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Archive through November 02, 2004

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2004 Nov. - 2005 Jan.: Free Expression... (ARCHIVES): Voting Experiences ~ Election 2004: Archive through November 02, 2004 users admin

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Hippyt
Member

06-15-2001

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Well,I am glad you got through. It seems to me if they are gonna have a big Kerry sign,there should be a big Bush sign too.

Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I'm in Ohio too and have seen signs at two different polling places for both candidates. That's why I thought maybe it was just inside the polling place.

Kaili
Member

08-31-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:31 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Both....I say all of them. We got to choose from:
John F. Kerry/John Edwards (Democrat)
George W. Bush/Dick Cheney (Republican)
Michael Badnarik/Richard V. Campa (Libertarian)
David Cobb/Patricia LaMarche (Wisconsin Green)
Ralph Nader/Peter Miguel Camejo (independent)
James Harris/Margaret Trowe (independent)
Walter F. Brown/Mary Alice Herbert (independent)

Jan
Member

08-01-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:34 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Wow Kaili...it looks like a Canadian ballot

Danzdol
Member

04-21-2001

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:35 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Reporting from Miami, Florida.

I did early voting last Thursday. I got approached for local issues and declined all pamphlets. Urgh! Then Iget stuck with a bunch of brochures.

I left wearing my "I voted today" sticker and proud.

It took me exactly 1 hour to the minute. Everyone seemed determined to be heard and seemed very tense.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
How late are the polls open?

Danzdol
Member

04-21-2001

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Forgot a very important FLORIDA fact:

I voted in the touch screen. No tricky machines or issues like last time!!!!LOL!!!!

Hopefully we won't embarass our state yet once again!!!!!!! :0)

Treasure
Member

06-26-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:38 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Guess Arizona is a bit behind the times. We have the kind that has a broken arrow. Then I fill in the space between the beginning and end of the arrow for my candidate.

Anyway, the news last night said that my county had 500,000 more registered voters than in 2000. So I was expecting a line. I went to my place at 1:30 and walked right in. There were two people ahead of me getting signed in. It took all of twenty minutes from the time I left home until I returned.

Did My Duty with Pride.

Kaili
Member

08-31-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Escapee- until 8

When I voted in Arizona in 2000 in Flagstaff we had the Butterfly Ballots. We connect the arrows here in Wisconsin. I don't mind that method- I'm still not sure if I screwed up in my Arizona vote though. I think I did because I didn't get the turning the page thing until I'd already voted.

Resortgirl
Member

09-23-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Just got back from voting and it took about 4 minutes. We were the only ones there, (hubby and me) but the volunteers said that well over half of the registered voters had been in already and they always have the heaviest rush (the other 35 people) after 5pm....

Even though hubby and I basically cancel each others vote out, it felt really good to vote this year!

Ocean_islands
Member

09-07-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:49 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I have to say that it was crazy in Florida this past weekend.

I was there and there were people jumping around at intersections holding up campaign signs, some intersections for Bush and some for Kerry. They were trying to make people honk for their candidates. It was a bit hysteric.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 4:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Cool, I am headed to vote directly after work

Jbean
Member

01-05-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 4:40 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
i left at 6:15 this morning (our polls opened at 6am), thinking they would be less crowded than after work. WRONG! i have to be at work by 7, and the lines were so long, i knew there would be no way i could get it done. btw, i pulled into the parking lot of the church where i vote at the same time as this elderly woman. that woman damn near RAN to the door to beat me there! and it was mostly elderly people there. i don't get that. most i would guess were retired, yet they came first thing? whatevah! anyway, u digress. i left right after i got there, not wanting to risk my perfect attendance/no tardies at work.

i went back after work, got there around 3:45 pm, and the only wait i had was the person ahead of me in the A-J line, and then for an open poll. it took hardly any time at all. kinda funny, usually they are stand up polls, this time you sat down in a chair, with standing cardboard stuff on either side of you (i'm guessing for "privacy"). we still have the needle thing to punch out the "chads" of the ballots. don't worry, i made sure there were no "hanging chads" LOLOL. and no elderly people tried to knock me down second time around. yay!

eta: i find it interesting that on our ballot, the last 3 choices that kaili listed as on their ballot, were not on ours - including ralph nader. what's up with that?


Hermione69
Member

07-24-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 4:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
i JUST voted. i overslept this morning and decided to wait until late to vote. good choice, i had no wait at all. walked right in and only had 3 people in front of me waiting to get crossed off the registrar and as soon as my name was crossed off there was a ballot machine available.

we still use punch cards so i checked for hanging chads, too, lol! also made sure the number matched who i voted for and it did so i was rolling. now i am off to the gym to work off this nervous energy about who is going to win!

Nickovtyme
Member

07-29-2004

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 5:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
My wife voted for her very first time tonight.

