Describe Your Experience At The Polling Place On Election Day

[Ken]

Approaching my polling place, located in an elementary school, I was accosted by somebody trying to persuade me to vote for a local candidate. At first I ignored them, but when I realized they were routing for somebody I was voting for I remarked "Good man. I'm voting for him!"

As I expected, the poll place itself was deserted. Only two people besides me and they were voting on another machine in a different electorial district . One of three pollsters at my own district looked up my name and found it with surprising quickness. I signed the allotted spot with the eccentric signature I concocted several years ago.

Inside the booth I immediately turned my attention to a proposal on the ballot but couldn't understand what it meant even after reading it twice. It was about disabled veteran benefits or something and seemed important. Leaving it unclicked, for fear of messing up, I cast my vote for the presidential candidate and then for state senator and the aforementioned local politician.

So what was your experience at the polls like?

[billythrilly7th]

Lucky.

An election worker got me and the people in my district all the way up to the front of the line from wayyy in the back.

I voted for Obama, but I wouldn't have waited more than an hour to do so.

[OneTeam OneDream]

Quick, easy, painless. 20 minutes tops, mostly b/c an elderly voter couldn't read the screen. Three quick finger pushes and I was out.

One lady tried to offer me a sample ballot for the democratic party and I politely declined. The guy behind me wasn't so nice...

I took my son with me b/c he (as an 8 year old) has been paying a lot of attention to the news. I figured it'd be nice for him to go with me.

[sassandgroove]

Well I haven't voted yet. I left my house at 715 expecting to get to the polling place at 720. It took me a half an hour. There were so many people I didn't think I'd have time before I had to leave for work. I am going to ask my boss if I can leave a little early so hopefully I won't be there tonite until 8pm. They said if you are in line by 7 you can vote. If I leave at my normal time I'd get there at 6- maybe. UGH.

I'll update when I actually vote later.

[Kitty Pryde]

I voted! No On 8 woohoo! I turned up 20 minutes before the polls opened, and there were six people ahead of me. My partner had a "No on 8" bumper sticker on her coat, but they made her take it off, because they don't allow electioneering within 100 feet of the polling place. The woman in front of me had recently moved, so she wasn't in the book. They helped her fill out a provisional ballot, so yay for that.

A really rude woman barged past the line and announced that she needed to vote. They asked if she had registered, and she said, "I never received anything in the mail!" as thought the entire US electoral process had conspired against her. The poll guy was so nice, he explained that no one sends you anything, you have to get a form at the post office to register to vote. Then she said, "Well I need to register to vote!" As this was all at the top of her lungs, she was making quite an ass of herself. The guy told her she couldn't register for THIS election, but she could take a form to register for the next election. She continued to belabor the tragic fact that 'no one had sent her anything in the mail.'

The highlight of my morning was this: a young African-American man with a developmental disability had come out with his grandfather to vote. His grandpa proudly introduced him to the other people chatting in line, and told us it was his very first time voting. I saw him coming out of the place holding his ballot stub with a huge grin on his face. He was so proud of himself and his country and it made me proud too!

PS Here's where to get free goodies today for all my AW peeps who voted (from dealnews.com):

Breakfast

* At participating Krispy Kreme locations, receive a free star-shaped doughnut in celebration of Election Day. Customers must present an "I Voted" sticker to receive their free doughnut.
* Need coffee with that doughnut? Head to Starbucks and say "I voted" for a free 12-oz. cup of brewed coffee.
* Not a Starbucks fan? BooksAMillion.com is also offering a free cup of coffee to voters.
* Eat'n Park restaurants in PA, OH, and WV will also serve a free cup of coffee to voters who present their "I Voted" sticker.

Lunch

* At participating Chick-fil-A restaurants, voters with an "I Voted" sticker will get a free Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich.
* Taco fans can march over to California Tortilla where they'll get a free taco upon presenting their "I Voted" sticker.

