What state did you vote in, how was the weather, how long/short were the lines, how easy was the process, and any other personal details you would like to add that you believe would be of interest to those reading.
What state did you vote in, how was the weather, how long/short were the lines, how easy was the process, and any other personal details you would like to add that you believe would be of interest to those reading.
State: Florida
Weather: overcast, but comfortable (64F)
Lines: Arrive 45 min before opening (7:00am), 14 people in line already
Process: Switched back to paper ballots from computers last year – took longer to vote and not as easy.
I pray that we maybe able to come together as a nation tomorrow after the division that party politics has caused.
Due to spouse in large power wheelchair, we vote absentee. This option isn’t just for disabled, though. Check into it and skip all the lines. We’ll get absentee ballots for at least a year, two IIRC. This also allows you to double check any last minute details on the ballot you might have missed.
Our state had early voting, and our county had multiple sites. I heard lines were three hours long a week ago and passed one of the libraries where voting was taking place last week…a long line. Our govenor Charlie Crist extended the hours which some Elections Supervisiors didn’t like, but it was a good move. It will be interesting to see how many people vote and how in the end.
Weather here is going to be partly cloudy with temps in the low 80’s today – pefect Florida weather. 😉
I’m pastor of a Baptist church in the Philadelphia suburbs (PA side) which also serves as a polling place. I arrived at 6:15 AM (45 mins before opening) because I had a momentary panic attack that the election coordinator may not have keys to the church (I live 20 minutes away from the church building). Already about 25-30 people in line.
By the time the polls opened, the line was a couple hundred deep which was the peak of the ’04 election. The line snakes around the parking lot of our little building even now and is probably 175 or so deep.
On Virginia’s Eastern Shore a gray day, I voted around seven this morning. More people than I have ever seen at our small polling place in Parksley. Atmosphere was congenial with talking and many ‘Good mornings’ and even one ‘God Bless you all’. Very smooth, the joy of rural life.
My vote went into the mail three weeks ago!
Location: Falls Church, VA, community center
Weather: Overcast
Arrived at polling location at 0622
(polls open 0600, workers said people started lining up at 0515)
I was around the 90th person to check in.
Voted 0745
Electronic voting with no paper trail. 4 booths in polling place.
State: New Jersey
Weather: Sun beginning to break through, 8:21 a.m.
I take my kids with me to the polls, so I will be going when they get home from school this afternoon.
I live a few doors down from the polls in a stable, tree-lined neighborhood of small lots, a block off main street. Homeowners on our street are called every year by local party chiefs seeking to place signs in our yards. Here’s what’s new: I’ve been here 20 years and this is the first election where no yard signs have gone up. Not a one. I’m not sure how to interpret it, but I have a suspicion it will all make sense in hindsight. I estimate the street is 2:1 for McCain.
I got in line by 6:10 a.m. in Dorchester County in South Carolina. There was already a line of maybe 90-100 people. The doors opened at 7:02 and I voted at 7:45.
There was a very slight drizzle and it was grayish and maybe 60 degrees upon my arrival.
The polling place itself was not well organized spatially at all. You registered in separate lines to vote, then merged back into one line to go to the actual polling machines. But the single actual voting line was nearly on top of one of the registration lines. A nice man in front of me tried to go immediately from registering to the voting machines (which were not far away) which made logical sense and spacial sense. Unfortunately it was not the way the organizers laid it out and there was no one for a while to tell him he was going the wrong way–I did, and eventually a volunteer came and grabbed him.
I was struck by how all voting is local and polling stations can vary greatly in terms of the way they are set up.
I had a nice conversation with a woman behind me who has been a widow over ten years and has survived both lung and colon cancer.
