Full Version: Election Day anecdotes
As I went to the polls this morning, I was slightly surprised at the turnout.
Every other election, for the past 7 or 8 years I have been voting, there has never been a line.
Today, the line was out the door.
It turned out that there was a fairly hefty line for one precinct (mine, of course) and a smaller line at the 3 other precincts at my polling place.
I waiting 45 minutes to vote, which is 44 minutes longer than ever before.
Luckily, there was a bake sale going on, so I had a sweet filled breakfast.
Anyway, if anyone has any anecdotes about their election experience, feel free to post it here.
Every other election, for the past 7 or 8 years I have been voting, there has never been a line.
Today, the line was out the door.
It turned out that there was a fairly hefty line for one precinct (mine, of course) and a smaller line at the 3 other precincts at my polling place.
I waiting 45 minutes to vote, which is 44 minutes longer than ever before.
Luckily, there was a bake sale going on, so I had a sweet filled breakfast.
Anyway, if anyone has any anecdotes about their election experience, feel free to post it here.
Similar story - at 6AM I had to wait in a little line, which was a first in my precinct. Funny, I go to get a cup of coffee and there is a guy asking 'where to vote.' It's a big city, and he only knows his ward, not precinct. I got him to the nearest polling place, where they could help. I couldn't help but wonder how this date had snuck up on him and he couldn't have been bothered to check, oh, yesterday.
My wife is working as an election judge (republican) and the democrat judge working with her is named "Andrew Jackson." Thought that was cool. They were very efficient, no problems of any kind.
My wife is working as an election judge (republican) and the democrat judge working with her is named "Andrew Jackson." Thought that was cool. They were very efficient, no problems of any kind.
There was no line where i voted, But I have heard Tempe is a danged mad house with looong lines.
Brought my 2 year old son with me. He was very pleased with the I VOTED sticker.
Brought a undecided voter over to the Dark Side.
Got him to switch from republican to Libertarian.
I did it for America
My wife voted for the first time. She thought it funny how excited I was to vote.
Brought my 2 year old son with me. He was very pleased with the I VOTED sticker.
Brought a undecided voter over to the Dark Side.
Got him to switch from republican to Libertarian.
I did it for America My wife voted for the first time. She thought it funny how excited I was to vote.
I haven't voted yet. It's raining.
My wife woke up early and went to vote before going to work. She said the line was out the door and down the street. One lady said she was there at 6:15 am and the polls opened at 6:30.
I called around for two days to see if I was needed to drive people to the polls or be a poll watcher. Nope. Got all they need. Cool.
I'm leaving work early today and planning to be armed with a umbrella and a Walkman.
It's a great day to be an American.
More later....
My wife woke up early and went to vote before going to work. She said the line was out the door and down the street. One lady said she was there at 6:15 am and the polls opened at 6:30.
I called around for two days to see if I was needed to drive people to the polls or be a poll watcher. Nope. Got all they need. Cool.
I'm leaving work early today and planning to be armed with a umbrella and a Walkman.
It's a great day to be an American.
More later....
I voted early via absentee ballot about two weeks ago, so thankfully I won't have to deal with the crowds today, and boy will there be crowds.
There is a middle school a block or two from where I live that is set up as a polling place for the people in my neighborhood. When I got on the bus to come to work this morning about 6:45 am or so, the line was 1.5 blocks long! I have never seen any kind of line at that school for any election since I moved to San Francisco. In fact I have never even seen it that busy with students.
I have heard similar stories from some of my friends around the city and in other parts of California. I now firmly believe that my predictions from the other thread will be right - there is going to be a large popular vote victory for one side and the electoral vote will be fairly narrow. People are going to vote this year in droves, regardless of whether their state is locked up for Bush or Kerry I think.
