Polling Reports: Gulp

I voted earlier today in my little borough of Jenkintown, PA, a near northern suburb of Philadelphia. Uneventful but busier than usual. I usually vote pretty early in the day, but there was what passes for a line so I waited until the crush had subsided. Voting for Barack Obama was so satisfying I wanted to go back and do it a couple more times. That good feeling is, however, extremely tempered by the awareness of the seriousness of the problems and challenges that the next President will face.

Voted today in Redwood City, CA with absolutely no wait. Why the difference between precincts in wait times? This is the issue we should tackle going forward.

I had no trouble in Boston, MA. I waited about 20 minutes.

Remember, Bush still has plenty of time to screw more things up. I hope you people in the 4th estate are on the case:

http://scienceblogs.com/intersection/2008/11/bush_still_has_77_days.php

So, McCain’s look suggests that, left alone in the voting booth, he just couldn’t vote for himself; he just couldn’t trust the guy’s judgment (Palin, etc).

Voted at 7:30 am in Arlington, VA. No line whatsoever.

I think I voted today in Champaign, IL. Waited about 40 min. We use a mark/scan system with paper ballots. When I got to the tabulator machine, it had crashed with “system halted invalid memory reference” printed on the LCD screen. We were instructed to place our ballots in a slot in the front of the machine. The County Clerk’s office tells me these ballots will be scanned later (and counted) with poll watchers from each party observing.

I took my 90 year-old white Irish Catholic Grandma to vote in the Village of Williamsville, NY (Buffalo suburb). I live less than a mile from her and we had two different polling places within maybe 900 feet on the same street. It took each of us less than 3 minutes to vote at about 1:30 pm. When I see the lines on TV of people waiting 3-4 hours or more, I think “Is this really America? How unfair.” BTW, we both voted for Obama.

About a half hour wait this morning in Chandler, AZ. Everyone was civil, and I got the ballot in without a hassle. It will be interesting to see what the line looks like later on.

My Philadelphia neighborhood is mostly African-American. At 7:00 AM, opening time, my polling place had about 150 waiting in line. It took me about 45 to get into a booth. The mood was upbeat, but quiet. I think most Obama voters are still holding our breaths.

I voted this morning for a Montana legislative candidate named Frosty Calf Boss Ribs. My life is complete.

Report from manning a “Kids Voting USA” booth for an hour: Kids want to know why you didn’t drop them off at Brett’s first and hate you. End of report.

Hmmm. My Philadelphia neighborhood is mostly white. (Mostly Obama supporters though, too, I would think.) At 9:15 AM, there was only one person (man, 30s, suit) in front of me, & he slowed my progress by no more than 1 minute.

Is it me, or is that box he’s putting that into look a little, well, “insecure”?

And why is he putting into a blue box and not the red box?

And am I obsessing just a WEE BIT MUCH???

–Seriously

I voted early, of course, for OBAMA! I was a volunteer at a polling location this morning from 7:00 AM until 9:30 AM(Anna M. Daulton Elementary, Grand Prairie, TX), precinct 2379. The Poll workers were well organized. The lines were moving steadily. The average wait was approximately 20 minutes. According to the Presidential Election poll taken by the students at the school, OBAMA was their choice!

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I took my stepdaughter to a local high school here in Macomb county Michigan which is serving as the voting place for my precinct…she bombarded me with questions, and I did my best to answer while carefully filling in the ovals on my scan ballot. I screwed it up, and had to get another ballot, marking the first one “spoiled” in nice, big letters.
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While waiting for the new ballot, I remarked to the poll worker that it didn’t seem that busy. She replied, “Five hundred people by eleven A.M is a lot. You should be happy that you came in early; once four o’clock hits and people get out of work, it’ll be busy enough.” I thanked her and went to fill out my second ballot. I was better this time, being able to actually focus on what I was doing; the stepdaughter was almost out of questions. I fed the ballot to the scanner and saw the number of votes cast tick upward. No confirmation of whether or not the ballot registered correctly, so I felt a little bit of annoyance at that.
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On the way back home, the stepdaughter told me about the elections at her school; they voted for Obama or McCain by circling their pictures (because of the kids who couldn’t read yet, she explained) and the result was Obama winning by twenty votes out of 450-ish cast, for about a four-point margin of victory.