I arrived at the polling place in West Deer PA shortly before it opened at 7 AM. The Senior Center parking lot was full and people were beginning to park on the athletic fields near the Center (the center is an old Nike base). There were close to 100 hundred people ahead of me – but I had to wait only 35 minutes to vote. There was a steady stream of cars coming on the grounds. We had a lovely late fall morning – fog in the fields, a beautiful sunrise and temperatures in the mid 40s. I met a young woman who turned 18 yesterday – this was her first Election Day. I had an interesting conversation with the neighbor of a member of my church. And I used the latest voting machine gizmo, but couldn’t figure out why I should press the blinking red button to “confirm” my vote. Oh well. One of the pleasures of voting early is that you don’t have to wade through candidate volunteers handing out leaflets and urging you to vote for their man or woman. A woman ahead of me forgot to press the vote button and “the minority clerk” chased her down to finish the process. I think I may get to the polls early from now on. I enjoyed the social interaction.
I took advantage of early voting last Wednesday (Mt. Juiet, TN). Stood in line for 2 hrs 10 min.
Drove by my regular polling place this morning at 7:10 am and the lines were around the outside of the building.
I forgot to mention that it is bright and sunny today, with temperatures forecasted in the mid-70’s. Should be a huge turnout.
State: Confusion – er, I mean “WV”
Weather: Overcast, temps in the upper 40’s
Lines: Short, but the parking lot and the polls were as busy as I’ve ever seen them.
Process: Paper “darken-the-circle” ballot with a cardboard cover., relatively straightforward. The ballot was fed into a ScanTron counter by a poll worker immediately after submission. I did not mark a vote in the uncontested races. No “issues” votes on the ballot to my remembrance.
Oh, and the “official write-in list” posted in the poll box included “Santa Claus” for President (I hafta admit, I was tempted . . . 😉 ).
Here in Ohio, very heavy lines. My wife and I arrived just after 6:30 when the polls opened. Lots of people, the lines inside for the several precincts did not go down much while we were there. Took about 45 minutes. Voting itself was time consuming. Scantron ballots, four pages with many judicial races and several ballot issues beyond the federal and state elections. Everyone was very relaxed. Most of us with kids have waited in longer lines at a theme park, so lets take this all in stride.
I’m A Baton Rouge voter. My wife and I arrived at our voting station (in a public school) about 6:30AM. The weather is cool, dry and very comfortable. For blocks from the school the streets were filled with parked cars but I ignored the urge to find the nearest space. I drove up to the school and couldn’t find a handicap space so I did as others had and parked near a bus unloading zone.
I have been voting since I voted for Ike and have never in my life seen such long voting lines. Thankfully I brought my crutches with me and I got them out of the car. After spending some time talking with the fellow in front of us who happened to be in a wheelchair, a poll worked came down the line and told all people with disabilities to follow her back up to the front of the lines. If that hadn’t happened we would still be in line waiting to vote. And that was an hour and a half ago.
The weather here in Birmingham, AL is sunny and mild. I’m going to wait until my 6th, 3rd and 2nd graders get out of school and take them with me to vote this afternoon. The children had a mock election at their elementary school last week. McCain/Palin won.
Getting ready to go out the door, walk a mile, and vote at the fire station. Sunny and warm……..not expecting long lines here in West Des Moines, Iowa. Oh yes, we vote, but my precinct includes a small business district and lots of seniors who voted early. Not me, I’ve always loved executing the ballot the old fashion way…. sure wish we still had the old machines, where you pulled the curtain closed, cast your vote by pulling down the little levers, then when you opened the curtain your vote registered….sigh…..
If I should run into long lines it is a case of I am wrong about the majority voting early, or somethings fishy……..
Place: Pittsburgh, PA
Weather: Clear
Lines: long – waited for an hour starting at 7:00 a.m. – longest I’ve seen at this polling place
Of interest: Polling place is a junior high school. If those kids were allowed to vote, it would be Obama all the way! They were shouting out of the school bus windows as they rolled in.