There is a middle school a block or two from where I live that is set up as a polling place for the people in my neighborhood. When I got on the bus to come to work this morning about 6:45 am or so, the line was 1.5 blocks long! I have never seen any kind of line at that school for any election since I moved to San Francisco. In fact I have never even seen it that busy with students.
I have heard similar stories from some of my friends around the city and in other parts of California. I now firmly believe that my predictions from the other thread will be right - there is going to be a large popular vote victory for one side and the electoral vote will be fairly narrow. People are going to vote this year in droves, regardless of whether their state is locked up for Bush or Kerry I think.
I walked down to our new City Hall to vote at 7:00 this morning. Only about 10 people there, although a slow steady rate kept coming in, maintaining about 6 people waiting the whole time. Then I walked over to work and covered for about 45 minutes so a friend could leave to vote. Then I walked home. Total time was about 2 hours. During this time, 2 different groups came by the house and left "Vote For Kerry" pamphlets on my door, reminding me to go and vote today. I can't help but think that the groups might want to coordinate with one another so they can can cover a bigger area, but at least they're out I suppose.
I voted early. I had changed my registration when I moved in September.
My wife went to our old polling place because she had not reregistered but she admitted to moving recently.
She was almost blocked from voting. When they realized that she had moved withint the last 90 days she was allowed to vote (after pitching a fit) by signing an affadavit.
What I thought was amusing/disturbing was that there were two teams of observers (dems and reps) in the polling place and the officials checked with those observers before making a final decision.
So she had an exciting voting experience. I had a similar one in 2000 and didn't end up getting to vote.
My wife went to our old polling place because she had not reregistered but she admitted to moving recently.
She was almost blocked from voting. When they realized that she had moved withint the last 90 days she was allowed to vote (after pitching a fit) by signing an affadavit.
What I thought was amusing/disturbing was that there were two teams of observers (dems and reps) in the polling place and the officials checked with those observers before making a final decision.
So she had an exciting voting experience. I had a similar one in 2000 and didn't end up getting to vote.
I went and voted around 7:15 this morning. I wasn't sure what to expect so I wanted to get there early (polls opened at 6:00).
As it turned out, there was absolutely no line, so I wasn't sure if I was at the right place when I got to the parking lot.
When I went in, all I had to do was tell them my name and sign my name on a sheet. I was very surprised that they did not look at either my voter registration card or my driver's license. However, next to the place where I signed my name, they had my signature from my voter registration application, so they could compare it to my signature when I signed today. I guess this is how they were determining if you were the person that you said you were.
I also got to use one of those good ol' fahioned mechanical machines with the huge lever. I'm so happy that we are using these and not the Diebold machines in NY state.
Overall, a good experience for my first time voting!
As it turned out, there was absolutely no line, so I wasn't sure if I was at the right place when I got to the parking lot.
When I went in, all I had to do was tell them my name and sign my name on a sheet. I was very surprised that they did not look at either my voter registration card or my driver's license. However, next to the place where I signed my name, they had my signature from my voter registration application, so they could compare it to my signature when I signed today. I guess this is how they were determining if you were the person that you said you were.I also got to use one of those good ol' fahioned mechanical machines with the huge lever. I'm so happy that we are using these and not the Diebold machines in NY state.
Overall, a good experience for my first time voting!
QUOTE(Cube Jockey @ Nov 2 2004, 09:59 AM)
I voted early via absentee ballot about two weeks ago, so thankfully I won't have to deal with the crowds today, and boy will there be crowds.
Ditto. Not only does absentee free you from the lines but also from the 'observers' and the corrupt or broken touch screen machines or the chads or levers you might otherwise have to deal with. The pen is mightier than all those things.
YAY for absentee ballots. I love 'em.
I dropped mine off yesterday at the county election office though...I don't even trust the post office with my vote these days.
Waiting in line..had both my children with me and the youngest says...
"I am going to vote too!"
To which the eldest replies..
"You can't vote..you don't even watch the news"
"I am going to vote too!"
To which the eldest replies..
