How long did you wait to vote?

Parents Social Lounge
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<p>I was voter number 657 at around 10:40 est. My husband voted around 8:30 and was number 197. Both of us were in line over an hour. Weather was nice, people were pleasant. One of the funny things was that there was only one political person hanging outside and her candidate is one of the most popular people running. He's one that I have no problems crossing party lines to vote for. We ended up with 8 phone recorded phone calls yesterday, plus a live one and one reminder to vote today. Jeez, I've voted every single election (including primaries) for 29 years, think I'd "forget" this one?</p>

<p>My daughter voted via absentee ballot a few weeks ago from Illinois. Good to know that for once our family will get a vote to count for President - my husband and I always cancel each other out!</p>

22

<p>Waited a little over an hour at the local Catholic Church (which always amuses me re: separation of church and state evidently don't matter at election time). There were cookies, bagels and coffee. People were a little antsy because evidently the "M-Z" line had only 5 people and the "A-N" line had a 100 and they weren't happy about that. So they merged the line and they un=merged it. Tough time deciding what to do - sort of like those undecided voters I guess. I wish I lived in a swing state - I'd feel like my vote mattered more. But it's really close for governor - so it felt good to vote on that one.</p>

23

<p>No wait to speak of here. There was one retired guy in front of me at the booth--he'd obviously been shmoozing the the poll-watcher for quite some time when I came in. When he saw me behind him, he hustled into the booth and voted pronto.</p>

<p>One thing that helped voting go fast was that there wasn't even a single referendum on the ballot this year. Some people get in there without realizing it's going to be there, then they take forever reading all the fine print, figuring out what it means, and deciding which way to vote.</p>

<p>Sorry to say that I drove to the polls. It's a 25 minute walk with no sidewalks along a road where cars whiz by (and sometimes the cars force you into the drainage ditches.) Just not very pedestrian friendly! It's less than a 5 minute drive. I did get to see pretty foliage and contented cows grazing along the way to the polls.</p>

<p>Has anyone else been getting a record number of calls with recordings of politicians and others reminding you to vote? They started calling on Sunday. Senatory Clinton has "called" our number twice today already! So did Caroline Kennedy. And a host of local pols too.</p>

<p>It's really rather annoying. </p>

<p>We've only been getting calls from Democrats, so obviously they've checked the registration records. If they checked a little more carefully, those records also show that my husband and I have voted in every single election since we moved here 15 years ago, off years and all. We live in a place where local and state offices are staggered so that we're voting on town offices every odd year, voting on at least some state offices every even year. </p>

<p>We're reliable as clockwork about voting. (Hey, we're homeschoolers! Studies show we're more likely to vote! My youngest actually loves to go to watch debates for local office. It's fun and eye-opening. We often have lawn signs. We've had friends run for local office and have helped their campaigns.) We really didn't need dozens of recorded phone calls reminding us to vote! </p>

<p>We're not even in a swing state! And none of the other offices are seriously up for grabs except for county judge, where there is no incumbent. All the other ones are pretty clearly going to stay with the incumbent.</p>

<p>So, why the Democratic Party organizers are seeing fit to spend all this money on spam phone calls (and interrupt/disrupt the life of us citizens so many times) is beyond me. There MUST be a better use of the money! </p>

<p>If I didn't have a daughter away at college and elderly parents in poor health in another state, I'd just stop answering the phone today! But you never know when someone could be trying to reach you in an emergency.</p>

24

<p>I voted 2 weeks ago (we have a lengthy early voting period). Took about 2 minutes, with touch screen and a very short ballot. Apparently the polls here today have been very busy, with people waiting for 2 or 3 hours at some places. And it's raining, so some have just gone home. </p>

<p>I won't think about the fact that my husband and I cancelled each other's vote.</p>

25

<p>I haven't gone yet. I thouught I would pop in just before picking my youngest up at school. My polling place is a short walk from her school. I think I will leave a bit earlier then planned. I have never had a line before so did not even think about allowing more then a few minutes.<br>
I have loved how my D who has Econ right now has learned so much this election season. They have had to study the econ. plan of Bush and Kerry and write a paper. They have also had to read up and write opinion papers on several prop. on the Ca ballot. She is more informed then most of the people voting.</p>

26

<p>No wait here either and a whole new crop of young election judges.</p>

<p>Homeschoolmom, we have the opposite problem here. Many phone calls from the Republicans, both recorded and real. No door knockers from the Republicans and 3 so far from Kerry.</p>

27

<p>I think the calls and knocks on the door are great! I think the fact that only 50% of registered voters typically turn out to vote is reason enough to call all day. For every person they call who votes like clockwork every year, they also call a person who is registered but doesn't vote...and the call might just make the difference. </p>

<p>Re: the Ads. I noticed that most of the ads I saw last night were new and especially captivating.....almost like they saved the best ads for the last minute when the other party wouldn't have time to respond (Swift vets ran an ad against Kerry last night...I had never seen this one before). They were running 5-6 in a row....sometimes the same ad ran back to back (is there some research that shows that running the same ad back to back is better than spacing them out?). And who is the voice-over guy in the ads? Seems like the same voice for all of them.....</p>