It was a beautiful morning! As my polling place is only a short walk up the street I got up at 5:50 and was in line by 6 (opening time). I was number 156. Apparently the line began around 5:00 am. I appreciate the opportunity to vote in a Catholic school because there is a crucifix in the lobby that never fails to cause at least a moment of reflection before I vote. This morning; however, I had plenty of time for prayer. In hindsight I could have read the entire Morning Office! I was finished and home by 7:10. I chose paper primarily because there were 10-15 stalls for paper ballots and only 5 electronic. I also have a mild concern about the reliability of electronic voting.
State: South Carolina (Aiken)
Weather: overcast, very light drizzle that went away as it got lighter
Got the polling place 6:20 am (polls open 7 am). Voted 31st at about 7:30 am (minor issues w/poll workers sorting out who does what, etc.) By the time I left, line was out the building, probably 100+ in line.
Place: Southern NJ
Weather: Sunny, warmish, which is good with both kids home with a cold
Voted 2 weeks ago by absentee ballot as NJ election machines got a bad report card this year and my husband and I wanted to be certain of a paper record of our votes. In NJ, you can request an absentee ballot for any reason, which is very handy. We had lots of local races to sort through so it took me almost two hours to read up on everyone and make an informed choice.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised that nobody verbally assaulted me today. I got through the line at my heavily Democratic polling place without incident. My neighbors know that I witnessed the burning of the USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin and assume, as a veteran, that I would vote for McCain. When I arrived at the University, a Chinese Research Assistant Professor approached me and asked who I voted for. I was reluctant to answer. He said that all the naturalized Chinese were voting for McCain. Yes, that goes with my general observation about my foreign born friends and acquaintances. If they were born in Western Europe, they favored liberal socialists. If they were born in a former East Bloc or communist country, they favored the conservatives.
When I voted in Indiana at 6.30 this morning, it was still pitch dark and a little chilly, although it’s supposed to be in the mid-seventies today. My polling place is at the local fire station, so one signs in at a table next to an enormous fire truck and then fills out a ballot in one of the three plastic booths lined up by the ambulance. There were half a dozen people in line in front of me, so I had to wait for a few minutes; I was the twenty-third person to feed my ballot through the scanner into the locked black box. I’m very appreciative of all the people who were volunteering: they were a little bit disorganized, but very friendly, and it was wonderful to look around and see people of all races and ages and economic levels working and voting. I have a tendency towards cynicism about most things political, but I always find the actual experience of casting that ballot very moving.
Suburban Pittsburgh. Sunny. Voted at about 9am in the gym of an elementary school. There were two different sections based on what street you lived on, each with 3 electronic ballot machines. I was the 95th voter on my side. All three machines were in use when I arrived but til I signed in and got my slip a machine had opened up, so no wait. There was really no privacy at all, with people walking right behind me to get to the other machines. Voting was very easy although like Dan Crawford I stared at the flashing red “Vote” button for a while until I realized that I needed to push it to cast my ballot. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes.
I don’t mean to divert the thread but I am curious about the closure of schools used as polling places and “early-voting” (as opposed to absentee). Many, but by no means all, public schools in the St. Louis area (Missouri-side at least) were closed for reasons of security and logistics. I believe most private schools were open. While Missouri obviously allows absentee voting, it does not allow “early-voting.” Given the lines at the Election Commission, even the election officials acknowledged that many people were voting absentee solely to avoid lines today. The Missouri Secretary of State is predicting a 73% turnout!
No snow (unusual in this part of Montana at this time of year);
parking lot to the Civic Center more crowded than I’ve seen it for anything but the annual County Fair, even though it was 7 a.m.;
despite huge crowds, no wait at all;
wonderfully helpful election volunteers.
Where: northeast Alabama (semi-rural)
When: 7:45 am
The weather is absolutely gorgeous – deep fall colors on the trees, bright blue sky, about 55 degrees.
