Posted on 11/02/2004 5:03:12 AM PST by PilloryHillary
Post your thoughts and observations on your voting experiences in Michigan. GO BUSH!
Worked with them for ten years certifying ballot boxes from the precincts. Very few problems...
We arrived at our Plymouth township precinct at 6:55 for polls which opened at 7:00. Plymouth is a western suburb of Detroit and pretty conservative. The church parking lot was quite crowded. It took us 45 minutes to complete the process. I was voter #51. The poll workers said that there were ~1150 registered voters in our precinct. They were betting they might get about 65% turnout. They said normally they get about 30%. The atmosphere was quite and friendly with neighbors chatting. The weather, by the way, is rainy.
Macomb Township is Bush territory. I got to the voting place at 7:50 A.M., which is the same time as last election. The line was about 100 feet outside the achool gynamsium where the voting machines are. Voting was VERY HEAVY.
Just finished voting. Got to the polling place at about 8:15 am. Had to wait in line an hour.
I have a question and an observation.
They changed the polling place for our precinct from a firehouse to a church. In 15 years of voting, I've never had to wait and yes I realize 'this election is different'. When you get to this polling place, there are TWO precincts voting here.
Precinct 04 and precinct 25. They are in the same room. Precinct 25 NEVER HAD A LINE and covers a small area where few voters live.
Precinct 04 had a line of roughly 100 voters all through the hour I waited.
I thought I read that people from different precincts could vote at other precincts as long as they were in the same city.
I would think that people voting at different precincts but being in the same room, would have been ok and allowed, but nope.
Do the ballot counting machines recognze different precincts or is a ballot just a ballot to the machine?
When I finished voting and was leaving, walking past the line, I SAW PEOPLE LEAVING THE LINE SAYING THAT THEY COULD NOT WAIT ANY LONGER.
It was pretty discouraging to see the precinct 24 workers not doing anything most of the time and voting machines sitting idle, while a hundred people stand in line waiting to vote.
I wonder how many votes will not be cast from precinct 04.
Lines will probably get longer as the day wears on. People that might normally try to vote during lunch will probably not be able to do so, due to the long line.
Is your precinct a heavily democratic or Republican?
There was huge, huge turnout here in my area of Central Illinois - Springfield, to be exact. Where in Central IL are you from? We live on the outskirts of town, but this was the first time that we EVER had to wait in line. I live in a VERY Republican precinct :-)
A collage-aged girl in line behind me made numerous comments about potential vote fraud by Democrats. It was interesting that someone so young could be so matter-of-fact about Democrate vote fraud. I really don't think the Rats can count on the younger vote to the extent that they traditionally have.
I forgot to mention my district/town. Berkley, MI in south Oakland County. It is pretty evenly devided, but I think it leans Republican. I see more Bush signs in our neighborhood than sKerry. However, at my daughter's middle-school, sKerry won the school election. My daughter told me that most of the boys voted for W.
Glad to know of other Freepers in W. Mich.
Good luck in Motor City!
The guy ahead of me said he was a Democrat, but that hehated Granholm. I also got the impression that he voting yes in support of the gay marriage ban.
Have no idea who he voted for, for President.
No unusual incidents to speak of - although one poll worker was wondering where to put the "spoiled ballots" - I guess those were where the voter messed up somehow. We draw connecting lines with a black marker.
Republican with some Democrats. I have seen about equal signs for both and am hoping that Bush people like myself might not have put signs out, though I had flyers on windows of our van.
I'm in southwest Michigan. Kent county.
I just voted in the middle of the state (Republic predominantly). When I pulled out I noticed two Kerry signs posted on the edge of the road. I had an errand to do but went back. The signs had been moved to the drive-in. I got out and pulled the signs out, went to the door and one of the polling folks came out. I said that I had pulled the signs. She said, o.k. they can't be there. I said, I know they can't so if anyone wants to know--I did it. Never have I seen electioneering at my poll.
I knew the polling person. Line was not long. Very short wait. There was a challenger at the poll.
GO BUSH--I so want him to win Michigan.
I don't believe front door is relevant. I would say property line. But I don't know for sure. I pulled Kerry signs and I did not measure. They were on the drive in. I figure property line at minimum is a better measure and 100' if less and public property involved.
Germantown Hills - just outside of East Peoria.
Way up in the UP, arrived at polling place and a big pickup with a sign "Vote for Bush-Cheney" was parked near the front door. Cool. Was a voter because truck was gone when I walked out.
Was number 389 voter at 9:45 am. One voter picked two people when he was only to pick one. People asked if he wanted to fill out another voting form. He said no and walked out.
Found purse in voting booth. Had to straighten that out before I voted.
Line was growing as I walked out. Got in and out in about 15 minutes.
Heard on WJR that there were long lines in suburban Detroit this morning at poll opening... 100 to 150 people. Of those who called in to talk about voting, those that shared who they voted for, probably around 20, all but 1 said they voted for Bush, 1 sKerry voter.
Just curious. Are poll workers supposed to look at your signature on the sign up card and compare it to a drivers' license or something else? I never understood why they wanted to see the signature if there was nothing to compare it against.
In Carrollton, MI (where I am the Bush/Cheney precinct captain), I voted around 7:30 AM. Line was pretty long. Didn't get out of there until about 7:50 AM.
People were taking a while to vote, which probably means they were splitting their ticket (as opposed to drawing a single line for straight ticket and walking out, as many Democrats do in presidential elections).
This probably still isn't a good thing for the President (Gore won here 2 to 1 last time), but what it does mean is that Kerry voters are considering Republicans further down the ticket and in local elections, including my dad, who is a Republican running to keep his job as Township Supervisor.
The only person handing out info at my polling place was a nice lady handing out "Vote Yes" on Proposal 2 (the marriage amendment) cards.
I should be out there myself as a precinct captain for Bush, but (A) I have to work today (if you can call posting on FR work), and (B) It is raining and pretty crappy out there.
I sent in my absentee ballot last week to the 19th precinct (Southfield).
No problemo except that Michigan uses punchcard ballots. You have to make sure that the hole you're punching matches the NUMBER on the candidate list. Fortunately I have a degree in Mathematics so I was able to figure this out.
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