Dinner

* Afraid your candidate might lose? Daily Grill is extending their happy hour prices on drinks and food until closing on November 4. Plus, get a free happy hour appetizer after presenting an "I Voted" sticker or ballot stub.
* After finishing your appetizer, head to Shane's Rib Shack where your sticker will get you a free Vote America Meal, consisting of hand-breaded chicken tenders, fries, and a 20-ounce drink.
* Now that you've had dinner, it's time for dessert. Head to participating Ben & Jerry's from 5pm to 8pm local time for a free scoop of ice cream.

[kuwisdelu]

About 45 minutes. The poll workers were very nice, and the last-minute campaign workers didn't accost anyone, just quietly handed out fliers with their candidates' platforms. It was a long wait, but I got some reading done. I live on a college campus; my polling place was off-campus, so the lines were shorter than the student union. A couple of my friends tried voting at the union when polls first opened at 6am and the lines were already ridiculously long.

Perhaps mention where you live and how this year compares with past experiences, too?

The highlight of my morning was this: a young African-American man with a developmental disability had come out with his grandfather to vote. His grandpa proudly introduced him to the other people chatting in line, and told us it was his very first time voting. I saw him coming out of the place holding his ballot stub with a huge grin on his face. He was so proud of himself and his country and it made me proud too!

That's so awesome :)

[donroc]

9:45AM -- signed in, no waiting, voted, and out less than 10 minutes.

[BenPanced]

I spent more time in the cubby filling in the little dots (thank ghod for years of standardized testing!) than I did in line. In and out in less than 10 minutes, if that long, but it was a steady stream of people. Of course, it's made just that much easier because my polling station is the community center across the street from my building.

[johnnysannie]

I voted early but at the school where I taught (half-day today), a precinct, they were directing traffic before 7:30am this morning, very unusual in this small town.

When I got home just minutes ago, someone who lives in the neighborhood pulled up and asked me how to get to our polling place, a neighbor I don't know and had not met before.

[DeleyanLee]

Got there about 7:20 AM, after trying to find parking for a while. (Some nimnull decided it would be to close down the street in front of the poll, thus blocking off the 20-odd parking spaces there.)

The line wasn't too long, though my area has one of the most retarded methods of checking people in I've ever seen. Three people with four different books (the 4th person hadn't shown up yet, so one was doing double-duty), where you had to say and spell your name for each of them. One of them gives out your voter number (loudly announcing your party affliation to one and all--I got a lot of glares for being "NF"--not affliated) while someone else records it in the book, and then there's three people to monitor the electronic voting booths.

But no proof of having voted was available. No "I voted" sticker. No stub with the number on it. Nothing. When I asked for it (proof of voting means I didn't have to take vacation time), they stared at me like I'd suddenly declared an adoration for killing babies or something. A five minute scramble began and they came up empty handed. "If they want to confirm you voted, then they can call the election board."

Like any boss is going to do that instead of just docking you. I mean, really.

What I found interesting is that I live in a very RED county, and town. Republican signs outnumber Democratic signs at about 7 to 1. Yet, of the first 40 people who voted (thanks to that LOUD declaration of affliation part of the process), 3 of us were NF and the rest of us were Democrats. This is a serious change from my previous experiences where it was more 85% are Republican, 14% are Democrat and I'm usually the only NF.

[Ken]

my local news channel made it seem like all the polling places in my city had long lines and waits. Many did, but quite a number did not. No reportage on the later. Guess that wouldn't make much of a story, to send a reporter to a polling place that was empty.

[astonwest]

Our voting site remained in the same building, but was placed in a much larger room than usual. Additional voting machines and provisional ballot stations made the wait much better than last time...in and out of the site in about 15-20 minutes.

I wish we had a Chick-Fil-A around here, though...could use a free sandwich for lunch.

[shawkins]

I voted midday on Friday. It was chilly for this time of year, but there was a long line out through the parking lot--I'd guess maybe 300 people? I asked one of the workers and she said it had been that way all week. It went quick, though. There were 15 machines available, and I was out of there in maybe 45 minutes.

