I live in the University area in Charlotte, NC.
I arrived at 8:15 am and voted at about 10:45 am. The line was moving slowly, but it was moving.
I did see 3 MTV "get out the vote" types arrive then leave due to the wait in line.
Population: 8,407,248 (2003 estimate)
Capital: Raleigh
I'll post my experience again from another thread...
Record turnout here in Henderson Co., NC too!!! (We're just about the most Republican part of close-to-the-most-Republican county in NC!!)
I convinced my family to get there at least 30 minutes before the ballots opened, and I'm glad I told them! Dad went separately, he was there even earlier, but Mom and I got there at 6:00 AM. There was already quite a line, we voted at 7:20. By the time we left, the line looked like it was 3-4 hours long!! I just passed by another voting place on the way back to the hotel, the parking lot and streets were so packed with cars (lots of Fords and cars w/ W stickers), and the line was sooooo long.
I am SO pumped!!
I live in the Southpark Charlotte area and got a Republican card handed to me (need mostly for voting judges)but did not see any Democrats handing out campaign info.
I voted a little before 11:00, polling place wasn't very busy, found a parking space near the door. Inside had four to 5 people at booths voting, one person at a provsional booth, one man ahead in line. I believe my ballot was listed as number 249 in the box. I think many people waited in lines for an hour or more for early voting because they thought voting day would be busy. I don't know if you will see the major new voters showing up. I'm sure it was busy early, and will be busy at lunch and busy after work.
ping
I live in southeast part of NC. Voted last week and the lines seem to be steady and long. The same today.
Hey, Doug!
As predicted, the lines are 1-3 hours in the suburbs and virtually nonexistent in the inner city of Charlotte.
Suburbanites are being disenfranchised by an uneven distribution of voting machines!
I arrived at my heavily R precinct polling place at 5:30 AM to put up signs with our precinct captain. There were already at least a dozen people in line.
By 6:00 there were 50. By the time the polls opened at 6:30 there were easily 100.
We were nearly done when some guy showed up in the yellow t-shirt of the 'Firefighters for Kerry'. He went to the prominent area of the space allowed for signs and put his two signs, "Firefighters for Kerry" and "Firefighters for Bowles" in front of dozens of other signs.
I told him I didn't think much of him or his union taking an honorable profession and making it partisan. He asked if I had a problem with firefighters. I told him not at all especially when my wife lost her father as a firefighter in a tragic accident. I told him I didn't like to see firefighters taking partisan positions and that the next time the boot had to be passed, don't be surprised to see half the usual donations.
He went off on a rant about how Bush had shortchanged the firefighters and not given them all an equal per diem after 9/11. My precinct captain and I reminded him that Congress controlled the purse strings and that he should read the Constitution sometime.
He left.
We put our remaining signs about 1/2" in front of his.
I'm in the Midwood section of Charlotte. From the signs in the yards, it appears to be a heavily democratic precinct. I got there just as the polls opened at 6:30 and was #149. It took about 75 minutes to get through. The line was about as long when I left as it was when I arrived.
Voted on the morning of 15 October in Fayetteville. In and out with no line.
Turnout seemed normal at my precinct in Charlotte (squishy moderates). Early voting turnout was high, however.
Heavy in my district (Cary, NC). I belive we have 4300 in district, I was vote #707. At 8:30 am. Hey, thats 106% turnout; at that pace over 13 hours.
I voted early last week. The nearby free parking lot was packed, but local Repubs were pleasantly helping new arrivals find open parking spaces. What a great idea. DemocRATs were just annoying people by trying to put flyers into their hands.
Report from Winston-Salem:
Got up early this morning and took my 9 year old with me to our voting precinct. Got there about 6:45 a.m. and the line was almost to the road (approximately 80 people ahead of us in line).
sKerry/Edwards signs everywhere, and a sKerry/Edwards college-age girl passing out Democrat voter guides (I looked away when she came close to me). Was somewhat bummed over the lack of Bush/Cheney signs, but our precinct usually votes republican.
Finally got to vote around 8:00 a.m.
Go Bush !!
Go Ballentine !
Go Burr !
Go Foxx !
Sorry to troll your thread but if anyone has some good info on Manteo/Outer Banks, please freepmail me. I have a friend moving there and he needs a cheap place to live.