Posted on 11/04/2008 4:27:46 AM PST by gridlock
I voted on the way in from work, at my polling place in a small borough just outside of Pittsburgh.
I was #3 in a line of about 15. That was a large turnout for that time of the morning. No problems that I could see, except that a man who pushed his way to the front told the election workers something about an absentee ballot that needed to be voided so that he could vote at the machine. I was a little suspicious, but they seemed to take it in stride.
Just returned from voting, Logan Township/Dearborn County IN...my observations are:
1. HEAVY turn-out, doors open at 6 am, we arrived at 6:05 and there were approx. 150 people in line. More contiunued to flow in as we stood in line for 60 min b4 voting. Elections past, we walked right in at 6 am.
2. The crowd was surprised at the turn-out. Those I talked to, agreed, they had never seen this turn out at that time of the morning.
3. MANY cars in the parking lot were stickered with McCain*Palin.
Has anybody seen an exit poller?
I would love to be polled, because I would talk his ear off!
Early voting is the way to go. Two weeks ago the lineup was about 10 minutes long. We picked a sunny day. Everyone was friendly. No chaos. No long-lines. No worries.
Cincinnati, Ohio - Went in the morning to keep out of lines, there were 40 or so when they opened. I saw one young lady who had “uh, remarried” with no docs at all try and vote, for what that is worth. Big crowds for our local spot, and at least 4 people who were too dim to know their polling place and whom had been sent back and forth twice.
Did you see a bus idling in the parking lot, by any chance?
Voted in Iowa’s early vote time.
Pretty big turn out even two weeks into it.
They CHECKED ID and argued with a lady whose credentials didn’t match up. She made a couple calls and got it straightened out to their satisfaction, but they checked and double-checked ID there. It took a while to get through because of it, but I was thrilled to wait!
http://theamcpages.com/misc-files/TimeToVoteAgain.mp3
Mid-MO conservative district, high turn-out. Was the 100th vote cast and I arrived shortly after the doors opened.
Canton, Ohio - I voted at 6:30 a.m. this morning. I took my mom who is 85 and the whole thing took about 30 minutes for us together.
It looked organized, but I can see where it will get very hectic later:
• They have people leaving and entering the voting area through the same doorway (a narrow, short foyer area with a step down to the grade school gymnasium where tables were set up for different precincts). A ramp WAS to the right for disabled, though no sign outside indicated where it was…you just had to sort of find it on your own. .
• No overhead signs designating respective precincts so people entering the crowded gymnasium can see above the crowd to find their proper table.
• None of the polling staff went out into the exterior of the building or along the line outside to determine that voters knew their precinct. So, anyone entering the voting area proper, had to sort of mill around with everyone else in the crowd till they found their table.
• After voting, we returned to the table where we got our computer ‘card’ in order to return it to the workers there. We had to break across the line of people entering to GET their cards in order to return our card to the table.
Too bad, this was a brand new grade school, with ample space if workers had capitalized on it properly.
I guess it could have been worse.
Was at the polls a little before 6:00 am when they opened. The line was out the door even before the pools opened. I expect there will be heavy turnout.
Biggest question: will Chris Shays (RINO, but the only remaining Republican Congressman in all of New England) survive? My guess is yes, but it will be very, very close.
LOL! No.
I noticed several cars with Obama stickers though. Last night I was at our local wal-mart and I overheard a group of black workers saying they were skipping out on work today to vote. They are definitely pumped up here. *sigh*
Just saw a woman setting out some McCain/Palin road signs here in marxist New Hampshire...I made some comment about being up early to work for McCain, and she said “got to do what I can...the other one is the AntiChrist!” LOL...she’s employed by the town.
I voted in Slidell, Louisiana this morning. There were about 300 people in line when I got to the polls at 5:45. It took me about 45 minutes to vote once the polls opened at 6:00 am.
The voters in line were mostly white (more than 90%, I’d say) and I would estimate they voted fairly overwhelmingly for McCain.
Thank you, public schools...
Just voted at a smallish middle school in my neighborhood...One thing that struck me was that there was an armed security guard out in front. The guy was jacked and had a long sleeved polo that just said security. Perhaps not a big deal but I’m 38 and have voting since 1988 (Daddy Bush!) and have never seem an armed security guard. Maybe a school “rent a cop”. Just a bit different I guess...the atmosphere is tense...Go Palin!!!
I’m the clerk / head election judge for our city and here in central Minnesota we are off to a brisk start to voting. A tad bit more traffic than normal but the influx of people is definitely a steady stream.
I’m too close to the forrest right now to get a sense of what tilt this particular slice of the electorate is heading towards. About 10 a.m. we will process the absentee ballots and that’ll give a bit more of an idea of how this area is voting. I say if McCain breaks 70% here - he’s got a fighting chance to win MN. Pawlenty (Governor) won with almost 70% here and barely squeaked out a victory in 2006. Bush won the area with something on the order of 65% and lost the state by 3+ percent.
Louisville, KY checking in!
Hit the polling station at 0700. KY-3rd District, 126th precint, currently held by John Yarmuth the Usurper. Missus and I scoped out the polling place as we voted. One ballot taker, and one Diebold - the poll worker explained when asked that it was for the illiterate voters...
Line was short, but moved slowly; the poll workers were VERY DILIGENT about ID checks. One older worker (possibly a veteran) confided that there were a MASS of black voters he had never seen before. And that was since 0600. Either an influx of first-time ACORN voters, or bussed in from other places...
It’s begun.
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