Precincts open at 7:00am; we were in line at exactly seven, behind hundreds of others (I was voter #168 in our precinct; the voting location holds four precincts). The line was down the hall, up and down another hall, up the wheelchair ramp, out to the sidewalk, down to and around the street corner, and 3/4 of the way up the block. Luckily we didn’t show up at 7:30, when the line was all the way up the block and around the next corner.
On the plus side, it looked like everyone was prepared for the long haul, and I didn’t see anyone leaving in disgust. On the minus side, as we were leaving, an ambulance was pulling up to help some woman who had apparently collapsed out of her wheelchair. I don’t know the story, but I hope she’s all right.
Took the wife and kids to vote in thier first election at 6:30. The wait was about 25 minutes for three of us, and closer to 45 for my daughter, whose name was misspelled in the voter list. It took the elections folks forever to figure out what to do, but she finally got to vote.
From the moment I left my living room to the moment I returned: 45 minutes. That included going to my polling place, voting, doing my grocery shopping, stopping to gas up the truck and a visit to Walgreen’s (they didn’t have what I wanted).
The poll workers told me there had been a line when they opened this morning, but it had died down by about 8 AM. They expect to get busy again this afternoon.
I got there about 7:15 with my kids, and we waited about 45 minutes. It was just the before-work rush because when we left about 8:00 the line was much shorter.
There was a guy walking up and down the line aggressively campaigning for a candidate for some local office. Several people were rude to him. And there was a much quieter guy offering “sample ballots” which were marked up in favor of the Democratic candidates.
I had to wait in line five minutes, which is about four mintues longer than I usually wait. Somehow my sleepy suburban town seems to be on the ball when it comes to election management.
By the time I motivated to get dressed and go to the polls, our location had been open or almost four hours. Living in urban Ohio, I was well prepared for a long wait, and had my mp3 player and a book with me. From the time I got out of my car, talked to a woman in a lawn chair (supporting Obama), walked into the gym, and got in line, it took about three minutes. One lady was in my line ahead of me, and that took another 2 minutes. Tack on five to sign the book and all, then 2 while the guy showed me how to work the elecronic poll (I’m a first-timer. I lost my voting virginity today! So did my husband! double squee) Maybe seven minutes to vote on everything, including judges and local issues, then back to the car where the same lady I talked to before gave me a cool sticker with a pic of Obama and Biden on it.
Total time spent (minus driving): 20 minutes
Total amazement at the swiftness of the act: mind-bogglingly shocked
Total satisfaction at making a difference: immeasurable
PS- beebs my dear, you killed my Doper-crush on you. I’m sad now. smacks with trout
Let’s hear it for small towns. At least the one I live in – technically, right outside of. There was no line, the ballot was short, it took me about five minutes, and that was because I was being obsessive about filling the bubbles (I felt like I was in high school again) perfectly. They opened at 8, I got there about 8:20.
Driving time? About ten minutes. A bit longer than it would have been except that we got an inch or two of snow overnight so that slowed everybody down.
I showed up at 10:00, waited in line for a couple of minutes, and was out in another 10 minutes. The small township office was packed, but things were running pretty smoothly. Seemed like a healthy turnout, though I voted elsewhere in 2004 and don’t have a good basis for comparison.
I got there about 5:45 or 6 a.m. and had to park a quarter mile away from the polling place because of the number of cars there. By the time I got there, the line was out the door and winding around the parking lot. It was 8:20 by the time I left. I met a lot of fun people, though, and everyone was very positive regardless of who they were voting for.
Edited to add: I live out in the county in St. Louis.
A normal day at the poll for me. I almost always vote on the regular day. As happens often here in our town of 20,000 (give or take) there is often some confusion about which polling place to go to. I looked it up in advance, knew who I was going to vote for, and in and out in 5 minutes.
I always give the supporters outside a hard time about trying to get my attention as I go in to vote. I tell them that if a person has not made up his or her mind before going to the poll, I would rather he or she not vote.
I went at 9 am. about 15 people divided into 3 lines (A-G)(H-P)(Q-Z)
Same volunteers as past years. Little old ladies who are wearing coke bottle glasses who can read about 10 words a minute. they can’t find my name on the alphabetical list. Finally I find it for them. I get my ballot and take about 7 minutes to vote. People are voting standing up because there are not enough booths and tables.
My experience only took about 20 minutes total. But it should have taken 10 minutes max if they had competent people at the polls.
The polls opened at 6:00 in NJ. I walked to the polling place, my town library, which took 20 minutes–I was there at 6:10 and it took 10 minutes total to vote. I was #14 in just my book (District 7, R-Z). It was the most crowded I’ve ever seen in the library.
My husband went at about 8:30 with our 2 kids; nothing like starting love of democracy early. My 7-year old was apparently more interested in seeing his other friends who came in with their parents, than the actual voting experience, though.
Longest lines I’ve ever seen in my polling place. Out the door and down the parking lot. And from the general conversation in the line, we were all there to pull a straight Republican ticket and keep the Marxists out of the White House and the Congress.
It was busy out n the sticks today but the line flowed smoothly. Mixed in amongst the flannels and polyesters I actually saw a few colorful freaks, must’ve been first timers! Many of the local races were unchallenged incumbents, but we had 2 props on the ballot. Medical MJ and a Constitutional Amend to expand stem cell research. The Med mj I had to think long and hard about, the stem cell research was a no brainer (pun intended :eek:)
I went in on my way to work. When there’s enough voters for a live vote (we have to mail in when there aren’t enough registered voters in my district), there’s never a line. Polls open at 7 am and I got there at about 5 after. When I arrived, there were about 6 - 8 people ahead of me, but no waiting for a voting booth. When I left, the line was out the door and there was a line for the voting booths as well. It took me about 20 minutes total.
