Posted on 10/29/2020 7:14:12 PM PDT by FredSchwartz
Went to early voting. Since I was voting in an entirely different city, there were changes, more than normal.
The Line: Everyone in a good mood. A few political hats which they were told to remove once they got in the room where actual voting took place.
The Check-in: Clerk sat behind a plastic shield with a small opening. The voter reached through the opening and put their driver's license on a little stand and barcodes on the back were scanned. The voter then stated their name and address which the clerk verified. You were then given a ball point pen with a stylus on the back which you used to sign your name which was also verified against something. Not sure if it was your license signature or voter registration signature. sorry I forgot to ask. You got to keep the pen. Then you picked up a 8 inch Q-tip and they handed you a folder with your name and precinct number on it. The early voting location was available for any precinct in the county, so when you got to the booth, the scan of the little ticket would set up the correct precinct for me. The blank polling paper was fed into the machine and I started voting.
The Vote: Easy. Use the little Q-tip and tap who you want. When you are done with the ballot, you press finish and the machine prints who you voted for on all the various offices, then prints a series of bar codes at the bottom. You take this sheet out of the machine and slip it into your privacy folder so no one can see how you voted as you walk to the tallying machine. You feed that in, and you are good to go.
GO TRUMP!!
Sounds like all that is needed is a ‘buy back’ tent outside where you give your little piece of paper to some union guy to prove you voted correctly and get to keep your house from being burnt down.
Fred, I was too hard with my post. A genuine thank you for your report. Balding_Eagle.
Pretty much the same here in Maryland. There was a box with plastic baggies containing an “I voted” sticker and a new ball point pen that we had to take. We don’t need a license to vote, but I usually hand it to them anyway - easier than giving name and address, particularly wearing a mask. Verified my birth date and asked paper or machine. I said paper so was handed a folder with a paper ballot. Was sent to a booth - filled out the ballot, put empty folder in box sitting next to scanner and put ballot in scanner. Then back out into the rain :)
That’s pretty much how our experience with ‘early voting’ went here in Maryland. (We didn’t get a Q-Tip, but there was a lady at the door squirting disinfectant gel into everyone’s hands.)
I’ve never voted early, before; and this was the first time I’ve voted in person since two general elections ago, due to illness and other issues. It all seemed somewhat different from what I recall from voting in person on election day; but, again, I’ve never done ‘early voting’ before.
Everyone at my polling place was very friendly and appeared to be having a good time. There were a few police vehicles outside, but nothing going on that seemed to warrant them. The people campaigning for various candidates stayed well away from the point where they were not allowed to stand, and were very polite.
All in all, a very fun experience - as it has always been, in my experience. I would have preferred to vote on Nov. 3 (I think the day is important, and it’s important that we all go out and engage on The Day; but I wanted to vote in person, and other issues are taking place this year that caused me to think that I should probably go early.)
I waited in line for about 45 minutes in JoCo. As I was nearing, one of the gals was handing out stylus pens and asking each person, “Which do you want a Royals (Blue), a Chiefs (Red) or a Yellow pen? The ones in front asked for blue. I grabbed the red one and said I pick Donald Trump! It was so obvious what the pens meant. Good grief. No Q-tips were offered.
I voted in Kansas, too. It was easy. I reached into my mail box and retrieved my ballot. I opened it up, filled it out with my own pen, folded and returned to supplied envelope. I filled out my name and required info. Then, when it was convienient, I dropped it off in the ballot box provided at the voter registration office. No standing in line, no hassels, no plastic windows or special pens, or alcohol gel which makes my hands burn. No pretense of covid issues.
I am so glad it’s all done. Now I can use all those advertising cards to catch paint drips when it’s time to paint the cupboards.
At first I thought the q-tip was for you to perform a COVID test on yourself.
Thanks for the story.
GO TRUMP!!
I know that this year, mail-in and drop-off have been efficient and reassuring for a lot of people.
But I don’t really like the whole early-voting or mail-in stuff.
Election Day used to be a national ritual that we engaged in communally, a patriotic exercise that always reminded us and engaged us with regard to our duties as citizens; and brought us together as a community who believed together in certain basic principles.
Rituals are important to human beings - they emphasize the real value of things; and I think it’s important to keep that ritual. I’m looking forward to the day when I can walk to my polling place on election day and vote with my neighbors, like I always used to do.
Two scoops of ice-creme for you!
You said what I thought but didn’t really realize it until I read your post. Well done!
I plan to vote in person on Tuesday.
Go Trump Go! MAGA
Four family members sat at the table three days ago. Filled them out and put them in the secure drop box at the fire station.
Voted last week at the Johnson County election office on Kansas City Road. In and out in less than 15 minutes. The staff was friendly and helpful. I also sent my sons absentee ballot via priority mail to him it is temporary residence in Brooklyn New York. Hopefully it gets back to Johnson County in time. I told him to return it by priority mail but he sent it via normal mail. Big mistake on his part.
Pretty much the same in Champaign County Illinois, except no Q tip. I voted early to check things out, since I will be election judge in our precinct Nov. 3. Typically no id required, except they asked for my drivers license since they had problems pulling up my records when I spelled out my name and they typed in something else. I noticed printers at the checkin station and was not alert enough to see if they printed out my ballot, but I am sure that is what happened. The voting location was in the Elks Pavilion in the county park. Lots of windows looking out into the forest. Lots of voting stations- not many voters when we were there. Voters from any precinct in the county could vote there.
I will be election in our precinct on Nov. 3.
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