We walked up to the community church – the church sign said “Vote God’s Will” – and there were about 15 people ahead of us. We waited about five minutes, if that long. Ballots were “fill-in-the-blank-to-make-the-arrow-go-all-the-way-across-to-point-to-your-candidate” and the machines scan the ballot, keep the ballot, and print a “receipt” which is saved on a roll. There were long tables with chairs where you could sit to fill out your ballot, then you take the ballot to the scanning machine and feed it in. It seems an efficient way to do it – there’s the electronic vote recorded, but you have two paper backups in case of a problem. Folks seemed pleasant and happy, with lots of “How you doin’, honey?” and “Good to see you, Faye!” (I think that was one of the poll workers!). I heard that they were very busy right at 7am, but since we waited until a little later to go, we had a very quick, pleasant voting experience.
Location: Fairfax County, NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Polls opened at 6 a.m.
We vote at the local elementary school, a short walk from the house. We left the house at 5:45, arrived at 5:55 and got in line. This year, the polling place was set up in the school cafeteria- it is usually in the gym at the other end of the building. The line was completely insode the building, but stretched the entire length of the main hallway. I’m guessing several hundred people in line ahead of us and several hundred behind us by the time we entered the cafeteria to vote. All local pundits are predicting unprecedented turnout today. Most folks in line were there before going to work.
Virginia is in the process of moving to the paper “Scan” ballots- you fill in the circle next to your choice, then, under supervision, you yourself feed it into the scanning machine.
BUT, if you wish, you can still use the electronic voting booth- these are still in use for the visually impaired or if you would rather use one than a paper ballot. I never trusted them and they were prone to problems over the years (like crashing halfway through an election day- you were never sure your vote was recorded accurately.)
The Democrats had 3 very dour looking lady “poll watchers” sitting at a table behind the registration tables checking names off their rolls. There were no Republicans present doing the same. The official poll worker was required to check your ID against his registered voter list, then loudly announce your name so the poll watchers could also check you off their lists. This is the first time I ever recall seeing poll watchers at our precinct. Fairfax County has never had a history of voting irregularities to my knowledge.
Regarding the schools: In Fairfax County, the public schools close for the day of major elections (national, state.) They remain open for the primaries and local elections. Private schools remain open to my knowledge.
Weather is in the high-50s with rain predicted for the afternoon and evening.
As we stood in line, a poll worker came down the line looking for people with last names in the “H to O” range. Seems everyone there was in the “A to G” range and that table was getting backed up. The H to O guy was sitting there with little to do. So, we were able to jump ahead of about 40 people and vote more quickly. (We were already near the front of the line by this time.)
Since they were using paper ballots, they had numerous stands set up for marking your ballot, plus the electronic machines in the corner. The long wait was solely for the check in and verification process.
Only elections here are the national ones, plus one local bond issue for the park system. So, we voted for Prez, Senate, Congress, and the Parks, then were done.
We were walking home by 6:30.
Now, I’m back to looking for work while my lovely wife goes to her work.
Have a blessed day!
Arkansas – 2 weeks ago
Sunny
The wait was only about 10 mins. Though the polling place was crowded, they had about 30 machines.
The voting machines in my county are good, they are simple to use and store the data in 4 different places.
Washington DC. Overcast but pleasant.
No lines, no waiting (perhaps because we are darn near disenfranchised?)
Greetings –
No lines – 10 minutes – in Fayette County, Georgia (about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta). Sunny skies, warms temps – absolutely gorgeous. Our precinct judges said there was a long line that started at 6 pm (polls open at 7 am), but by 9:30 am when we voted, the pace was steady. That is our usual experience.
Blessings –
BJ Spanos
PS – Electronic ballot was easy to read and easy to vote. No problems. Easy as can be.
BJ Spanos
Place: semi-rural, now somewhat suburban central Alabama
Overcast morning, temp in the 60s. Arrived about 7:30 am and waited in line an hour and fifteen minutes at a formerly small, but recently growing Methodist church. I’ve never had to wait in line here before. Parishioner volunteers frequently brought coffee, muffins, and other treats to those waiting in line. I was overtaken, and heartened tremendously, by a sense that people didn’t care how long they had to wait in line, they didn’t care who was leading in the polls, they are quietly determined to be heard this time. Several people in line told stories of friends and family members who were voting this year for the first time in many years. A woman immediately behind me had a camera and was taking pictures to post on her facebook page.
