ELECTION 2004: Michigan

DFU

[doug from upland]

Post info and links about Michigan here.

[michigander]

MICHIGAN Tell us your voting experiences

[Howlin]

Where's MINE? :-)

[USMC-EOD]

Voted three weeks ago (thank you absentee). According to people here in Flint (where I'm working this week), the turnout is about average. Rainy weather is probably slowing things down a bit, but I still think that Michigan will go for Bush.
The gubernatorial election a couple years back extremely close, despite the polls stating that Jenny Taxhome was going to run away with it....Republicans pretty consistently get about 2 more points than the polls give them.

4 MORE YEARS!!!

[Area51]

At 6:55 my twp. hall was full. At 10:45 I went to vote. I was out at 11:30. Still packed.

I called the County to see how many registered voters my township had.

Here are the Numbers.

Registered Voters: 2437
Votes cast by 11:30 547

This doesn't count Absentee Ballots.
There were ~50 people in line when I left.

[Area51]

I predict the Marriage Amendment will push alot of people to vote for W.

[doug from upland]

I'll get there. :)

[HalleysFifth]

Walked the half-mile to the polls despite drizzle. Gave me a kind of old-time feeling.

Sure would be sweet to put Michigan in GWB's column.

[wildehunt]

Pittsfield ..
polls are busybusy, but quiet, and orderly.
At 1030 there was a 40 minute wait in a snaked line, just like CedarPoint..

A small boy was clutching a piece of partisan literature inside the building. A worker offered to trade him for "voter's rights" flyer. He was happy, the voter flyer had better graphics.

There was police presence in the parking lot, but it was just cruising through. There were very few signs in this lot and no campaign workers in evidence.

[TomasUSMC]

“If I’m Jack the Ripper, and you know I’m Jack the Ripper, and you know I killed women, how are you going to stop me from carrying these weapons?” “Are you going to ask around for a global test and then come up to and ask to inspect me? Sure, wait a minute, let me move this knife, now look in that pocket.
“The only way you’re going to stop Jack the Ripper is if you put the handcuffs on him and take him to jail. That’s what we did.”- TomasUSMC

From www.Lanthorn.com which is the newspaper of the biggest college in the area, Grand Valley University.

We are rocking Michigan. I went to the polls about 1030 am and there was no line. Others I talked to said there was a line around 7am. I live in a heavy Kerry part of town so low turnout is a good sign.

[arly]

Livingston County (pro republican),, Drove by Howell Twp Hall around 11:30 and again around 12:30 the place is jammed, cars parking out on the side of the road. I will be casting my vote later this afternoon.

[freakboy]

Post info and links about Michigan here

Michigan Info:

Where is Michigan?

Michigan is made up of two peninsulas of land separated by the Straits of Mackinac. It is bordered on the south at 42º north latitude by the states of Ohio and Indiana. Its northernmost border, at 48º north latitude, lies in Lake Superior north of the shore of Isle Royale. Michigan lies between 82°30' to about 90º30' west longitude. It is bordered on the west by Lake Michigan and Wisconsin, and on the east by Ontario, Canada; Lake Huron and Lake Erie; and Detroit River and St. Clair River.

Michigan covers 58,110 square miles of land, 38,575 square miles of Great Lakes waters and 1,305 square miles of inland waters. (See Michigan on a map of the United States.)

Visit the Michigan Department of Transportation Web site to request a copy of the state transportation map or learn about the various maps that may be purchased.

What does the name "Michigan" mean?

"Michigan" comes from the Indian word "Michigama" meaning great or big lake. The French first used the word for the Great Lake that Native Americans called the "Lake of the Illinois"--now Lake Michigan. It was first used officially to refer to this land area when Congress created the Territory of Michigan in 1805.

When was Michigan settled?

Native Americans have lived in the area called Michigan since the last ice age glacier retreated about 10,000 years ago. Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit priest, established the first permanent French settlement at Sault Ste. Marie in 1668. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac led the French to Detroit in 1701. The British gained possession of this region in 1760 after the French and Indian War. After the American Revolutionary War it became part of the United States under the Treaty of Paris of 1783. However, the British did not turn this area over to the Americans until 1796. Maps show it as part of the Northwest Territory in 1787 and part of the Michigan Territory in 1805. Michigan was admitted to the Union as the 26th state on January 26, 1837. Oh, election info? Sorry. I voted in Ann Arbor straight Republican.

[freakboy]

I voted in Ann Arbor this morning. There was a Moveon.org lady inside the school in which I was voting. She wasn't in the same room as the booths, but in an adjacent room where the line was snaking.

[FightThePower!]

I voted in West Bloomfield this morning at 9:00 AM. I first went there at 7:00 and the lines were out the door and it was raining so I decided to come back later. Lines were still long but I waited about 45 minutes to vote.

