I arrived at the polling station around 7:00 AM. The line was about 6 or 7 people long, and I was the 126th person to vote there today (the poll opened at 6:00).
I got there at 6:10 and there was a line of about 20 people. The wait was mostly due to overwhelmed, incompetent judges who were chasing their own tails trying to figure out how to give one person a provisional ballot. When I handed my ballot back, I was voter #12 (? guess I vote fast and passed some people). Took about 20 minutes.
No lines at my place at 10 AM. I was the only voter there.
Arrived at 7:00 AM, line was around the block to vote.
My polling place divided us into an A-K line and an L-Z line, so I got into the A-K line (which, thankfully, was shorter). I got in line at about 7:30, and was done at about 8:45. I was voter number 245 or something like that.
In my (heavily Democratic) precinct in Atlanta we had the longest lines I’ve ever seen for an election. I didn’t count the voters but there were well over 100 waiting in line when I arrived.
I was there at 6:40am. I was #35 in line.
The polls opened at 7:00. By 7:15, I was pulling out of the parking lot.
To all who voted - congratulations on being a good American.
Regards,
Shodan
Rural NW Missiouri - I voted at 10 local time.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen as many inside the polling place as today. The wait to get a ballot was only about 5 minutes. There was a table outside the booths - some were just voting there rather than waiting for a booth.
My guess is the number in the room at the time was 1-2% of all voters in my precinct.
A friend was the poll worker who gave me the ballot and I asked if this was what it had been like all morning, he only half jokingly said, "We never should have opened the doors.
We arrived about 7:10, polling place opened at 7, and there were already 30 people ahead of us. None of the electronic booths were working at that point, so we all had to fill out ballots. By the time I was done and leaving, the booths were up and running and there were about 40 people or so waiting in line. Not a huge, massive turnout, but bigger than I expected for that early. It took about an hour to get in and out.
I arrived at about 7:10am (in Travis County, Texas), and there was already quite a line. According to the ticket with my access code for the computerized voting machine, I got that ticket at 7:44. The clerks said that 50% of the registered voters in my precinct had voted early, and they were surprised at the numbers still coming in (and they couldn’t see the line outside, only the double-line of voters checking in, plus the third line for people who were checked in and waiting to get a ticket when a machine opened up). They seemed worried that they might be there well after the official closing time of 7pm.
I voted a little after 10AM. There were two people ahead of me in line. 105 people had voted before me, which was more than the total who voted in this precinct for the spriing primary.
There were two precints in the same building where I voted. I voted about 8 mountain time (or rather got in line then). Was in line probably 15 minutes.
I voted at 0900 EST. There were a couple of people in front of me, but no appreciable line. I didn’t look to see how many people had voted so far, but people were still coming at a decent clip.
The San Fernando Valley here, to the northwest of Los Angeles, proper.
The poll staffers said there was a line when they opened at 7 AM, but when we arrived at approximately 7:30, there was only a handfull of people. Voting took a while as we had lots of issue on the ballot. We got in and out in about 10 to 15 mins, over all.
It took me longer to walk to the polling place then to wait in line and vote. (CA)
It took me about an hour and fifteen minutes, My roommate shot through in about 45 minutes, since his third of the alphabet wasn’t well-represented that particular hour.
My wife showed up at the polls at 6:50 (they opened at 7), and she said there were about 25 people ahead of her. Took her about 40 minutes. I showed up at about 8 with the kids, and there was no one ahead of me in the check-in line, and maybe 10 people waiting for booths. Took about 20-25 minutes altogether. There seemed to be a steady trickle of people coming in behind me, but no significant backups.
I think I got there after the rush, as the poll workers were saying that it had been very busy up til then. Also, early voting and absentee have been very high around here. I’ve talked to people who waited 2-3 hours to early vote last week.
-Rick, hoping a miracle occurs and Colorado goes for Kerry
Semi Rual, Eastern Pa
I voted at about 10:30 EST, took about 15 minutes. There was a line out the door, total in line 7 people. Never had to wait before.
Outside there were a lot of Kerry signs and a couple of Kerry supporters ( made evident by the slogans on their shirts & jackets). They were greeting people as they entered the building.
No Bush signs, but that may be because they have been mysteriously vanishing in this area.
My SO and I walked to the polls today, as is our tradition. It was raining, but I didn’t care. I’ll slog through knee deep burning shit to vote. There was no visible line outside, but inside there were at least 50 people waiting in three lines to vote. My SO was told the wrong line (her last name begins with “H” and she was told to get in the “G” line), so she had to wait a little longer. I’d say we spent 25 minutes to vote, all together, and ten minutes walking to and from the polls. The poll worker told me they had 200 people in the first hour.
I love to vote. I love the United States of America because, in the end, the leaders have to answer to the people. Today was the most satisfying voting experience of my life.
I actually waited in line longer at the primary than I did today to vote for the President. It also took me longer to talk to the door than it took to get the ballot. (AZ) I was secretly hoping for some rabid Bush/Kerry voters to fight over me, or a poll monitor to challenge my vote so I could feel like I was important, but alas, nothing. The only thing to report was that I put the “I Voted” sticker on my nose and got some weird looks from the poll workers.