After standing in line outside for an hour, finally got inside and eventually into the actual room where voting takes place. The doorway to the room was labeled, “Jesus Jam.” Marked a paper ballot which was scanned into a machine. This is good technology, actually. People don’t tie up voting machines while they make their selections, and can mark their ballots at leisure. The machine makes quick work of counting the votes, and the paper ballots leave a trail if there are glitches or any challenges to the voting.
Despite the long wait, it was a good experience.
I didn’t have any problems here in Lincoln, Nebraska. I walked out of my house at 8, walked down to the polling station about 4 blocks away, got into a line of about 25 people, voted, and was back home by 8:30. There were no political picketers or people handing out fliers or anything. It was a good experience for me.
Voted early two weeks ago. 10 minutes in line. Was at the early voting spot Saturday to return books to library and line was very long! Wonder if early voting is cutting back on the delays today here in Florida. Also wonder what would happen if a couple of days before an election something monumental came out about a candidate ???????
Lots of phone calls on my business lines today from phone banks!
Voted at 10 am here in Woodbridge, VA. No line, no waiting, no problem. Of course, if I’d been a commuter and come in at 6 this morning, I’d have had a wait of about 75 minutes.
I drove the 12 miles to Guffey, Colorado; beautiful drive that I always enjoy. We vote at the small community center at the edge of the community. There were 3 people ahead of me…an unusually long line for Guffey. There was a delay because the lady on the computer couldn’t seem to enter a man’s name correctly and assumed that he was not registered; once she entered his name correctly and located his record, all of us had a good laugh and the rest of us proceded with no problem. Mark the paper ballot at one of the tables set up in the main meeting room, feed it into the machine, and receive congratulations because the machine didn’t reject it, and laugh my way out the door. The voting observer was a pleasant young woman who seemed to be amused by the proceedings. Guffey has Obama signs on all 4 of its street corners; thats right, it has four street corners in all. I am sort of glad that I am one of those people who never received my requested mail-in ballot.
Polling Station: Southern Fairfax County, Northern Virginia
Weather: Dry – still dark – cool -around 50 F.
Time: I got in line at 6:15 a.m. and was done voting just after 7:00 a.m. The polls opened at 6 and the line, when I arrived at 6:15 was about 150-200 yards long and most of it was outside.
I was the 99th person to vote for the last 1/3 of the alphabet. In Fairfax Co., we had the option this time to use paper ballots or a touch screen. I took the paper. Four choices: 1. President 2. Senator 3. Representative 4. Bond issue.
When I arrived the only campaign worker was from the Obama campaign – he was very friendly. He said he’d been brought in from Chicago to work the polls. The remainder of the Democratic poll workers showed up before I entered the building and the Republicans were there by the time I left. My polling place usually splits fairly even in its choices, which is unusual for NoVa which almost always goes 60% or more for the Democrats.
We live in Archdale precinct of SC. We got to the polls at 7:15 and 5 of the 9 machines broke down. We didn’t get out of there until after 12. It is pretty bad. A number of people were unable to vote because they had to go to work.
I’m registered in infamous Palm Beach Co., Florida (think “Butterfly Ballot”). As an overseas voter, I can get ballots by e-mail and vote by Fax. Which I did.
No lines.
Weather, about 95 degrees, sunny, and no Saharan dust today! 🙂
Took me two tries to get a full fax transmittal, but 2nd try was successful.
The embassy is having a voting night party here tonight, and we’ll be able to watch real US TV via the Armed Forces Network, but the party ends at 11:30 GMT (6:30 p.m. Eastern Std) so there won’t even be any official results from the East Coast yet. Oh well.