Everybody was quiet and pleasant.

[Pomegranate]

My husband and I walked to the polling place and go there right when it opened at 7am. There was already a line of at least a dozen. Our polling place was one of three within a half mile radius and they all had lines. Ours opened late and got a slow start because the volunteers weren't quite ready. Once we got the ballot it only took a minute to finish. We got stickers.

On the way to the polls we saw a demonstrator for a city council candidate using his poster to hit another demonstrator who was promoting an unpopular position for a controversial local proposition. What a jerk.

Compared to minor elections, there seemed to be less staff at the polls, but I think they were spread out because normally there is only one polling location in our area.

[mario_c]

In and out in 5 minutes. OK maybe an extra minute to walk around the elementary school looking for the door in.
Our ballots were paper, handed to us in manila envelopes. And we got a thick black pen to mark in the ovals. Once done, we fed it into what could have been a shredder for all I know - it made a little count and we were done.

Now where's my free Starbucks coffee?

[justme]

No lines. Only took me about five minutes. I didn't get a sticker, though. No chicken sandwich for me.

[rhymegirl]

My husband wanted to try to vote before work. He went over there around 8 am. He called me on his cell about 20 minutes later and said he didn't have a long wait.

I drove over there between 11 and 11:30. There were only about 10 people in line. But of course most of them were seniors since most people would be working.

I was only there for about 15 minutes.

My daughter and son plan to go over there tonight. I bet it will be crowded then.

[StephanieFox]

We walked the dog to our local polling place. The dog and I waited while my husband David voted, then he sat with the dog while I voted. No lines, but there was a steady stream of people. We fill in the dots in a little cubby hole or at a table (older people who need to sit do this), then slide the ballot into a reader.

I got my 'I Voted' sticker and they gave us one for the dog as well.

I feel better now that I've voted, but I'm going to go do 'visibility' this afternoon, standing on an overpass waving a sign for my candidate.

It's so strange. This is Minnesota, but the temp was near 70ºF.

[vixey]

I went this afternoon around 3-ish east coast. The place was empty. It's been drizzly here (Virginia) off and on, but pleasant temp wise. I heard the polling places were busier this morning.

[WendyNYC]

my local news channel made it seem like all the polling places in my city had long lines and waits. Many did, but quite a number did not. No reportage on the later. Guess that wouldn't make much of a story, to send a reporter to a polling place that was empty.

I'm in your area and we didn't have much of a wait at all. I heard that it was crazy early in the morning, but no big deal for us (around noon.)

[MattW]

I've heard sporadic reports about grouchy election workers telling people with Obama buttons or t-shirts, or even an Alaska souvenir shirt, that they couldn't vote.

It's one thing to prevent campaigning at a polling place, but another entirely to be draconian about what amounts to free speech.

[MoonWriter]

My wife and I just voted - around 2:45 CST. No line. We showed our photo ID and we each went into one of the 2 machines available for our precinct.

[Jersey Chick]

I went around 10AM, with my son (in his stroller) and my daughter (in charge of wheeling him around), signed the book, took my little slip, and by the time I reached the voting machine, the person in it had finished. I was in and out in about 5 minutes.

No campaigning of any kind was going on, and there were signs that said anyone trying to campaigning had to be over 100 feet from the doors. No pressure going in, none on the way out. And as we were leaving, the crowds started to form. I couldn't have timed it better.

[Storm Dream]

Well, there was a bit of a problem with my absentee ballot (I'm registered in San Diego county, but live/work up in Orange); I called last week and they denied ever receiving an application for mail-in, but noted that I was indeed registered.

I almost didn't drive down to SD to vote, though; my parents were set against it & frankly I was tired. I went back and forth on it for most of the day. Figured Obama would take California, anyway. However...while on my evening walk downtown last night, I saw some real ugliness from some pro-8 people. That ugliness is what prompted me to go home, get in my car, and drive down. It really, really sickened me.