Dateline St. Cloud, MN: I’m one of the fortunate Minnesotans who got to vote for Obama, Franken and Tinklenberg (or, if you’d rather, against McCain, Coleman and Bachmann). Voted mid-morning, no waiting in line at all, similar to my experience in the same polling location in 2004 and 2006.

As was my custom, I wrote in Paul Westerberg’s name for a random judgeship.

I voted in my small, Democratic, very white and pretty affluent town in Maryland around 10:30 AM, had only a 20-minute wait. Ray Charles “America the Beautiful” provided my polling place soundtrack, in an endless loop on my iPod. I touched the screen next to Obama’s name just as the final soaring chorus kicked in.

Here’s hoping that America continues to strive to fulfill the promise of the Constitution, rather than turn back the clock to the 18th century. (Although a taste of Enlightenment thinking would get great right about now.)

I’m nervous. My Canadian colleagues think Obama’s got this in the bag, but I’m not so sure.

Someone, please hold me.

I’ve been voting in Santa Monica, CA for 25 years and never had to wait in a line to vote. This morning (10am) I waited in line for an hour, the whole time I was there the line was 75 to 100 voters long. The pole workers told me that earlier in the day it had been 3 times as long and people were coming in groups to take pictures of each other voting. We have beautiful weather here today and I hope the line stays this long and gets longer and stays that way till the polls close.

Yes for Change, no on 8, VOTE!

Karl Rove, with an electoral map on his own website, predicts a slaughter in Obama’s favor (338/200! Ouch.)

http://rove.com/election

Just wanted to describe the scene at one precinct in Chicago that confirms suspicions that blue-state likely Obama supporters are not taking this election lightly. My polling place is actually in my building, so I set my alarm for 5:45 am so I could roll down and vote quickly when polls opened at 6 a.m. I figured the line wouldn’t be too bad because early voting has been going on and very popular, and my polling place isn’t a huge precinct.
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I was dead wrong.
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After waiting over an hour, I finally got a chance to vote on the Illinois paper ballot. As I left the line to go shower and get ready for work (at 7 am), the line was still over 100+ strong. An hour later, as I left for work (8 am-ish), the line was LONGER. People of all races, genders, ages queued up to exercise the voting rights — simply brilliant. Many people had brought their children, and one even brought their (non-seeing-eye) dog to witness democracy in action.
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One other note: people watching Morning Joe this morning might have wondered why it took the Obamas so long to vote. Their precinct (like mine) uses a paper ballot that prevents you from voting straight ticket easily (you have to fill in every square), so that slows you down. Plus, on the back of the ballot were at least 50 judicial retention voting questions (voting yes or no to retaining different local judges). Since the Obamas are both lawyers, I imagine they wanted to be extra sure to vote accurately and in an informed manner on each judicial retention question (plus it would maybe be embarrassing if a presidential candidate and his wife left any part of a ballot incomplete). Sadly, the Obamas’ precinct and mine shared another interesting phenomenon — no “I Voted” stickers, just a card “receipt” that you did vote. I’m sad I can’t proudly wear an “I Voted” sticker today, especially since local bars are giving free drinks to people coming in wearing them (or so I’m told).

You realize this is mostly rove’s usual tactic of trying to reduce the number of democratic voter and increase the number of republican voters right?

Reposted from earlier thread: Only 15 minutes needed to cast a vote in a Red part of SE Michigan at 11AM. I heard that the line wrapped around the building this morning and will probably do so again late this afternoon. Livingston county will go Red, but the question the local rag (which endorsed Obama – shock!) asks is whether Obama will break 40%. LBJ was the last president to do so in these parts. Clinton, Gore and Kerry could not crack 38%. I’d bet a pint that Obama gets 45%.

Nice ballot box. I’ve got one of those for storing my shop rags and bloody clothes I wear when I’m out serial-killing.

Voted with my wife at around 10AM in Peterborough, NH. ( 2 more into the Obama column )Wait was about 30 minutes, which is long for this hour of the morning. I was told by a moderator that it was out the door and up the block just after polls opened.

Crazy!

You realize this is mostly rove’s usual tactic of trying to reduce the number of democratic voter and increase the number of republican voters right?

