Why don't the polls open earlier?

[Shirley Ujest]

I am an early riser.

The polls open at 7am. That isn't really that early, when the day officially begins at 12:01 am. So, why don't polling places stay open from 12:01a, to11:59pm, other than the problem of volunteers ( being seniors) ?

[BobLibDem]

At least in my jurisdiction, they aren't volunteers, though they are disproportionately seniors. Every hour the polls are open costs money, so I think you have to strike a reasonable balance between keeping costs down and accommodating everyone's work schedules.

[jonesj2205]

My mother works as an election inspector in NY and their shift is the entire time the polls are open (6 a.m. to 9 p.m. here). Given they have to be there early and then close up, it's a 16- or 17-hour day already.
I'm pretty sure she'd pass on a 25-hour day. And I doubt you'd pick up that many people.

[Jonathan Chance]

Yep. Where I am poll workers are nominated by party. Some do volunteer at the Board of Elections and are presented to the parties to see if there's any objection.

But you need to think of bang-for-buck, too. Would it be worth it to have the entire thing open from 2-3AM on the unlikely chance that someone will come in the door? The poll workers here already put in 15 hour days. Making it 20 or so would only add to their burden.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Why bother? People who find the polling station hours inconvenient can vote by mail in almost every US jurisdiction, can't they?

[Noone Special]

You should move to New Hampshire

[Dallas Jones]

Three words: vote by mail.

[Mehitabel]

A lighthearted flip o' the bird to the OP from the girl who has to be at a public school in the Bronx at 5:00 AM tomorrow for the six o'clock opening.

[Bridget Burke]

Originally Posted by Dallas Jones

Three words: vote by mail.

Or use early voting, available here in Houston, Harris County, Texas.

I'm an early riser, too. So I get to work early & get off at 4--which gives me plenty of time to vote.

[jonesj2205]

In NY absentee ballots are available for those who won't be in their home county, unable to appear at polls due to illness or disability or in jail on an indictment.
And you must attest to that when applying for the form, so I wouldn't say vote by mail is really available here.

[Jenaroph]

I'm an elections inspector (read "poll worker") here in MI. It's a paid volunteer position. The August primary marked the first time our district has used the Electronic Poll Book, and not all of the little old ladies behind the tables are comfortable enough with computers to want to be trained to use it. I'm going to be awake before 5:30 to go help set up the EPB and the rest of the polling station at 6:15. There will be one, maybe two other people out of seven poll workers in our precinct who attended the training, so I will likely be manning the computer for much of the day. Polls are open from 7am to 8pm. I may have an hour for lunch, an hour for dinner, and likely won't get home until after 9:30. The chairpersons, who have the responsibility of delivering the ballots and equipment back to the clerk's office and troubleshooting if all the numbers don't balance, will have a longer day yet.

The election day pay here is $130. For the extra few hours of EPB training, I get $15. The district is strapped enough that they don't have the cash for coffee and donuts for us anymore, so they also aren't assigning any more workers per precinct than they really have to. A 24-hour polling window would require either a large pay hike or a second shift of volunteers, and the demand to be able to vote at, say, 3am just wouldn't be high enough to justify that.

[elfkin477]

Originally Posted by Noone Special

You should move to New Hampshire

Yeah but the OP would need to work for the ski resort to live at the Notch. The rest of the state (but four villages) votes something like 7am-8pm, maybe 9pm in Manchester and Nashua.

[Rigamarole]

Why would anyone not vote by mail? I guess taking several hours out of your day to stand in long lines of sweaty, smelly fleshbags is all part of the "excitement" of Election Day, eh? Or do you really just need that sticker to show everyone what a patriot you are? Because you can buy the stickers.

[Noone Special]

Originally Posted by Rigamarole

Why would anyone not vote by mail? I guess taking several hours out of your day to stand in long lines of sweaty, smelly fleshbags is all part of the "excitement" of Election Day, eh? Or do you really just need that sticker to show everyone what a patriot you are? Because you can buy the stickers.

Not to speak for US elections specifically (since I'm not in the US) and not that I necessarily think this is a compelling argument, but I can definitely see people wanting to wait for the last minute in order to form their opinion on who to vote for, based perhaps on late-breaking information.