My voting place was about a ten-minute walk from my parents' house. Left at 7:15. It started raining. Went back, grabbed my car. Mumbled about people being unable to park correctly on election days. Went into the place, sample ballot in hand. Got in line.

Was not on the roster.

My parents and brother were, but not me. So they shuffled me over to a provisional ballot (grrrr) and I filled it all out and voted.

This was my second election; I was too young in '01 and did absentee in '04 while I was at college, so it was the first time I ever voted in person. And yes, it was actually pretty exciting. I left feeling like I'd done something good, something important. Also that I had retaliated against those nasty thugs I saw last night in a perfectly legal manner. :)

It was also nice to see my parents, of course.

I imagine the roomie and I will be watching the results closely.

Maybe it's just because I was in early and people were still excited, but everyone I ran into was very polite & pleased to be doing their civic duty. The woman in front of me brought her nine-year-old boy. In between talking about his dirt bike party, she told him a little about the election process. I think he would've rather been out riding his bike, but hey, he's nine, he's entitled.

[Komnena]

I voted before eight a.m.. No lines at all.

[Chasing the Horizon]

My dad voted early this morning on his way to work and he said the lines were long (like 45 minutes) to vote then, but when me and my mom went to vote around 2:30pm EST there were only two people ahead of us. We live in a suburban area of central PA.

The only thing different at the polls this time around was that all the friendly old people volunteers had been replaced by bitchy young people. You'd think young people would be faster at looking up names, but they're really not.

[stormie]

Easy. I wasn't there. I voted last week by absentee ballot. :)

We have these old ladies who look like they have cobwebs attaching them to their chairs, helping out. On more than a few occasions they've claimed I'm either not registered or in the wrong district. When I spell my name they get it wrong. So I gave up and did the absentee ballot thing. I gave myself the free coffee and donuts afterwards.

[WildScribe]

I voted by mail two weeks ago. :)

NO ON 8 if you live in California... please say no to hatred and discrimination.

[Alvah]

I voted early this morning. There was a line of about ten people in front of me; in past years I've seen maybe 4 or 5 in line.

The ballot had a question on it about veterans' disability benefits. I read it twice but still didn't understand it. It makes me wonder if
someone deliberately makes these questions badly worded so
that on purpose it's difficult to know what a yes or no vote means.

[Ken]

On the way to the polls we saw a demonstrator for a city council candidate using his poster to hit another demonstrator who was promoting an unpopular position for a controversial local proposition.

really takes the cake. Indeed "a jerk."
Nice to hear that many had good experiences, alongside the bad:

everyone I ran into was very polite & pleased to be doing their civic duty.

Overall, my trip to the polls was good too.
The pollsters were polite and friendly. So was the cop there.

The ballot had a question on it about veterans' disability benefits. I read it twice but still didn't understand it.

...same here :-(

[lakotagirl]

Hubby wanted to vote before he went in to work this morning. He offered to give me a ride if I wanted to get dressed that early. So I was actually dressed and had shoes on before 7:30am. THAT doesn't happen often!

We drove five miles to the village and pulled into one of five parking places. After we parked there were four empty spaces.

Walked in, waved at the volunteers (those I didn't know by name, I knew by face), signed the card and picked up the ballot.

Was out of there in about three minutes.

Stopped and chatted with someone coming in the door as we were leaving.

Got in the car - but got back out because I saw someone else I hadn't seen in four years...

I love election day! I get to see people I haven't seen in years.

[katiemac]

Five minutes. Minimal campaigning outside the place, but nothing outside the door and no heckling.

Gave them my name, took my ballot. No voting machines here, so I filled it out by hand. Afterward I stuck it in the machine to be tallied later. The machine spit my ballot back out on first try, but accepted it on the second.

I got my sticker and left.

My sister in NYC didn't have it so easy.

[Pomegranate]

The ballot had a question on it about veterans' disability benefits. I read it twice but still didn't understand it. It makes me wonder if someone deliberately makes these questions badly worded so
that on purpose it's difficult to know what a yes or no vote means.

