Describe Your Experience At The Polling Place On Election Day

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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!

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That's so awesome

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

Ken said:

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.

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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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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