Yep–another Tennessee Doper here (Memphis). I voted on Friday. This was the first time I ever had the chance to participate in “early voting” for a presidential election (in 2004, I was living in Florida, and voted on election day itself).
My polling place wasn’t exactly crowded, but there seemed to be a steady stream of people. Impressive, when one considers it was a late Friday afternoon, around 6:00pm.
I’ve taken advantage of the early voting in the last 3 general elections, including this one. I went Thursday around 2 pm. There were 200 people in line in front of me when I got there, and 200 in line when I left. From what I understand, it was like that all day (I was number 1045 at that polling place), and then again on Friday it was jammed. I’ve never had to stand in line before to vote. Ever. If you think you think you won’t have to stand in line on Nov 4th, I’m afraid you will be disappointed. The turnout is going to be huge. If you have early voting available to you, I urge you to use it.
Yup. Mailed it in Friday. I’ll be out of state during election week.
We’re going to be out of town on the 4th, so my husband mailed both of our absentee ballots last week. One of the things I voted for was a ballot measure for the MD legislature to consider enacting early voting!
I would have voted by now, but they sent me the application for an absentee ballot really late. I think they’re trying to disenfranchise me. :dubious:
Just finished filling out my early ballot and will be mailing it tomorrow. My first time, too.
Got my ballot sitting here on the counter. I just started paging through the 150 pages of ballot measures we have to vote on (no, not joking—we got 2 voter guides this year; 150 pages wasn’t enough for both candidates and ballot measures).
I love Oregon’s vote-by-mail system; I hate the fact that it’s easier to pass legislation via constitutional amendment than via the actual legislature here. Personally, I don’t think you should be trying to pass umpteen constitutional amendments EVERY ELECTION.
No. There’s something…ritualistic…for me about voting. I get there about 6:30 a.m. on Election Day. I’m usually 3rd or 4th in line. I arrive with my “cheat sheets” telling me what I’ve decided after researching the ballot issues and candidates (really, I do research the issues and candidates. No, honestly). I go in, and vote, and immediately afterwards call my mother , who does the exact same thing, to discuss any news she might have since she lives in SC and I live in CO. We both get such a frigging KICK out of participating in democracy - it’s ludicrous, really. And I wear my “I Voted” sticker all day.
Another Tennessee doper here. I’ll probably vote when I pull my shift of holding up campaign signs across the street from the early voting location on Tuesday.
I’ve been doing volunteer work for the party headquarters this election and Wilson County is seeing a large increase in new voter registrations this election. I just hope that everyone who is registered does get out and vote.
I voted by absentee a week or so ago. As a college student I have the option of voting from my hometown precinct or the dorm’s precinct. I chose to vote from my hometown and support some congresspeople I feel strongly about. I was really torn though because if I had waited to vote here, I could have voted to unseat Crazy-Ass Michele.
I’ve got my overseas absentee ballot sitting on the front table and I’ll be mailing it later today. Go democracy!
There have never been more than 190 registered voters in my precinct, though I wouldn’t be surprised at 300 this time, with all the registrations going on nationwide.
Somebody cleaned up the gravestones at Punkin Hill cemetery. The names can now be read, so it’s a pretty good bet some folk that died in the 1800’s will be voting for the first time in a century or so.
Anyway, there’s never a line and it’s fun to socialize and get pearls of wisdom from the old folk sittin’ around the front of the volunteer firehouse where we vote. I’ll wait for election day.
On Friday, I attended training to be a poll worker. The instructor advised us to vote immediately after class, because we would most likely not be assigned to work in our voting precinct. She told us that our county had already processed 8,200 absentee ballots for the coming election. In the 2004 election, there were 32,000 total votes for president in our county. An absentee ballot was mailed to every registered voter in our county a few weeks ago. It appears that we will have a high total vote, but no long lines on November 4.
I voted for Obama, the first democratic presidential candidate I’ve voted for since 1976.
I could’ve, but I, also, enjoy the civic ritual of going to vote in person. We take our sons along so they can see what democracy looks like. I’ve researched all the candidates and the six (!) statewide issues in Ohio this year, and at her request have been advising a little old lady of my acquaintance as to which candidates to support.
My eldest son and I were canvassing for Obama locally on Saturday, and the campaign is really pushing early voting, but I still prefer to go on Election Day. The lines are never that long.
I am going to be recovering from surgery on Election Day, so I picked up an absentee ballot last week. I haven’t filled it out yet - while I know who I will be voting for, I have a problem with early voting. Supposed you send in your vote, and the next day your guy gets caught in bed with a dead girl or a live Halliberton employee…
It amazes me that so many people trust early voting. It seems to me one of the easiest of many many ways votes can be thrown away, er, excuse me, “misplaced” prior to the election. How do you know your vote will count? I see it as a prime way to siphon off votes that are cast on election day.
I don’t trust early voting (or really, voting at all), but then I’m a bitter, cynical soul. On the other hand, even if I thought it was all on the up and up, and every vote counted and all that, I’d still want to vote on election day just because I like the process of voting.
My polling place opened for early voting today at 8:30 am. I left the house at 8:27 and when I got there, I found the line already out to the street and down the sidewalk.
I’ve never seen my polling place look like that!
This is in Houston, Texas.
For me the process of voting was the same, but with a shorter line. I still had to drive to the polling place, go wait in line, fill out my ballot, and stick it in the machine, and get my sticker. I have no worries that my vote will be lost.
No, I’m another one who is waiting for the whole ‘Voting Day Experience’. I want to wear that little sticker proudly!
I voted yesterday. My experience was much the same as Hockey Monkey’s.