I was here in Africa in 2000 as well. (I had voted absentee in Palm Beach Co., as I was in the States until just 3 days before that election). I remember being at the Embassy, and watching as CNN and all the networks projected Florida for Gore, and thus projected him winning the election. We all left to go home (I think it was around 1 or 1:30 a.m.), and were so surprised to wake up and here RFI (Radio France International, which we get on FM here), report that BUSH had won both FL and the election. THEN, when I got to our office a few hours later (about 10 in the morning here, 5 a.m. in the States) it was being said the vote was too close to call.
The day I got back to the US in early December (I was just here in Africa at that time for a short 5 week visit as I was living with my Mom in FL as her caretaker) was the day the Supreme Court decision was final and Bush was finally named President. 35 days if I recall!
It was so wild being here in the middle of the Sahara and hearing every night on the news about Palm Beach county and the vote recount. My brother lives in West Palm Beach not too far from the county courthouse, and he was sending me daily e-mails with news of all the latest twists and turns.
I hope we know who the President is tomorrow morning when I wake up! I assume we will…, but the last 2 elections have been so close, it’s hard to know how much to trust the polls.
Voted in Potomac, MD at 12:45 and there was no wait. The weather is overcast and pleasant. I remarked to the registrar that it seemed light and she responded, “Oh no, you were just lucky to come in a lull; it has been very busy.”
Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan
Sunny, about 70 degrees
Arrived at 11am, out the door by 11:20.
It was great seeing some neighbors there, including the wife of an acquaintence we had been praying for (she is now completely recovered from food poisoning – we can move her from the prayer to praise list), and several dads from Little League. Talked about getting a pick up game together in the next day or two with this nice weather!
I was ballot number 385 in my precinct.
Just reconnoitered the local voting line. It’s the longest I’ve seen in a decade of living in this precinct.
Seattle, Washington. It was windy and rainy overnight, so the streets were wet and the sidewalks were covered with fall leaves, but it was overcast and not quite raining when I voted — perfect Seattle fall weather.
The polling place was busy but not packed; after I signed in I had to wait two or three minutes for a free booth. We use optical-scan paper ballots, which I like; they’re easy to fill out and verify. It was a long ballot this time — in addition to the big races, we had a fair number of local races and initiatives.
Judging from the chatter I overheard, a lot of people seemed to be there for the first time and weren’t certain how it all worked. While I was filling in my ballot I heard a few people getting pointed to the “provisional ballot” station, and at least one who was surprised to discover that you had to already be registered in order to vote.
Next year the county is switching to all-mail ballots, so this was probably the last time I’ll vote in person. Which is a pity, because I find it a pleasant civic ritual.
Central NJ: Warm and sunny (now raining, but that’s NJ for you.)
Took my 80 year old mother who just got out of the hospital three days ago. She told me that now that she’s voted she can die having done her duty (not that that’s going to happen!) The poll workers were all very impressed. One of them said “think of all the perfectly healthy people who can’t even be bothered to vote. They should see you and be ashamed of themselves. ” Mom is now feeling great. 🙂
Voted in SC near Charleston around noon – 11:50 I think. Got out of there by 1:00 pm. It was raining outside but they let us sit in pews inside the Lutheran church. The volunteers were kind of crabby, but I think that’s because so many of the voters were so crabby themselves. People were getting pretty huffy. The set up was kind of crazy and unclear, but all in all I got in and out in little more than an hour so I can’t complain too much.
On a funny note, a little boy (about 7ish) was asking people around him, “How are you voting?” and one older gentlemen finally answered, “Correctly.” I thought that was pretty clever. 🙂
Voted in the parish hall of a nearby church—a huge place. Waited just 45 minutes. Veteran poll worker said this is the heaviest turnout he’s ever seen here. This morning lines of people three abreast extended most of the way around the block. Everyone seemed good-natured. Free coffee, cookies, and doughnuts afterward.