[Peremensoe]

Actually I do enjoy the community feeling of going to a physical polling place with everybody else. Plus I usually get great prizes like pencils and emery boards with candidates' names!

[fusoya]

I had to leave the house at 5am today in order to catch a train to Long Island. If the polls were open at 4:30, I would have utilized it (Jimmy McMillian for governor!!!). By the time I get home, I probably won't remember to vote....

[AuntiePam]

That's why I was up at 4:30 this morning. It's definitely a long day, and while we can take breaks, we can't leave the polling place. Plus, they don't want to split shifts -- the same workers need to be there all day, to prevent chicanery, I suppose.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Originally Posted by Rigamarole

Why would anyone not vote by mail? I guess taking several hours out of your day to stand in long lines of sweaty, smelly fleshbags is all part of the "excitement" of Election Day, eh? Or do you really just need that sticker to show everyone what a patriot you are? Because you can buy the stickers.

Some folks, typically seniors, like to go to the polls, and no amount of persuasion will change that. Also, some seniors don't trust the mail with important things, like their completed ballot.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Rigamarole

Why would anyone not vote by mail? I guess taking several hours out of your day to stand in long lines of sweaty, smelly fleshbags is all part of the "excitement" of Election Day, eh? Or do you really just need that sticker to show everyone what a patriot you are? Because you can buy the stickers.

Some of us live in states where there is no early voting, and you must have cause to receive an absentee ballot (and usually you have to swear/attest to that cause, subject to a charge of perjury).

ETA: And I didn't even ask for a sticker...I don't vote to get affirmation. I vote because it's my duty. And because I'm afraid of the other party having power.

[jonesj2205]

Originally Posted by Rigamarole

Why would anyone not vote by mail? I guess taking several hours out of your day to stand in long lines of sweaty, smelly fleshbags is all part of the "excitement" of Election Day, eh? Or do you really just need that sticker to show everyone what a patriot you are? Because you can buy the stickers.

My polling place is five blocks from my house and on my way home. Longest entering to exiting was less than five minutes.
Besides being able to weigh all information up to the last minute, there is also something gratifying about going to a polling place and voting that was lacking when I have used an absentee ballot in the past.
Oh and I don't get a sticker either way.

[gonzomax]

There was a recent study on voting on line by Michigan election committee. They thought they had it all encrypted and foolproof. They challenged some U of Mich. students to break in. It took them 1 hour.

[elfkin477]

Originally Posted by Rigamarole

Why would anyone not vote by mail? I guess taking several hours out of your day to stand in long lines of sweaty, smelly fleshbags is all part of the "excitement" of Election Day, eh? Or do you really just need that sticker to show everyone what a patriot you are? Because you can buy the stickers.

Originally Posted by jonesj2205

My polling place is five blocks from my house and on my way home. Longest entering to exiting was less than five minutes.

It took me less than 45 minutes to vote, and that includes driving ten miles at 40-30mph to get there and back home.

[RitterSport]

6AM in NJ seems plenty early. I voted at about 6:45 on my walk to the train. No one in front of me, one guy came in to vote as I was leaving. Took about 5 minutes in all.

I wasn't offered a sticker. I don't know the rules on early voting in NJ, so I didn't try that route.

[John DiFool]

What they need to do is make Election Day a national holiday. IIRC that's how it is in several other Western countries.

[DoctorJ]

I just wish they were open later than 6PM here in Kentucky. We don't have early voting, either, so the window for working people is pretty tight.

[Jenaroph]

Originally Posted by John DiFool

What they need to do is make Election Day a national holiday. IIRC that's how it is in several other Western countries.

What I'd like to see, although given what I described in my earlier post it's a pipe dream, is multi-day voting. Can't make it Tuesday? We're open Wednesday too.

And what LOUNE said about seniors preferring the day-of polls is often oddly true; my grandmother who worked the polls for years is adamantly anti-absentee if you don't have a REALLY good reason you can't get to the polls on Election Day. I've discussed the issue with her and we have to agree to disagree; I think making it possible for lazy-but-not-inable people to vote at their convenience is a better thing than not voting at all, though I'd personally not do it myself because you never know what issues come up at the last minute. She feels that voting when all the information you're going to get is in is absolutely the best option.