By admitting a landslide on the eve of the election?
Was his admittance than McCain was running lying ads also a conspiracy?
If so, uh, he should rethink those devious plans of his. Seriously dude, I think he just sees the writing on the wall.

Columbia, SC
Got to the polling place at O-Dark-30 to a line already out the parking lot into the street. Very friendly crowd, got in the door at 7:42, voted at 8:30. No “poll-watchers,” precinct workers very helpful and courteous (chairs inside were provided for old folks and new mothers with babies by common consent). It was a grand time – all the folks in my part of the line would like to get together again, though preferably without the standing part. A mostly Blue county (Richland) in a mostly Red state, so probably no coincidence that we talked about everything except who we were voting for.

. . . and now I’m home sick and going back to bed. It sort of feels like a hangover.

Here’s hoping that America continues to strive to fulfill the promise of the Constitution, rather than turn back the clock to the 18th century.
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Cheney sez “L’etat c’est moi,” and Palin agrees.

Voted by mail-in ballot two weeks ago, though I didn’t trust the mail, so Mrs. MapGuy delivered them by hand to the Wellington Webb Municipal Building in Denver, CO. Miss the camaraderie of the polling lines (first time ever), but didn’t miss the hassle!

Obama ’08 … or … Kuwait? Isn’t there a more livable country that rhymes with ’08 (yes, I have been to Kuwait)? Does New Zealand rhyme with ’08 in anyone’s regional accent????

Stuck in moderation for eternity.

Voted by mail-in ballot two weeks ago, though I didn’t trust the mail, so Mrs. MapGuy delivered them by hand to the Wellington Webb Municipal Building in Denver, CO. Miss the camaraderie of the polling lines (first time ever), but didn’t miss the h@ssle! Of course, can I trust Mrs. MapGuy?
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Obama ’08 … or … Kuwait? Isn’t there a more livable country that rhymes with ’08 (yes, I have been to Kuwait)? Does New Zealand rhyme with ’08 in anyone’s regional accent?

@MapGuy – I grew up in Denver, but I’ve been gone for ten years. The Wellington Web Municipal Building? Did “Denver’s First Lady” get a building too?

@ Friar … ha. No, none for Wilma. But Wellington’s is nice enough for the both of them. Just across Colfax from the city/county building.

What would happen if everyone voted on paper? Probably, much less problems.

I voted last Friday in Lincoln, Nebraska, and had to wait about 30 minutes and voted on a paper ballot. I must admit, I truly enjoy knowing that it’s a paper ballot with darkly-filled circles. The only problem is that I feel like a kid again when worrying about coloring outside the lines.

“The Borgen Project has some good info on the cost of addressing global poverty.
$30 billion: Annual shortfall to end world hunger.
$540 billion: Annual U.S. Defense Budget.”

After months of McCain asking “Who is Barack Obama,” we’re a few hours away from giving him the definitive answer: “The President of the United States.”

Why does David Plouffe look worried? I just saw him on MSNBC, and he’s definitely unhappy about something. I hope it’s not the baby – if it’s something personal he should stop making appearances. If it’s the exit polls…. I can’t even think about that.

No line in Bellevue, WA, this morning. Busier than most years, but no waiting.
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We use paper ballots.

I arrived at my polling place at 6 on the dot, waited in line for about 20 minutes. But trouble started when I got inside and they said I had no application. I’m not sure what happened since I’ve been living at my place for about half a year and I know I’m registered cause I have the little card and all but they told me to fill out a provisional ballot and I did. so after filling out all the paperwork I had to vote on the touch screen machine. it took them more time to activate my card and fix the machine than it took me to vote. All in all, it took me an hour and 45 minutes to vote this morning. I’m glad I did it, but if I was 80 yrs old or it was my first time voting(or both)I would have been a little freaked out by the whole process. Why can’t we just have paper ballots? In the end I just hope my vote counts.

Voted by mail. I usually brag about our system in Oregon, but on election day itself, I kind of wish to have the experience of going to a polling place. But then, I don’t want to wait in line or have Diebold have anything to do with counting my vote, so I’ll stick with the mail.

Went after the lunchtime rush. No line to speak of. Inexperienced voters, though. Didn’t know the drill, the sign-in, the separate line for the machine, how to work the machine.