Here in Oklahoma City it is windy and upper 70s. Took about 35 minutes to get through to vote with heavier voting in years past. I overheard people talking about spouses or friends who tried to vote on the way to work, but the lines were too long. I guess that’ll favor the Democrats! 🙂
Whoops! I meant to say the voting is heavier this year.
#38 I was very sorry to read what you wrote but it is a good example of why threads like this are so useful. It is so sad that your voting place had such trouble. Somehow as a country we need to do better. Waiting in line and then not being able to vote before you have to go to work is a travesty!
Vancouver WA, Clark County: We have mail-in voting which means NO polling places in this county. Oregon is the same with all mail-in voting.
I DO miss the polling places. Mine was at the school just up the hill from me so it was definitely a neighborhood place. But I like the relaxed atmosphere surrounding my voting experience. I used the Voters’ Pamphlet and took my time. Then I mailed it in 10 days ago.
I am an election observer. In Clark County the ballots are counted after 8 pm on a machine which completes the process in MINUTES! It is a Very Good system. I guess being an observer is how I make up for “missing” the polling experience.
Very similar to Garyec, overcast, cool temps, etc.
However, at our polling place, no lines, no candidate-supporters with signs outside, no news cameras, no Black Panthers with night-sticks, etc. Went in, signed in with voter reg. card and Driver’s License, voted, out in less than five minutes all told.
Then we went to Starbucks to take advantage of free coffee with proof of voting (“I Voted” sticker) and then to Krispy Kreme for a free donut.
I voted at my city hall. In my town, everybody knows everybody, so by the time that I walked the sixty feet from the front door to the tables where the election judges were sitting, the election judges had pulled my registration card, ready for me to sign, and my ballot ready to cast (In primaries, they know which party’s ballot to pull for which voter. The election judge also informed me that Dr. Babb had voted about twenty minutes before I did.). I had a wait of about thirty seconds before one of the four voting booths cleared out.
In addition to President, our ballot in Southern Illinois included US Senate, US Congress, state legislature (lower house), County Board President, uncontested Democrats running for county executive offices, county judgeships and an appellate judgeship, a state-wide ballot question about whether to call a Constitutional Convention (mandated every forty years by the current Constitution), and a non-binding election about whether to keep open the County “sheltered care” center, a holdover from and continuation of the old days of the County Poor Farm, unique in my county.
It was an unseasonably warm 75 degree day in Southern Illinois. The voting process was easy and uneventful. I was a little surprised, however, when the election judge told me that, at 4:45 pm, I was the 214th voter in that precinct. I think that turnout will be low around here because of Obama’s likely runaway in the State, the fact that a two-term Senator is running against a political unknown, our six term Congressman is running against a political unknown, the Constitutional Convention issue in unknown by virtually anybody other than lawyers, and almost all of our County elections are uncontested. The only real contest that will stir up any interest is probably whether to keep the poorhouse open.
Missouri. Weather absolutely georgeous. 70 degrees, sunny with a wonderful breeze, and fall foliage.
Voting was at the local Methodist church which has done it for years and takes pride in it. At least 6 booths, free refreshments, courtesy of the church ladies guild and Methodist youth group who were out in force showing folks to parking places. The lines were minimal (though we went at about 4pm). Busy, but orderly with a 5 minute wait tops. Folks checked ID and registration cards, and there did not appear to be any glitches. Even my 18 year old who is voting her first election’s name was present. We were out in less than 20 minutes, having stopped for cookies and coffee at the back of the church. There was no politicking (and none allowed). There were no scenes. I got a knock on the door at 6 PM from the Obama campaign asking if my daughter (who is actually voting for McCain- so she says) needed a ride to the polls (they didn’t ask if I needed one but that’s okay, I told them that we had all voted, my daughter too).
Forgot to mention. Electronic ballots. Mine stuck a couple of times because I put the wrong end in, but the helpful pollster turned it over (under cover so she couldn’t see whom I voted for) and it went through all right.