It looked like there were at least 3 election monitors there. I could see that one was from the republican party, but I don't know who the others were. They were crossing names off a list when people checked in.

[Amish]

Voted in Battle Creek this morning. Arrived 30 minutes
early and was #5 to vote in my precinct. Must have been almost 100 in line by the time I left at 7:05.

The last on-line poll at the Battle Creek Enquirer was about 51% for Bush. Gore to this county 4 years ago, and if Bush takes it, this would be a sign of trend upward for him.

[michigander]

You MAY be a Michigander if...

If you define Summer as three months of bad sledding...

If your definition of a small town is one that doesn't have a lake...

If your family breaks into violence during a UM-MSU game.

If snow tires came standard on all your cars....

If at least 50% of your relatives work for the auto industry...

If you have ever gotten frostbitten and sunburned in the same week...

If you can identify an Ohio accent...

If owning a Japanese car was a hanging offense in your home town...

If you learned to pilot a boat before the training wheels came off your bike...

If you think Alkaline batteries were named after a Tiger outfielder...

If you point at the palm of your right hand when telling people where you grew up...

If you don't understand what the big deal about Chicago is...

If someone asks you if you've ever been to Europe, and you answer, "No, but I've been to Ann Arbor..."

If "Down South" to you means Toledo...

If you have any idea who Bob Ufer was...

If octupus and hockey go together as logically as hot dogs and baseball...

If travelling coast to coast means going from Port Huron to Muskegon...

If you refer to your relatives in southern Michigan as "Trolls" or "Lopers"...

If the "Big Three" can mean either Ford, Chrysler and GM or Dominos, Little Ceaser's and Hungry Howie's...

If the Big Mac is something you can drive across...

If you have no problem spelling Mackinac Island...

If you had to get a passport to travel to Ohio...

If you have as many Canadian coins in your pocket as American coins...

If you kids' baseball game has ever been snowed out...

If the trees in your backyard have spigots...

If you know that a place called Kalamazoo actually exists...

If you bake with "soda" and drink "pop"...

If you know what a pastie is...

If you drive 70 in bumper to bumper traffic and always pass on the right...

If your favorite hockey team's mascot is an octopus...

If you have a favorite hockey team...

If you don't have a coughing fit from one sip of Vernor's...

If you know how to play Euchre...

[wmichgrad]

She should have been removed! They tried this crap at my location and they were moved out into the rain. Too bad. I was going to make a huge scene after I voted.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Precinct 20: A day in the life of one polling location -AP Breaking News
CHELSEA J. CARTER, AP National Writer
(11-02) 10:01 PST WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) -- At 10:05 a.m. Tuesday, 30-year-old Murad Al-Tawil proudly strides into a polling place to cast his very first ballot. Born in Iraq, he became an American citizen three years ago. I...

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Metro Detroit Voters Meet Long Lines

Polls Stay Open Until 8 P.M.

POSTED: 8:35 AM EST November 2, 2004
UPDATED: 1:05 PM EST November 2, 2004

 

Voters got an early start Tuesday morning to cast their votes for Election Day.

 

A long line was formed at the New St. Paul Tabernacle Church in Detroit when the polls opened at 7 a.m. The church is one of the largest polling locations, with four precincts.

Detroit City Clerk Jackie Curry said there are about 400,000 registered voters in Detroit and she expects a big turnout.

Hundreds of people lined up in the first hour of voting at a polling location at Farmington and 11 Mile roads, according to Local 4. Voters said they waited about 15 minutes in line.

The lines grew longer with voters trying to cast their ballots before work. A precinct in Royal Oak had about an hour wait.

Voters Julia and Joe Rezetka said they have never seen such a large turnout.

"I am amazed," said Julia Rezetka.

"I think people are passionate about the war," added Joe Rezetka.

NBC political analyst Tim Russert told Local 4's Steve Garagiola -- who was live at Democracy Plaza in New York's Rockefeller Center -- that voter turnout may be the deciding factor in the election.

"It's whether people vote or not," said Russert. "The Republicans believe that 110 to 112 million people vote. The Democrats are praying for 120 million."

The local lines were expected to grow during lunchtime and after 5 p.m. as people end their workday.

Despite the lines, Royal Oak voter Cher Davis said, "We're having fun."

Voters have called and e-mailed Local 4 to report precinct problems including one without ballots, some with ballot problems and several other precincts that were without electricity. The station was checking into the reports with city officials.

The polls will close at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Precincts will remain open for voters who are in line by 8 p.m., Local 4 reported.

[Main Street]

WJR News and also Rush, reported wide spread fraud by Democrats in Michigan.

Moveon.org members are disrupting voting, campaigning inside voting places; and they are demanding their own tables inside voting places.

Also it is reported, according to Rush, that here in Michigan some Republicans are being denied access to voter roles.