Voting Experiences

I showed up at my polling place at 7:30 AM. There were between 300 and 400 people in line, outside the school (75-120 inside). When I got to the front of the outside part of the line, the end point hadn't moved (i.e., where people joined the line remained about the same). Still, the line moved well and after ~ 1:45, I was done voting.

Big item in Maryland is the Slots Bill (whether or not to allow slot machines at race tracks); divisive issue which crosses party lines.

Overall, very pleased with the high voter turn-out. I suspect that the poll times will be extended tonight and the last votes won't get counted for 3+ hours after closing. I love Democracy in action!

 

I went at 12:30 and I walked in, showed my ID, signed the book and pressed the buttons. I was done in less than 7 minutes and there was no line. The people inside almost looked excited to see me.

 

My bride voted first thing in the morning, she was at the church where we go to vote for over an hour -- lines out the door. I went at 9:00 and was in and out in 25 minutes, no skin off my nose.

 

Abentee ballot baby! No idea how big the turnout was here in the State capital but I am sure it was large. One thing I will tell you is here in CA, we legislate from the ballot box. You should see the number of initiatives we have to vote on. It's bloody IQ test trying to figure out your actually voting for.

 

I just got back. It was kind of strange, after all the news I heard this morning about long lines. Hit the polls at 4:00 PST and there were more people at the tables then voting. As Ridge mentioned we had a lot of initiatives (wrote down my votes on a note to keep track). Was in & out in 5 minutes. :banana:

 

Same as Misfit Kid for me, more election workers/volunteers than voters. I took my 8 year old and he thought it was cool.

One thing I dont get is our new paper ballot system. The ballots were huge - larger than legal-sized paper and barely fit on the ballot booth counter. After filling in the circles by hand for our choices, we had to put the ballot in a ginormous folder, tear off and hand in the ballot stubs, and then scan the ballot into a machine the size of an old fashioned super computer. This machine did not read your vote, it just counted it as another ballot entered. I dont see how this is better or more reliable than the electronic machines used four years ago. Those machines were small and gave you a paper copy/verification of how you voted. The only benefit I see is that you can probably adjust to voter turnout easier.

The only thing that has changed is a Democrat is Secretary of State so there are no complaints about Cuyahoga county.

 

I went during lunch, had to re-register, and I still got in and out in about 5 minutes. Went back around 5 when my wife voted, same thing.

The guy I selected for President ended up with fewer votes than Ralph Nader, and despite my best efforts, I couldn't convince anybody else to write me in for Registrar of Deeds. Oh well, at least we don't have to see any more campaign ads.

 

I was in and out very quickly, here in Mass. I was 3rd in line to get my ballot and there was a booth waiting when I got there. Only had to wait for my wife who was ahead of me to turn my ballot in. We ended up at the poling place at the same time by coincidence. The polls opened at 7a, I was there around 825a and 300 people had already voted, not sure what the final number was at my precinct, will check the paper today and see what it says.

 

Early voted on Friday. That is a great option, and I have to think all states will adopt it.

 

I went at about 1:30 because I wasn't at work yesterday. No line, in and out in less than ten minutes (the plurality of which was probably spent parsing the one voter referendum on the ballot).