I'm sure they do. Our county had a large number of propositions on the ballot. It was a challenge to read through the "impartial analysis" and the pro and con arguments were worse. My husband and I started chanting "when in doubt vote no!" after a while.

[MaryMumsy]

I voted by mail several weeks ago. No 'I voted' sticker, so can't go out and snarf up the freebies. I'm confused about one thing I have seen several posters in this thread mention. Here in Maricopa County, AZ we get literature from the state well in advance of the election which details all of the issues we will be voting on. It gives the actual wording, as well as opinions pro and con from various groups in favor or opposed. It even tells you 'a yes vote means this' or 'a no vote means this'. Don't all areas do this? Are you supposed to have to read all that verbiage and decide in the voting booth?

MM

[fullbookjacket]

Voted in Florida. Got to the polling station at 6:50 AM. Already a long line. Polls opened at 7AM. Once the polls opened, it took me 40 minutes. Not bad.

Very well run, as it always is in my precinct.

[Unique]

We have Early Voting in NC so I voted last week ... nope ... 2 weeks ago.
It felt odd but a lot of things about this state strike me as odd. :Shrug:

I was still in line for about 30 minutes but it moved fast. But to vote - I'd stand in line all day and all night.

[Clair Dickson]

Me and Hubby went after I got out of school (teaching) about 230p. Our polling place was up the road at the Township Building. It's a small building and small lot, but it wasn't crowded. There were more cars than I expected, but still plenty of parking.

When we got in, there was one person in "line." There were 6 stations to go through to fill out the slip, check the slip with your ID, check your name in the book, put your numbers on your slip, and then go vote. They had extra voting cubbies set up.

It took me longer to fill in dots than the wait. And then I stupidly filled in two bubbles in a "pick one" candidate. I told them to just override that section since I over-voted. I didn't feel like filling it in again. Honestly, it's not that important of a race (local township level something or other with two candidates, including one incumbent nobody really has a problem with.)

Then, I went outside and waited for Hubby to stroll out a few minutes later. No problems

I was expecting it to be bad at the school where I work-- which is also a polling place. I have class at 545p and expected the little lot to be all full up, so I came early in case I had to park around the block. But it was pretty quiet. I think because of the many, many extra polling cubbies. They may have actually been prepared for the turnout.

This was about on par with the last few elections I've voted in-- in and out voting.

[SC Harrison]

I early-voted over a week ago, and today spent about three hours out in the rain greeting people going in.

And although I was wearing a few candidate stickers (Democrats), I only explained the ballot and thanked people for voting, without asking/telling them who to vote for. And I flirted with some girls, made little children jump up in the air to grab candy like little dolphins, tried to speak with an Irish accent a few times, etc. Normal stupid Steve stuff. ;)

[mscelina]

You know, Steve, that's actually really cool of you. :)

[SC Harrison]

You know, Steve, that's actually really cool of you. :)

Thanks. I don't know how other states' ballots are, but with ours (NC), voting a straight ticket doesn't cast a vote for President, or for any non-partisan races like judicial, school board, etc. So you have to do (at least) three different things, if you want to cast a vote for every race.

[mscelina]

Yeah, things like that are hard to understand for some voters. Hell, with some of the language on the legalization of casino gambling on our state ballot today, even I had to read through it three or four times. How freaking hard would it be to just have:

Legalize casino gambling in Ohio:

Yes
No

Hmmm...nah. That would be too easy. Then people would actually know what they were voting for.

[maestrowork]

Took me about five minutes from parking the car to getting out. There were about five people voting, with six voting machines. I got confused at the end and took me about 15 seconds to realize I needed to press the blinking button that said "Vote"! Duh! I felt stupid.

It was a bit quiet, unlike the 2004 election. Back then a lot of college kids were there with Bush/Cheney signs. This year, a lot of Obama signs and just one McCain/Palin, and no college kids. No lines but a constant flow of voters.

