Voted in Ohio at 7:45AM..pouring down rain...Place was packed...Good thing imho as Ohio need all the help we can get...Republicans will vote in the rain...Dems don't if history stays true. I vote about the same time for every election and was happy to see the turn out.
From a friend on another board:
"My firm in DC is a lobbying firm and obviously has quite a stake in these elections so we're going to be getting turnout updates throughout the day. (For full disclosure my firm is 90-10 Republican so there may be some noise coming in that makes it 'look better' but it's still a nice resource to have)
My thoughts on turnouts and reports at 9:20 in the morning are that it's just a way to make the waiting game go by faster.
With that said in the two states that they are following closely this morning (MD and VA) they are reporting:
Larger than normal turnout in Rep districts in VA
Larger than normal turnout in Dem districts in MD
A "steady pace but nothing earth-shattering" in Northern VA*
*This is key because obviously Northern VA is typically a Dem stronghold. Some in the office are claiming this is a sign that Democrats are not getting out in Arlington/Alexandria. Others are saying that because of the nature of the Metro system(our public transportation) no good turnout info will be available until around noon. You can take a guess as to which side is saying what. "
The Mrs. and I arrived at the polling place 5 mins before it opened. Lots of Republican volunteers there cheerfully handing out 'R' voting guides. One lone Democrat volunteer who wasn't at her post, either as we arrived, or as we left. I spotted her once, running around asking if anyone needed a Democrat voting guide. Nice old lady, if misguided.
The polling place had about 15 of us stalwart voters standing in line as it opened. As we headed back to our car, there appeared to be about 3 dozen more arriving.
I'm in the northern "Blue" part of VA, so can't say if the turnout is good or bad for Republicans.
My polling place was rainy and full of voters too.....just curious. I voted straight Repub.