In Nevada, we can start voting tomorrow for the November 7th General Election.
There are various places you can go - usually malls, but sometimes even grocery stores, and vote early. Starts October 21 and goes until November 3rd. If you don’t go then, you have to go to your polling station on November 7th.
I think it is a great idea, very convenient, and it seems I am not alone. If I am not mistaken, close to 50% of all votes in the last election were cast during this early voting period.
It is no secret that I am a screaming liberal Democrat, so I know who I am voting for, have looked over the other issues on the ballot and am ready to go vote. If not tomorrow, then Sunday.
So, do you have Early Voting in your state, and will you be voting early?
Most times we do vote early, though usually on the last or next to last day it’s available – as in our primary election this year, in which early voting began before the date when candidates had to submit their financials (and forget getting any reasonable analysis of those financials during the early voting period).
I like the concept of early voting, though I have some concerns about security of recorded votes. (Heck, I have concerns about electronic voting machines being hacked, too – I’m an equal opportunity concerned citizen.)
Another Nevadan - Northern, that is, in Carson City. Ever since I registered to vote in my senior year of high school I’ve voted early. It’s just easier. If my office is open tomorrow I might go, since I’m waking up early tomorrow anyway.
I have also researched the topics, and I know exactly what I’m going to vote for every office and on every measure. My parents drilled that into me when I was little - the only thing worse than people who don’t vote are people that vote ignorant.
I voted early once, and it felt funny. I went home from work that day, and expected the election to be on!
That said, I’ll be doing it this year. We have new machines in Denver, and it was a major-league-cluster for the primary. I’d rather vote in more peace.
That said, I don’t know if it will be more peace. We have voting centers now, instead of precincts. Only about one/sixth? of the centers will be open for early voting. I’ll be going to a police station.
Throughout Canada we have what are called “advance polls” for federal elections: three days, about two or three weeks before the actual election, where you can vote. There are fewer polling places than at the regular poll, but the rules are exactly the same as for the regular poll, and you don’t need to justify yourself; you can choose to vote in the advance poll if you like. (I always do because of course I’m always involved in the election and need to be free on polling day.)
You can also vote by special ballot at your returning office or any returning office in the country, at any time up until election day. There’s also voting by mail.
Yes.
& Not too early, till I see how the candidates present themselves. Some decided, some still in question.
Our nearest mall got in a snit over political solicitations in the mall and just decided to ban a voting location as well. It was in a local gov’t rented location. A vacant space across the beltway was supplied for voting use and the solicitors can now stand out in the cold which was what the mall management would have likely settled for.
Oregon. All voting in Oregon is done by mail (surprisingly, this doesn’t actually increase voter “turnout” all that much), although I think it’s actually possible to go to a polling place on election day if you want and put your already-filled-out ballot in the box.
So yeah, we can vote early (usually a week or two), and I do. It’s less to get it out of the way than it is to not forget to do it.
We’ve already had a Californian speak up, but I’ll just add that early voting is available here in LA County using touchscreens. I’ve done it twice in the past, and I rather like it.
I always feel a certainly amount of pressure with deadlines to get to my polling place on election days. I don’t like doing it before going to work because it puts me in a thicker part of the rush hour commute, and if I wait until after work, I spend all day trying not to forget and then swimming through the after-work crowd at my local polling place. No fun.
With the early voting, I enjoy being able to stroll down to the Central Library whenever I pleaseduring my work day to vote without waiting in a long line. And once I’ve voted, I feel completely justified in ignoring the asinine proposition and candidate commercials on TV and radio through election day.
Well, as I said I would, I went and voted today, first day of early voting.
There was small line, and when I got up to the woman taking names, I asked how voting turnout has been today.
“Unbelievably busy! If it keeps up like this, we will have a record turnout this year!”
There were quite a few voting, and when I left, the line was still small, but steady - and considering this was already later in the day, looks like quite a few people intend to take advantage of the early voting opportunity.
Oh, and even though it was electronic voting, there was also a paper copy for you to review, so I guess even if the machines fail, there is a paper back up to fall back on.
Iowa here. I voted early last time b/c I was moving and knew I wouldn’t get my regsitration done in the new town in time. It was fine, but I’ll vote on the day of this year. Just feels more “festive” I guess.
We tried to vote early in the 2004 Pres. election (Arkansas). We went to the library to vote, and the line was THREE HOURS long. This, we did not have time for. So we went to our regular place on election day, and were done in about three minutes.
My post, which appeared yesterday, is now gone from this thread. It said that Oregon is now entirely a vote by mail state. Ballots arrived at my house yesterday.
We have early voting, but for me, it’s like opening a Christmas present on December 20. I live in a very small town so lines are never an issue at the voting booth. I like to be part of the crowd on Election Day, doing my part in the electoral process.
Yes, we just got it. Yes, I’ll be using it in the week befor the election to see what it’s like.
Oddly, I found out about it only yesterday in a late-night public service announcement on a local station. I don’t remember hearing about it on the 10 PM news. The only other local news I get is the Chicago Tribune’s daily email headlines.
We have pre-poll voting for elections here. Under this option you can cast your vote one to two weeks in advance of the actual polling day. It can be quite useful if you’re planning to be out of your electorate on polling day. Voting is compulsory, and if you’re out of your electorate you have to cast an absentee ballot, which can be a bit time consuming. So I much prefer to use the pre-poll option.
