I used the exact same kind of machine, also in Ohio, and the order was:
Gary Johnson
Barack Obama
Mitt Romney
…
…
Is it random or does every machine look the same? Does it matter?
No more discussion of the fake Ohio data, thank you. The numbers weren’t real and accusations of trolling don’t belong in this forum.
If a pollster calculated the margin of error for the people talking in line near your wife as an accurate sample of the population of Virginia, I bet it would be +/- 35 points.
There were about 10 people ahead of me and my husband at about 6:11 this morning. The poll worker was also demonstrating how to vote a party line-- but doing it on the Dem line. She was also instructing everyone not to “undervote”, meaning to vote for everything there was to vote for.
“That can’t be right,” I said, “I don’t HAVE to vote for judge or even president if I don’t want to.”
“Well, if the machine breaks and you undervote, we can’t count it,” she answered. I wanted to argue with her but I had to go to work.
ETA: Long Island, NY
Can someone make an argument against early/absentee voting for someone who simply doesn’t want to be inconvenienced by lines on election day? Basically, I voted absentee for that reason, and my friend here at work thinks you should have to go to the poll on election day unless you’re truly out of the area. We’re discussing it via emails, so it’s hard to get a timely and satisfactory response. What difference does it make whether I’m out of the state or just don’t want to get to work late or possibly be in line from 6-8pm after work?
Someone posted this upthread:
"In Ohio, the rule is:
“The names of all candidates for an office must be arranged in alphabetical order in a group under the title of that office and must be rotated from one precinct to another.” I think the precincts are numbered; in precinct 1, the names are in alphabetical order, then in 2, either the top name is moved to the bottom or the bottom name is moved to the top, then repeated for precincts 3, 4, and so on.
Notice the names in that photo are in order from R-Z, and then from A-Q. In other precincts, a different name would be on top. In most cases, Obama’s name would appear directly above Romney’s - sometimes at the top of the ballot, sometimes at the bottom, sometimes in the middle"
This appears to be the top story at FOX News- that a designated poll watcher showed up at his polling station.
And held open the door for someone. How frightening!
I can’t wait to hear people explain how much this outrages them and why. It’s already my favorite side-plot of the election.
really?
Flaws in your friend’s argument:
-
It is not always possible to predict in advance that you’ll be unavailable on a specific day. Ergo, your friend’s proposed requirement is unreasonable on its face.
-
Arbitrarily imposing an inconvenience on people is at best stupid and at worst malicious. If the process can be carried out in a way that minimizes inconvenience, that it obviously preferable.
Yeah, that really shouldn’t be there. It’s probably been up there for four years or so, but someone should have covered it.
Grand Rapids, MI - neighborhood polling place, lunch time, literally no line. We were asked for ID but mine was expired and no one gave a damn, they were just matching it up to the list. Saw at least one person filling out the “I have no ID but I am who I say” affidavit.
Was a little weirded out that Romney was at the top of the ballot. Surely the alphabet hasn’t changed THAT much since I was a kid? 
Well, he came back and said “why not mail the ballots to everyone?” I said it’d be nice, but the chance of fraud and privacy issues probably doesn’t make that a good idea, so requesting a ballot or showing up early seems like a fair compromise. I said we should be making an absolute right easier, and he responded with something about using Facebook and liking/disliking a candidate. So, I’ve concluded he’s just not happy and can’t say why. Sorry you missed out on the news for the last two weeks talking about early voting, etc.
I live in Washington State and we do all of our voting by mail. It’s fantastic. My wife and I voted about 10 days ago and talked through our ballots with our kids. I couldn’t possibly love it more.
Although, I can’t figure out for the life of me why the people complaining about voter fraud never seem outraged about Washington’s system. Seems far more prone to shenanigans. Couldn’t possibly be because we’re not a swing state, could it?
I think I can speak for nearly all Dopers that we hope you do, too, regardless of who you vote for. (Unless you lived in a swing state – kidding!).
I’m told that you can vote as long as you are in line when the polls are scheduled to close, but try to avoiding testing that.
Cool. Do they still have polls for people that want to pull a lever or just don’t trust the mail? What do people without a “proper” mailing address (PO Box or other) do?
Finished voting in SC. 1:15 wait in line.
On review, I find I’m disturbed by the ‘Straight X Party’ selection availability. I find that wrong, somehow.
There are places where you can drop off your ballots, but there are no levers to pull any more.
I don’t recall off the top of my head what they do for people who don’t have normal addresses. I believe that you can pick up ballots at the various election stations and presumably fill them out and drop them off or mail them in.
The only “controversy” I’ve seen in the local news around here this cycle is that some Republican groups are offering to take people’s ballots from their houses to the drop-off sites. They are making this offer to expected Republican voters. Democrats claim that it opens the ballots up to tampering. The Republicans claim that it’s the modern equivalent of driving people to the polling station. The elections supervisor simply said that people should drop their vote in the mail or at a designated drop box to ensure security.