Hey, she even voted for the right guy! God bless her!

I voted this morning before any shenanigans could start.

I got there at 6:30 am and was the 5th person in line. By the time the polls opened...there were about 100 people in line. By the time I was finished voting...there were close to 200 people in line.

This evening when my wife voted, she was in and out in about 15 mins.

Jagger
Member

08-07-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 6:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I voted at 4 pm, the place was like it was deserted, there were 6 booths to vote in, when I walked in all 6 were empty, when I was doing my actual vote one other person used another booth, when I left 2 other people had walked in. It took me maybe 5 minutes total. Although it took me an hour and a half to find the place, I ended up going on a bit of a road trip to find the place. The worse part was the polling place was only 2 blocks from my home, but I thought it was on the other side of town so I went directly from work and took a different road instead of my normal route and I ended up getting lost and driving around for 45 minutes until I recognized something that let me get my bearings straight.

Reader234
Member

08-13-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 6:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
My son voted for the first time, he experienced no problems. The strange thing is, I voted in Precinct 257 (odd) dd needed a time out, so dh sat in the car while I went in to vote. I reminded him of our precinct, since there are 3 in the same place. I voted, I put my ballot in the machine...

dh and ds voted in precint 258! Now, dont tell me I remembered wrong, because I wanted to save dh some time, I wrote it down, thinking its the odd number, only odd number, to help him remember.

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 7:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I'm in CT. My dh, Ed, and I had to register because we're 'new' residents--didn't live here during the last presidential election--and hadn't registered earlier.

I printed out new voter registration forms I found online from Rock the Vote. All you had to do was fill them out (very simple) and mail them in using the preprinted paper adddressed correctly for our zipcode (made to be taped or stapled closed).

My hubby used an envelope and included a copy of his driver's license (something listed as optional). I didn't have easy access to a copier and just mailed mine in without it.

Hubby got a verification, which allowed him to vote for both the national and local candidates and informed him when and where to vote. I got nothing! However, I read in the paper that new residents could still vote in the presidential election (not local, though) --that the deadline for registration was extended for them.

Rock the Vote called me last night to remind me to vote and left a (local) number for me to call if I had any questions. I called it and they gave me the number for our Town Council. Called and left a message. Early this morning (about 7:30 a.m.) I got a call telling me yes, I could vote, but only in the presidential election and she instructed me to come to the Town Council in Danbury to vote (from 6 am to 8 pm).

Ed voted at a nearby elementary school this morning about 9 a.m. and said there were 6 booths, using the old-fashioned levers. Heavy turnout, but he was done in 20 minutes.

I had to wait til he got home from work tonight (as his car was in the shop and he took mine), so I went to voted about 6:30 pm. They were ready for all those like me, and there were quite a few--I'd say about 150 when I was there. But the officials were well-organized--with helpers seated at stations moved you along the process. The flow was logical and well-thought out.

I had to fill out a form, then stand in line. When I reached a certain point, a young volunteer looked over my form to make sure it was completed correctly and confirm I was eligible (had to list when I moved to CT).

Then I waited in line just a bit til it was my turn to sit with someone at a PC (only 5 PCs, manned by volunteers at a long, cafeteria-like table) to 'register'you. Took just a minute or two.

She gave me a paper ballot (never used one in my entire life before . . . had always used machines with levers before) to fill out and drop in a box in the adjoining room. In that room, 4 police officers sat behind a table, which held two boxes. My vote went into the yellow box. Simple.

Then I learned I could also vote in a survey the mayor was taking about building a ballpark in the town. Did that and placed it in the white box.

And, I was also given the proper paperwork to register me formally in CT (as the standing in line / PC registration was ONLY for this election). I filled out the form and turned it in in the post office container provided.

All of that was accomplished in a half hour!

The only problem I saw was with a very elderly deaf man right in front of me. He was accompanied by a younger woman, a friend, who explained they were told his ID with picture was sufficient. Unfortunately, he had brought nothing with him that proved his address. I saw workers moving up the chain of command til an older voting official stepped in to help. It appeared they were checking his address in some other manner (not sure how). So I suspect he did get to vote.

Everyone was pretty quiet--not much talking in line. I saw no politicking at all out front of the town hall--but that was probably because we could only vote for the presidential candidates and not the local folks--and volunteers probably found better places to invest their efforts. I always thought the 100-feet rule was a national one.


Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 7:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
i just finished voting with a touch screen. i had to go to my old polling place, but everything else was like normal. i went got a card like a credit card to put in the machine and started touching left and right.

Vacanick
Member

07-12-2004

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 7:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I also just finished voting here in California. The last big election, governor, was touch screen. This time it was "fill in the circle". Then you put the whole card in a machine and it counted you. I was number 361. I always take my son with me when I vote. I want him to see the process and understand the importance of it.

Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 7:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
No line at all! WhosMom and I went right in and right out!

Our ballots were huge sheets of paper, and we had to color in the voting square of our choice. Very third grade. Mom said they should have given us crayons.

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 7:38 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I worked the poll in OC today...the first 2 hrs was the longest line in that precints history...it was steady thru rest of day..I left at 3 and the night shift came in

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 7:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    

quote:

same time as this elderly woman. that woman damn near RAN to the door to beat me there! and it was mostly elderly people there. i don't get that. most i would guess were retired, yet they came first thing?




Hahahaha, Jbean. We spend the winter in a place where there are a lot of retirees. I learned early on that you just can't beat old people to the punch. They will best you every time. It is TOUGH competing with old people. They are wily, sneaky, sly, and devious, and they have all the time in the world to get there before YOU!

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 8:00 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
ROTF!

Sanfranjoshfan
Member

09-17-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I thought it might be interesting to have a thread for the board members' personal experiences at the polls. I don't want to start another big debate thread or get into all the "Is not, Is too!" stuff all over again.

I just thought it might be enlightening for us to post what it was like for us individually when we voted.

For me, it was more work than I had anticipated. First off, my polling place was changed from the Gold's Gym next door to my apartment building to a garage 5 blocks away and up a very steep San Francisco hill! (On the plus side, I got my exercise in for the week, but on the minus side, there was no studly eye candy to check out while I waited in line, like there is at Gold's Gym!....:-))

When I got there, there was a line....maybe 30 people. I don't think I've ever had to wait in line to vote for more than 10 minutes before....today, it took almost a full hour to get through the line and vote! There was the same number of booths for voting as there was at my old polling place (6), but there were more people voting at 10:30 am than I have personally seen in past elections. I don't know if the time of day had anything to do with it or not.

When I finished voting I saw that the line had grown even longer than it had been when I first got there.

The folks in line talked some about this election.....if there were any Bush supporters there, they didn't say anything that gave them away. There were lots of Kerry voters though. Of course, that's to be expected in the the Castro....the main gay neighborhood in SF, arguably America's gayest city, and a decidedly Democratic one at that.

There was one guy behind me in line that, as it turned out, was not on the list when he got to the head of the line. He had a passport for I.D. He was black. I am not pointing out his race to claim any kind of fraud, but since there has been so much talk of disenfranchised black voters this time around, I did find it interesting that the only person I have ever personally witnessed being unable to vote on election day was a black man. On the up-side, he was given a provisional ballot.

We did not have those touch screen voting machines that leave no paper trail (thank god!) We still had the old ones where you use a Sharpie pen to fill in an area on the ballot. Afterwards, the voter feeds his ballot into an electronic tabulating machine. It also keeps the paper ballot so if there is ever any question of error, the original ballots are available as back up or for a recount. Each selection on the ballot is clear. No chads to confuse anyone. The only way I could see someone making a mistake would be to vote for more than one person or to select one candidate and then try to "X" it out and select a different one.

The machine that I fed my ballots into counted each page. We had a three page ballot. The poll volunteer explained to me that the number on the front of the machine is the number of pages that has been fed into it. My vote took the number to 600 exactly, so I was the 200th voter at that polling place.

So....that was my experience. Long line of mostly pro Kerry voters that all seemed quite eager to mark their selections. The mood was hopeful.

How did it go for YOU? Easy, difficult, problematic? Were there any problems or was it a walk in the park?

Kaili
Member

08-31-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 2:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Heehee- great idea for a thread. There's been one going in General Discussions all day I think you've left the most detailed account though! i'm guessing you don't venture out of this area so often?

for Kerry

Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Sanfran, my experience was pretty easy. Got there around 7:30, had to wait a bit but there was an air of excitement and almost a festive feel. Yakked with neighbors and lamented the closure of the Dunkin Donuts (in the past we got free munchkins from the local election board while we waited online)

The New York machines are positively ancient but they offer a certain comfort level. These plastic curtains, an ancient lever that you hve to use two hands to pull back after you have pulled down your little toggle switch. I do lvoe those machines and would miss them if they were ever replaced.

Glad you opened this thread just for those that dont venture out that much.

Ocean_islands
Member

09-07-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I voted in NYC for the first time.

What surprised me the most is that there was no Straight Ticket option.

Back home in Illernoy they always had a Straight Ticket option.

That said, I never voted a Straight Ticket. I consider it immoral.

Sanfranjoshfan
Member

09-17-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
What the heck is a "Straight Ticket" option? I've never heard that term before.

Sasman
Member

07-08-2003

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
We used to have them years ago in NJ but they outlawed them.

SFJF, they allowed you to pull one lever to vote for everyone on the republican or democratic ticket.

Hippyt
Member

06-15-2001

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
What was the reasoning for outlawing them,Sas?

