# How long did you wait in line to vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084 "2012-11-06T15:05:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/41 "2012-11-06T18:27:24Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > No line. San Diego CA. > > They have voting machines in LA? not the fill in the bubble pieces of paper? My poor phrasing. I should have said “voting stations.” Sorry. Only once did I use an actual machine in LA County, a few years ago, when they had electronic touch screen early voting. I think it was just an experiment for that year. ETA: Found [a reference to it](http://articles.latimes.com/2006/oct/10/local/me-earlyvote10). From 2006, apparently. Haven’t heard of it here since. ---
**Author:** ![KermitTheFrig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/47e85d/32.png) [@KermitTheFrig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KermitTheFrig)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/42 "2012-11-06T18:28:25Z")
No line at all at 7:35 a.m. in a Massachusetts town with polls open at 7:00 a.m. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/43 "2012-11-06T18:37:21Z")
Voted last Saturday in Cary, NC - practically no wait. I adore early voting. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/44 "2012-11-06T18:50:19Z")
None of the above-our county is all mail-in. Voted last Monday. King County, WA. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/45 "2012-11-06T19:07:56Z")
About half an hour in the East Village, NYC. I miss being able to mail my ballot in a month ahead of time… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/46 "2012-11-06T19:13:23Z")
Suburban Chicago. Had to wait behind one person (for maybe 2 minutes) to check in with the election judge, then proceeded directly to an electronic voting machine (no wait at that point). ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/47 "2012-11-06T19:13:43Z")
Waited in line for about an hour in Northern VA. Edit: This was at about quarter to 7 in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/48 "2012-11-06T19:14:08Z")
I waited about 15 minutes, starting at 7:30 this morning. I should have walked right in, but they had neglected to deliver the ballots to my scheduled polling place by opening time today (details!). We were directed to another polling place about a mile away in someone’s garage and given provisional ballots. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/49 "2012-11-06T19:17:19Z")
Florida. About 45 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/50 "2012-11-06T19:18:05Z")
Indiana, about 20 minutes start to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/51 "2012-11-06T19:25:16Z")
A little over five minutes. I’m in New Jersey, but Northeast, where there was much less damage from Sandy - though the school being used for my polling place did just get power back last night. The lines were spit by district, so they varied; just two people ahead of me in my line but at least ten people were on line for one of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/52 "2012-11-06T20:13:31Z")
Chelan County, WA. Zero waiting — filled out my “mail-in” ballot at home, sealed it in the envelope, then drove the few blocks to the courthouse and dropped it in the ballot dropbox. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/53 "2012-11-06T20:22:07Z")
Manhattan, upper west side. About 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/54 "2012-11-06T20:29:42Z")
20 minutes Granada Hills California ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/55 "2012-11-06T22:58:57Z")
About ten minutes waiting in line. Ann Arbor, Michigan, and got there just after 5:00. I thought our polls didn’t open until 8:00 am, or I could probably have had no waiting before work.\* There are two precincts in that location, and the other had no waiting (they’re always lighter than my precinct). ETA: \*or maybe not. Just spoke with my wife, and she had about a half-hour wait at about 2:00 pm, and was told that she was there at a good time, as it had been busier earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/56 "2012-11-06T23:02:39Z")
I’m not sure how long the wait was. I have NEVER had to wait at that polling place, and I’ve always gone at about the same time. This time, there was a very long line. Unfortunately, I didn’t budget my time to allow for that. ---
**Author:** ![TnTangent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e4f/32.png) [@TnTangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TnTangent)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/57 "2012-11-06T23:04:04Z")
No wait time at all. I’m finishing law school outside the county in which I’m registered as a voter, so I sent in my absentee ballot in late October. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/58 "2012-11-06T23:56:20Z")
Whole process took about an hour and a half. Suburban STL. My polling place is always really busy. Wish they would beef it up a bit (more workers, more stations). But it’s in a giant church so we get to wait inside. And this year they had free coffee/donuts which was nice but I did not partake. I woke up at 430am to vote and make it to work on time. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/59 "2012-11-06T23:59:10Z")
From when I left my car to when I got back in my car: 12 min, 47 seconds. (That includes voting for 3 soil and water conservation district supervisors) About 5 minutes to get my ballot (3 people ahead of me) Southeast Minnesota “I can see Wisconsin (and almost Iowa) from my house” Brian ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/60 "2012-11-07T00:06:15Z")
Astoria, NY ( Astoria is in Queens,NY-- right across the East River from the Upper East Side) It took me between 5 and 10 minutes, there were 3 people in front of me signing in and the process seemed to go slowly.This sometimes happens when both the voter and poll worker speak different flavors of heavily accented English. Marking the ballot and scanning it went fairly quickly, all in all it was painless. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m in a new election district due to some local redistricting and the waits for different districts can be very different on average. There are several different election districts that share my polling place – some of them had lines that were as long as 30-35 people. I think those are the larger election districts, I’m lucky to live in a small one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084.md?page=4)