"You can't vote..you don't even watch the news"
(Danya! - Nice to have you back!)
I went to my polling place about 8:00am. It was raining slightly, and had turned considerably colder from the prior two days. There were a few people in line, I'd say about a dozen, in front of me when I came in. However, when I left, the line was out the door, (I'd estimate 50 to 60 people) so I got there just in time!
I'm in an area, where usually, the voters are aged about 45 and up. The line behind me, however, was about a 50/50 mix of older folks and college aged people. I think that may be a good sign for Kerry, but being in Illinois, it's not going to help him in the electoral college vote, unless the turnout is similar in other states.
We are still using the punch cards here. No electronic machines. Not much need, though where I live. The ballot consisted of President, 1 Senate race, a local State's Attorney race, Recorder of Deeds, Coronor, and 3 Judge retention votes. No massive voter initiatives or tax levy questions like in other areas, so voting took all of about 3 minutes, from the time the curtain was pulled behind me, to the time that the ballot was dropped in the box.
I went to my polling place about 8:00am. It was raining slightly, and had turned considerably colder from the prior two days. There were a few people in line, I'd say about a dozen, in front of me when I came in. However, when I left, the line was out the door, (I'd estimate 50 to 60 people) so I got there just in time!
I'm in an area, where usually, the voters are aged about 45 and up. The line behind me, however, was about a 50/50 mix of older folks and college aged people. I think that may be a good sign for Kerry, but being in Illinois, it's not going to help him in the electoral college vote, unless the turnout is similar in other states.
We are still using the punch cards here. No electronic machines. Not much need, though where I live. The ballot consisted of President, 1 Senate race, a local State's Attorney race, Recorder of Deeds, Coronor, and 3 Judge retention votes. No massive voter initiatives or tax levy questions like in other areas, so voting took all of about 3 minutes, from the time the curtain was pulled behind me, to the time that the ballot was dropped in the box.
I work in downtown Oakland and I just went out for lunch to grab a quick bite. The "Vote or Die" campaign folks are out in force here at the moment. Initially I thought it was funny, because I find pretty much everything Sean "Puffy" Combs does funny. But then I started listening to some of the conversations on the corner as I waited for a light to change.
The corner my building is on usually has a lot of kids hanging around looking menacing and cutting up with their friends, but today it was different. It must be snowing in hell right now because these kids were having political conversations with each other. Some of them even joined in with the whole "vote or die" thing and started telling random people on the street that "if they didn't vote, they couldn't complain". Some were even discussing CA propositions like the controversial Prop 66 or Three Strikes law. I couldn't believe my ears.
I really think that all of us are in for a historical first once this election is over and done with.
The corner my building is on usually has a lot of kids hanging around looking menacing and cutting up with their friends, but today it was different. It must be snowing in hell right now because these kids were having political conversations with each other. Some of them even joined in with the whole "vote or die" thing and started telling random people on the street that "if they didn't vote, they couldn't complain". Some were even discussing CA propositions like the controversial Prop 66 or Three Strikes law. I couldn't believe my ears.
I really think that all of us are in for a historical first once this election is over and done with.
Interestingly enough there was no line at my hotel when I fedEx'ed my Absentee Ballot to St. Louis 
What I found alittle worrying was that while working in the Bronx, I saw 3 different polling places while driving. None had a line. One of those places was across the street from the Bank I was working on and it didn't have a line anytime I came out to he truck.
I wonder if the "Vote or Die" slogan just isn't take in the Bronx. Or, perhaps people living in the Bronx see death as a good alternative
(J/k)
What I found alittle worrying was that while working in the Bronx, I saw 3 different polling places while driving. None had a line. One of those places was across the street from the Bank I was working on and it didn't have a line anytime I came out to he truck.
I wonder if the "Vote or Die" slogan just isn't take in the Bronx. Or, perhaps people living in the Bronx see death as a good alternative
(J/k)
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