# How long does it take for a US Citizen to vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-us-citizen-to-vote/272581 "2004-11-02T18:15:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**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 3, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-us-citizen-to-vote/272581/41 "2004-11-03T00:51:08Z")
> [@xash](#): > > Just curious, but is there a maximum time limit for the time you are allowed to take to cast your vote once you enter the actual voting booth ? No, at least none that I’ve ever heard of, and I’ve voted in three different states. Once you’re in the booth you can take as long as you need, although after an especially long delay one of the volunteers might ask if you need assistance. First time voters, especially, will take longer. I’ve been voting at my current location 6 years. Normally I’m in and out in 10 minutes, at most 1 or 2 people ahead of me. Until this morning. This morning I got there about 15 minutes after the polls opened. There were _forty people_ ahead of me, and volunteers trying to find more chairs for the waiting to sit in. I’d say about a 1/3 of them were first-time voters. Took me over an hour to get in and out. Same story repeated by just about everyone when I did finally get to work - the business day essentially started an hour late. They were letting folks who hadn’t voted leave work a little early so they could make it to the polls before they closed. ---
**Author:** ![beltbuckle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@beltbuckle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beltbuckle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-us-citizen-to-vote/272581/42 "2004-11-03T01:39:49Z")
It took me about 10 minutes to vote and register in my new precinct (I recently moved). The voting booths were busy, but there was not a waiting line. I voted on 9 different races. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-us-citizen-to-vote/272581/43 "2004-11-03T03:32:40Z")
Suburban polling place near San Francisco: About 10-15 min to get to the polling place. About 2 min to correct the mistaken turn away from the polling place. :smack: No lines, wooshed into a booth, 5-7 min to fill out the ballot (really glad I brought my cheat sheet). Those without cheat sheets or their sample ballots may have had a hard time with the dozen or so state initiatives and five local ones. Total time taken to vote, including travel time: about 30 min. Total time taken to vote, including travel time and figuring out who & what to vote for: about 4 hours 30 min. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-us-citizen-to-vote/272581/44 "2004-11-03T06:25:56Z")
About five minutes, at most, if not including the hour of travel time back to my parents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-us-citizen-to-vote/272581.md?page=2)