# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/81 "2012-11-07T05:39:00Z")
Central Indiana. My daughter who just turned 18 went at 6 am. The machines were set saying the time was 5 am so wouldn’t accept votes. Took about an hour to get it fixed and she voted. I’ve lived here 17 years and never waited more than 15 minutes. Got there at 2:40… left at 4:50. They combined three districts and then split those in two. The part that I don’t understand is they gave us one machine for the 900 in our district. The group right next to us has 600 voters and they got two machines… the other ones in the same building also got two machines. After an hour and a half they finally realized they could funnel some of us into the other machines. I felt worst for the guy right in front of me who waited for 1.5 hours just to be told he lives on the East side of the street so needs to go to the back of the other line. Not sure what the SNAFU was today. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/82 "2012-11-07T06:06:50Z")
Long Island, New York, no wait at all and there’s never been a line of more than ten people here ever any time of day. I can’t say if there’s less voter turn out or we just have more polling spots. But I have to say I find it odd to hear reports of hour long lines elsewhere. I have to wonder what the nature of the discrepancy is. ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/83 "2012-11-07T06:49:12Z")
North Carolina. Took Mom with me to early voting. Walked in, voted, walked out. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/84 "2012-11-07T06:59:40Z")
No wait at all. It was about 10 a.m. and I was voter #109 in my township. The election folks were all atwitter about how swamped they’d been :D. Rural Minnesota, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/85 "2012-11-07T07:04:12Z")
Maybe 10 minutes, around 2pm. But I could tell from the time it was taking to sign each person in that it was going to be a nightmare after 5pm. Well, not by urban standards, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Crackrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Crackrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crackrat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/86 "2012-11-07T08:41:32Z")
Spent more time filling out the change of address form than standing in line. No wait for me. Latah County, Idaho. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/87 "2012-11-07T11:32:33Z")
In all my years as a voter, I’ve never had to wait at all. So, I was surprised when I pulled into the parking lot and it was packed and there were people standing in a line just waiting to get into the building. Apparently they combined two polling places into one so the wait was about 45 minutes in Akron, Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/88 "2012-11-07T12:28:44Z")
Maryland. I stopped on my way home from work yesterday a little after 3, and was in and out in about 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/89 "2012-11-07T13:01:37Z")
I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes at our polling place, and most of the time not at all. There was no wait last night, despite it being a hotly-contested Presidential and Senate race. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/90 "2012-11-07T13:19:59Z")
Pretty much no wait for me around 1:30pm in NE Queens in NYC - there was only 1 person in front of me for my district when I showed up and voting doesn’t really take that long. I showed ID, got a bubble sheet ballot, filled it out at a “privacy screen” table, took it to a scanner and boop!, I had voted. (I miss the chh-thunk of the booths with the Big Red Lever!) I usually vote before or after work (around 7am or 7pm) but I happened to be home for a 2:30 periodontal appt in the afternoon. Dunno if I would’ve endured a wait then. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/91 "2012-11-07T13:39:33Z")
I walked out of the polling place 8 minutes after I walked in. The only delay was waiting in line for the actual voting booth, where I was 5th in line. This was around 7:00 pm. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/92 "2012-11-07T14:00:51Z")
Angola. Only place to vote is the US Embassy, which took about 45 minutes to get to ( traffic ). Add an additional 15 minutes to get past the large Marines at the gate. Dropped off our completed ballots and headed to the beach for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/93 "2012-11-07T14:01:07Z")
Massachusetts. It took 27 minutes. That is, 27 minutes between leaving my apartment and returning. With a 10 minute walk each way. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/94 "2012-11-07T14:07:08Z")
There was one person ahead of me when I walked into my polling place at 6:44 pm. 30 seconds tops. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/95 "2012-11-07T14:31:51Z")
I’m in southern Maryland. We arrived no more than 10 minutes before the doors opened. From the time the doors were unlocked till we were headed out was 15 minutes. Total people/questions to choose was maybe 20, and I’d reviewed the sample ballot ahead of time, so I knew exactly how I was voting. I have no idea if there were lines after work hours. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/96 "2012-11-07T15:25:10Z")
Massachusetts, about 15 minutes ---
**Author:** ![Phila444](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba8739/32.png) [@Phila444](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phila444)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/97 "2012-11-07T16:15:46Z")
Philadelphia, PA. No wait at all, went around 1:30 PM. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/98 "2012-11-07T16:35:18Z")
Kansas, no wait. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/99 "2012-11-07T17:03:25Z")
Vienna VA, just over 5 minutes, behind 3 people for one of 3 touchscreen machines. If I had realized there was no wait at all to fill out a paper ballot I might have done that instead. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084/100 "2012-11-07T17:08:08Z")
I didn’t wait in any line. I walked up, was told by some guy to fill out this form and give it to that lady, where she verified who I was and sent me to an empty station. 4:45 p.m., Georgia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-you-wait-in-line-to-vote/640084.md?page=6)