Then I went to Ben&Jerry to get my free ice cream.

[Unique]

So - what flavor did you get, Ray?

[kuwisdelu]

America chooses: vanilla or chocolate?

[maestrowork]

So - what flavor did you get, Ray?

Very smart and subtle.

I got butter pecan.

[Norman D Gutter]

I voted after work, and after dinner. The poles in Arkansas stay open till 7:30 PM, and I got there about 6:30 PM. No one was in line ahead of me, and only about four people were at booths. But, when I signed the voter roll, I was the last person on the page who hadn't voted. This is mainly a retirement area, so most people are not tied to the work day for voting. Also, we normally have a pretty high turnout.

No one accosted me as I approached the poles, as we don't have many tightly contested races.

For president, since Alan Keyes was not on the Arkansas ballot, I voted for the Constitution Party candidate. I would have voted for the Taxpayer's part candidate, but he/she was not on the ballot.

A sad election for me, with no dog in the presidential hunt.

[Joe270]

I was done in under ten minutes. It would have been a bit shorter, but the only person in front of me had changed addresses and was at the wrong polling place. Because she mentioned her husband was on the way, they asked her to step aside and wait for him so they could deal with both of them together.

That was the only bump in the road.

Now our area had a long ballot, mostly judges and JPs. I knew about most of them, but found myself just voting for names I recalled from the newspaper and ads. Heck, there were at least thirty judges on the ballot.

Then we had several amendments and initiatives to vote on. I knew how I was gonna vote on those, so they went pretty fast. I just had to ensure the wording was the same as what I had studied.

I got my sticker and left. Why do they give people stickers, anyway?

[Ken]

Legalize casino gambling in Ohio:

Yes
No


it would be great if they simplified the proposals on the ballots like this. But of course, as you say, that would never happen.
Confusion is the aim.

[astonwest]

I got my sticker and left. Why do they give people stickers, anyway?
For the free stuff, of course...

[maestrowork]

Prop 8 in CA would be:

"Discriminate much?
Yes
No
"

[Ken]

Prop 8 in CA would be:

"Discriminate much?
Yes
No
"

...in essence, that is indeed what the Prop says.

[Joe270]

For the free stuff, of course...

Huh? I must have missed the meeting.

[jennifer75]

My exerience...I parked my car, walked in the building, got in line - 3rd. I alerted them that I was a provisional voter, I then walked to the end of the table where I then filled out a provisional voter form, took my punch card to the booth, slid it in and voted OBAMA. Nothing after that point really mattered...well a few things. I voted a lot of Yes's, one or two NO's, then walked my punch card over to the table where I then tucked it in my pink envelope and handed it to the "take my ballot" person who then dropped it in the box. I then got a sticker.

[jennifer75]

Inside the booth I immediately turned my attention to a proposal on the ballot but couldn't understand what it meant even after reading it twice. It was about disabled veteran benefits or something and seemed important. Leaving it unclicked, for fear of messing up, I cast my vote for the presidential candidate and then for state senator and the aforementioned local politician. [/COLOR]

So what was your experience at the polls like?


A few made no sense to me, and I think they do that on purpose. I actually questioned if leaving blank was morally wrong.....and out of fear I clicked a hole in Yes - hoping it was the right thing. I think a lot of voters do this, and we're left with BS laws that we complain about, but we are the ones who voted for them. Tsk tsk.

[Ken]

...the disabled veterans proposal on the ballot, which I left blank, passed by a wide margin. I hope vets make out okay by it.


I'm confused about one thing I have seen several posters in this thread mention. Here in Maricopa County, AZ we get literature from the state well in advance of the election which details all of the issues we will be voting on. It gives the actual wording, as well as opinions pro and con from various groups in favor or opposed. It even tells you 'a yes vote means this' or 'a no vote means this'. Don't all areas do this? Are you supposed to have to read all that verbiage and decide in the voting booth?

...never got any lit in the mail like this. Wish I had. Being able to read (and decipher) the proposals ahead of time would be great.