Ocean_islands
Member

09-07-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
That means you hit a button that says 'elect all the Democrats' or 'elect all the [Republicans]

<edited by RA>.

Spygirl
Moderator

04-23-2001

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:32 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Maybe we should combine the two threads?

Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:34 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
now that means asking people people to cross party lines, an interesting concept on election day.

Spygirl
Moderator

04-23-2001

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
LOL!!!

Boberg
Member

10-04-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 3:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I went to the polls at 2:30pm...hoping most people at work or picking up kids at school..it was a good time to go, short line. You go to a line depending on what your last name starts with, I was in the A-D line. I got "access #5052"..we had new voting machines. Computerized but not touch screen, you turned a dial, when blue covered the person you wished to vote for, you clicked enter, it highlighted the box in red...at the end you could review all your votes and make any changes you wished...when ready you pushed "cast my vote" button ..and you were done.

Since these were new machines, I noticed alot more workers assisting voters with the new machine...I did not hear any coaching on how to vote only on how to use the machine.

We still have the option of a "straight ticket" vote.

I voted in Houston at an middle school, one poll worker told me she had been working polls for many years and this was the buziest year she could remember..she said the morning had been unbelievably busy.

When I left the line was out the door again.

All in all a good experience today.


Danas15146
Member

03-31-2004

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 4:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Mine -- a little good a little bad. No lines (I think that we just hit at a good time). The downside - we have a lot of political party members who stand outside of our polls and try to get last minute votes. When I answered that I had already decided on Bush - I got quite a few nasty comments and "you'll have to come back out this door when your done".

I have a Bush/Cheney pin that I have worn for months. This year is the first time our State Representative is being challenged. When the challenger's person saw the pin he handed me a flyer and said "He's a Bush Guy". I also had to tell him honestly that Joe Markosek has been a great asset to our community and our kids and there was no way that I would consider voting against him. He didn't like the answer but did respect my opinion.

Regardless of the outcome - I have done all I can to support my candidate and can only hope that President Bush is re-elected.

Yankee_in_ca
Member

08-01-2000

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 4:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I flew from British Columbia to Maryland to vote.

The mood at my polling station, and generally around this area (which is a Washington DC suburb, working middle class, predominantly African American) seems to be very upbeat. People seem excited, not antagonistic. Walking into a Safeway this morning, a stranger with a big smile on his face asked my dad and me, "You voted, right?!" When we told him we were headed there next, he gave us the thumbs up, a huge grin, and said, "Right on!" with no talk of partisanship.

Funny, cause I then talked to my husband in Canada, who said the news coverage he's seeing is talking about all of the "voter intimidation" and how people might "come to blows" at the polling stations. I didn't see anything like that here. Lines are long, turnout is good, and people seem enthused to cast their votes.

Oh, and I didn't notice a lot of young people -- it was a mix of young, middle-aged and older -- but that is due more to the demographics of my parents' district, I think.

-------------
(Re-posted from General Discussions, where I posted right after I came back from voting at around 11AM):

I just came back from voting in Maryland. We passed about 5 polling stations on the way, and all of them had lines out and around the buildings. Yay! I'm happy about the turnout.

When I got to my station at around 10:30, however, I hit it just at the right time. There was only a small line. One of the volunteers told us it had been really crazy all morning with lineups around the building, and that I had just gotten lucky.

By the time I voted, the line was out the door again.

We had touch-screen voting, and you could review your ballot at the end before submitting it.


Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 4:56 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
i tried voting at my new polling place (thanks everyone for the web site, and that will be my voting place for the future.), but i have to go to my OLD voting place. i'll go after i drop holly off for swimming tonight.

Jedisan
Member

01-11-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 5:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I too had a nice experience.
I left work early as DH said he waited a long time in the eraly afternoon.
I had no wait at all (but the other lines were out the door (alphabetically i guess i scored!)
The mood was upbeat as others have stated.
Only strange thing was that the community college where i vote has teachers on strike, so i had to "cross the line" to vote. (LOL)
I live in a predominately black neighborhhod and it made my heart pitter patter to see the turnout expanded from elections past.
Yeah for voters!!!!!

Suitsmefine
Member

07-29-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 5:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
My experience was good. I walked into the Community Center along with my parents, stood behind two people in line ...We also do the A-L,M-Z alphabetical sign in lines....At which point my Dad looks over at me and says "What are you doing over there?"...I said "Well, my last name changed 16 years ago when I got married" at which everyone in the place cracked up. Within 10 minutes my vote (for Kerry) was cast and We were on our way out the door.
When I picked the kids up from school there were alot of the Seniors gathered together to go vote for the first time....It was so nice to see their enthusiasm.

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 7:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I worked the polls and everyone was upbeat and nice..even when the line was long no one complained and everyone thanked us for helping out.