage was factoring in. There was no lightning. Lightening is not that frequent in The OC!
[I don't know what caused the power outage, but it looked like it effected about a couple square miles.]
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Yikes.
We get lightning all the time around here -- really strong storms that let you feel how small you are in the grand scheme of things. It is the kind of weather that does wonders for your sense of perspective.
(I agree about having open eyes... Have a great day, Alex. I'm glad you voted.)-
I lived in Colorado for 3 years, so I know about lightning shows.
On another note:
Voters descending on polling stations in the early hours of Election Day are reporting long lines, mistakes, missing ballots and faulty machinery as the nation chooses between Barack Obama and John McCain.
Watchdog groups and government officials tell FOXNews.com that voters are reporting a range of problems and that some polling places aren't able to handle the expected record turnout.
Guess nobody knew what would really happened if all of a sudden Americans decided to vote! (The U.S. usually has the worst voter percentage turnout in the world.) -
Rain Knocks Out Power In Downtown L.A., The Valley
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Rain is being blamed for scattered power outages in downtown Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley areas.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power says residents began calling about power outages around 4 a.m. Tuesday as a light rain intensified in some areas. DWP spokeswoman Carol Tucker says the outages are all rain-related.
The number of customers without power hasn't been determined. Power was quickly restored in some areas.
Hmmmmmm....LA is about an hour away from me, and the valley 1.5-2 hrs.....hmmmmm. Just wonderin' that's all.
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I went to vote 4 different times over the past week and each time the lines were 3+ hours long. My wife waited with her brother on Sunday evening for nearly 5 hours and a friend of mine waited for 6 on Saturday. Each reported a somewhat festive mood even though the waits were crazy. Obama supporters were prevalent.
I'm going this afternoon around 3pm and hoping for better results. I'll wait 10+ hours to cast my vote if I have to though.-
I heard that some places where early voting was high, the traffic today is light. For one, don't you have all kinds of polling places today? As opposed to much fewer early voting places.
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Do what you have to do, RR. This is it!
As I said above, there was a mixture of voters at our polling place, so we'll see how things turn out. On our way to school and to vote, I saw Obama supporters stationed at three different places in town with signs. I have never seen that in our area before.
IMO, increased turnout can only be a good thing for our country. -
@Ruski
I'm banking on that.... more polling places plus 40% or so have already voted. A friend of mine said he waited only 10 minutes this morning at his polling place. I drove past my poll earlier and there was a rather long line, but it was hard to gauge the wait since I wasn't sure how long the line was inside.
@MM
Long or short wait.... I'm voting!! -
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Signed, sealed & delivered.
50 minutes. Good atmosphere.
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Got there 5 after 7am. And left at 725am. Not too bad. Hope everyone gets to vote today! -
Arrived 7 AM voted 10 AM. Very heavy turn out. Yes! Obama/Biden "08! -
Way to hang in there!
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I voted two weeks ago. Then, the line wasn't so bad don't know about now.-
When you voted, were there problems with the electronic voting machines still? Were those worked out?
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In my county (Kanawha) it was paper ballot. In other parts of the state they have started to recalibrate the machines first thing in the morning and the problems seem to have gone away. Fingers crossed.
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I voted last week by absentee ballot.
I must, this is a gonna be a day to remember - I'm so excited to be part of this huge, historic Election Day! -
Yup, this morning. No line. No problem.-
Did they ask you for ID, SuperGrover?
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Did you vote over here?... or did you vote over there...?
Was the voting near...? or was the voting far...?
(Sorry, just channeling my inner SuperGrover.
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I voted for Obama, and "no" on practically every proposition on the ballot. The only one that got a "yes" vote was to allow cities to raise the sales tax if they so choose to pay for education costs.
(I'm in Florida.)-
Hey, Voodoo... were your polls crowded?
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We got there at 6:30, polls opened at 7:00, we got to McDonald's after voting at 8:20.