Tiny ballot. President, US Rep, State Senator, one ballot question.

Rose–

It’s very common for people to be very worried at this moment in time. Better than the euphoria leaking out of the Kerry campaign in 04.

Voted by mail in WA. As a transplant from CA, I must say I like going to the polling place and voting in person (and taking my son who seems to have a good time too). It just seems more democratic than mailing the ballot off mixed in with the bill payments.

I had a touching experience at the polls first thing in the morning here in MN…

Perched on her dad’s shoulders, the heels of her pink cowboy boots bounced against his chest as she looked up and down the long line. Her stream of questions never stopped as we waited outside for an hour. Walking in the doors at the rec center polling center she asked another one, “Daddy, is that where the girls vote?” I turned, along with others nearby in line, and looked to see where she was pointing: the women’s bathroom. We all suppressed chuckles, not wanting to discourage her interest in the election.
“No, honey, the girls get to vote in the same place as the boys.”
“Why, Daddy?”
“Well,” he explained, “because everyone has an equal right to vote so we all get to go to the same place.”
Forehead scrunched in concentration she said, “That’s good because I’m a girl and I want to vote. But, Daddy?” She paused as at least ten people looked up at her dark curls, waiting to hear what she would say next. “I don’t know who I am going to pick.”
“That’s ok.” He smiled, “You have a few years to decide.”
“Good,” Sighing she wrapped her chubby arms around him and rested her chin on his head, “because I have a lot of thinking to do.”

McCain looks like he just burnt the ribs and spilled his last beer.

None of the reported voting problems are catastrophic. That obviously changes if the race ends up close, but looks good for now. Conservatives need to admit that the system works and they may lose – fair and square.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

jayackroyd, it was more than regular election day nerves with Plouffe. I was watching with my mother, and we both just looked at each other like “What’s wrong with him?” He seemed oddly defeatist, and a little dazed. But maybe it has absolutely nothing to do with the election – this is a very stressful time for him. A better interviewer would have simply asked why he looked so depressed.
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I hope everything’s going well with his wife, and he’s able to be there for the birth.

My voting machine was down in south side of Syracuse. I filled out a paper ballot….i hope i filled in the bubbles right….i can’t take this waiting anymore, i’m going to the gym

Middle o’ nowhere, aka western NY:
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Took the grandbaby and wife to vote, a little after 1:00 pm, and there was one person ahead of us. Polling place is the same as it’s been for years, using the same voting technology used for years, manned by the same nice ladies that have been doing this for years. ID needed? Heck no – didn’t even have to give my name: they know me. Just signed the book to indicate I’d been there.
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Biggest hassle was afterward: the grandbaby _knew_ this was an area with a playground – public elementary school – and wanted to play. Normally, I’m all for heading over to the playground, but I had to be somewhere else. Angry grandbabies are no fun.

rose83,
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If KT only got 3 hours of sleep then I can pretty much guarantee you that Plouffe got less than that. We can’t jump on any little thing to make something important out of it. We have about 4 or 5 more hours if things go well to just let the process play out. It sucks but we just have to have faith. If Obama doesnt win the world won’t end and we will be able to move on, the same way McCainiacs will have to. Thats what this country is all about. So lets just keep each other up and stay positive and we will be just fine!

Middlesex County (MA) is awesome. I was in and out in five minutes max.

Middleseks (sorry, moderation) County, MA is awesome. I was in and out in five minutes max.

Up at 5:30am here eagerly anticipating exit polls and such. Of course, that’s 3:30pm for you east coasters. My ballot was mailed off nearly a month back. Oregon hardly needs my help for the presidential, but a vote against Gordon Smith…

Re: senor Plouffe, maybe he got the bean burrito.

Re: senor Rove, couldn’t we put him back in a junior high school bathroom with 4 large bullies

Rural Smith County, Texas, the tiny town of Winona, I was in and out in five minutes. I felt almost guilty.

McCain has voted
On paper, vote was cast
Too late to save him?

Voted weeks ago from Japan.

It figures that McCain voted with a paper ballot while Obama used a computer.

You say it but you don’t mean it. Why do you always bother me? Why are you always on my back!pass4sure / 642-825 / 920-221 / 640-863 / MB2-633