28

<p>I voted late in the morning, and the process was fast. I had my little daughter along for a walk. There were definitely first-time voters in my precinct.</p>

29

<p>Just thought I'd be a political pundit and give you the exit poll numbers:</p>

<p>Senate Winners: Martinez FL
Thune SD
Bunning KY
Salazar CO</p>

<p>Losers: Bowles NC
Coors CO</p>

<p>FL Kerry +1
PA Kerry +4
OH Kerry +1
WI Kerry +4
MI Kerry+2
NH Kerry +4</p>

30

<p>Took about a month. Pretty big ordeal. </p>

<p>REgistered for ab ballot online, received ballot from former state, voted, hired an attorney/notary to swear us in $50. Mailed ballot high priority$50.</p>

<p>Now watching CNN to see officials cross examining ten year old signatures given on original registration. Hoping signature was the same in 1991..... and my $100 ($200 including H's vote) will count....</p>

31

<p>I'm in So. Cal here. I drove five minutes to the polls at about 8 a.m. They had split the lines into two (first part of alpha and second part). I had to wait about 10 minutes, I guess. I imagine the lines will be really long after work gets out. Glad I went early. We have levers and paper ballots here. It was cordial and friendly and a very mixed crowd of Dems and Reps.</p>

<p>Tonight S is participating in "get out the vote" for the Congressional candidate he's been volunteering for. He will be checking the polls for those who have not voted by 4 p.m. and will offer to those who need a ride to the polls. I'm afraid of what their reaction might be. He has a deep voice and sounds like a grown-up over the phone, but when they see he's a gangly, still awkward 17-year-old who has had his driver's license less than a month, I think they might say "um, no thanks, I'll walk!" He's so on fire today... I think he knows every senate and congressional race in the country and can't wait to see the results and how the balance of power tips, or not. He wishes he could vote so badly but is 9 months shy. :)</p>

32

<p>"And who is the voice-over guy in the ads? Seems like the same voice for all of them....."</p>

<p>and what college could you go to get the best training for the job?</p>

33

<p>This is the first time I have not waltzed right up to the voting booth; still, this morning the wait was only ten minutes. On my way home late this afternoon I saw a line out the door of the polling place, down the sidewalk and to the street. And it was starting to rain. :( Though I vote in every election, I actually felt a little nervous this time. I double punched the ballot and inspected it closely for "hanging (or, god forbid, pregnant) chads" before dropping it in the box.</p>

34

<p>No wait at all. We vote in a park shelter - there's even a fire in the fireplace!</p>

<p>GO KERRY!!!</p>

35

<p>"He will be checking the polls for those who have not voted by 4 p.m. and will offer to those who need a ride to the polls. I'm afraid of what their reaction might be."</p>

<p>I just finished making a round of those phone calls and even though people are thoroughly sick of this election, they were very nice. I hope that your son's experience is the same.</p>

36

<p>I hit the recycling station at the supermarket on the way to vote around 11 a.m. Dumped the cans and plastic ($6.03) and was surprised how few parking places were at the church. I had my daughter's absentee ballot signed and sealed to deposit in the box there. Her first election, and she had lost the card to return to request an absentee ballot, so she had faxed me written authorization to get her one which I express mailed to her last Thursday. Cheers, I think the post office makes a bundle on elections! Between the two of us it cost $27 back and forth. As you said, Sac, it doesn't really matter in California, except it's a boost for popular vote numbers for bragging rights. S1 is in New Mexico and never received his CA absentee ballot.</p>

37

<p>Oh, and it took just a couple of minutes to vote. No more punching cards; just an old-fashioned black Bic ballpoint to darken ovals before feeding to an optical scan machine.</p>

38

<p>I had no wait at my polling place, our middle school, at about 3:00 pm. I work at the intermediate school, which is also a polling place, and it was very busy this morning, with our judges saying the turnout was about double what they normally see. We are back to filling in ovals with black markers -- quite a few voters were commenting on it.
I heard on the news that the city of Chicago (I'm in the suburbs) is predicting 80% turnout -- phenomenal, but no record since 91% of the voters in the city voted in 1944.</p>

39

<p>Went right in to vote at 7:10AM because the line was split in three alphabetically. Had time to go home before drive to train station (although I usually am on the train at 7). My boss just brought me a very detailed prediction sheet so we can make our own oredictions and score the returns. This will lead to much heated discussion in our house! Undergrads I work with were out helping monitor elections today. Lots of student activism and heated passionate opinions. Love the idealism around here.</p>

40

<p>The lines are brutal here in PA. Normal wait time is nil, today it was 1 1/2 hours at 10 a.m. H went at 1:30 & waited even longer. It's going to be interesting. D called from VA at 8 a.m. & said she had no wait. Son in the Marines voted absentee. I hope his vote counts in PA !</p>