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I voted this morning. Took me 20 minutes to get through the line. I was told the wait this morning around 7 was only an hour. I thought I could miss some of the rush by going in around 10:30, but the lines in the small school gym were still going strong. I had to vote in a small Louisiana town, so I didn't see much variety. Lots of white 40+ voters in that bunch. People were wearing so much camouflage I thought I was voting in the woods.
It looked like one machine was down for the town residents. I didn't witness any other problems. Some were confused as to which line they were supposed to be in, but that happens in every election at that site. Having the sample ballot in the newspaper helped with all the freakin' propositions and amendments. I don't think Louisiana could have enforced their 3-minute rule even if they wanted to. I'm sure many were reading those amendments and propositions for the first time, but I didn't see a lot of voters spending time reading the sample ballot on the door. I signed in, voted, and walked out without getting a sticker. I feel somewhat disenfranchised because I didn't get an "I voted" sticker. -
Why camo? Is it hunting season in your parts?
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Thanks for voting.
Print this and use scotch tape.
(I VOTED!)
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Okay. Did it. Very easy this time of day in my DC precinct. Still very busy. One neat thing: the average age of poll workers was closer to my own. Usually they're all more my parents' age. To me that is a sign of increased political awareness and voluntarism. Good stuff.
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That was true for me as well. It is usually the 'grandparent' set. Today, there were people who took off work just to help with the election for the day.
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I didn't even think of that - but we actually had a mix - about 50/50 - usually ours 90% grandparents... hey, wait, I have a G'daughter (*sulks off to count the gray) -
Troy, (Maybe you should change your avatar to Guy Smiley instead of Statler, or is that Waldorf?)
Good for you. I'm so glad you voted. Mom's proud of ya!
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Polling places opened at 6:00 a.m. My son had hockey
practice at 5:00 so the obvious thing to do was stop and vote on
the way home. When we arrived the line was already 70 deep (every demographic) - I couldn't wait so I went back at 8:00 - line was 5 deep my wait was 10 minutes - but I was just over there and it's wrapped around the building...
TV reports show lines at several polling places and are
reporting waits of 2 hours or more.-
Where?
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AZ - Chandler, it's south east metro Phoenix area... I'm hoping for a HUGE OBAMA turn out in McCain's back yard!
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The polls yesterday suggested things could get uncomfortable for McCain in AZ.
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They've been running tight - statistical tie with the MoE - for a couple of days now
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I voted hours ago and since in New York (Buffalo) had to only wait a couple of minutes in an off peak time.
ideasandrevolution.net - If you're not outraged you're not reading this blog -
I voted last week. We had our choice of paper or electronic voting. I chose paper. -
Good article by Christiane Amanpoure of CNN:
This election will change the world
inthefield.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/04/this-election-will-change-the-world/ -
We went at 4:00 in NYC (Chelsea) Five people were in line in front of us for the 12 voting machines. It took about 7 min. Everyone looked kind of bored, with election workers out numbering voters 3:1. I assume that they will get their rush after 6, or not. We actually brought folding chairs expecting a mob like 2004, and sheepishly left them in the hall when we were ushered into the gym for voting.-
Wow! I'm impressed you got through that fast. We live about 2 blocks from our polling station, and we took a walk over there -- still full.
With that said, we have a couple of hotly contested local races... So that may be part of the reason.
Good for you for voting, Doug! Go write a poem about it.
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I voted early in the morning, first thing, no lines - a red county in a blue state no real contest here I don't think.
I spent the rest of the day driving people to the polls.
One polling place was pretty empty when we arrived but started to fill up as we were leaving. I found my last run was the most crowed with a line extended about a half hour or so but it was starting to be after work time. -
I voted right after work-- right around 5pm. And having braced myself for long, long lines, I walked right in and was the next person.
Other parts of my city, however, are reporting hour and two hour waits. -
no problems whatsoever. it took me about 20 minutes to vote.
my neighborhood is very pro-obama and the atmosphere was downright festive. -
I voted this morning, then got my free Starbucks coffee, which reminded me why I never get their coffee.
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