(no subject)

[kcobweb]

It has occurred to me - watching the news about early voting, reading in the blogs and whatnot what to do tomorrow - that I have never lived anywhere where I had to stand in line for much time AT ALL to vote. Is it just me? Am I lucky? So it's time for a timely poll!! (This could apply to Election-Day voting or early voting, as long as you're going somewhere to stand in a voting booth, not mailing your ballot in.)

[Poll #1290638]

Please feel free to elaborate, question, rant and/or discuss in the comments.

Comments

[bayleaf.livejournal.com]

I've never had to deal with really long lines, but I won't be shocked if I have an hours-long wait tomorrow. There isn't early voting available in Maryland. The area where I live is very pro-Obama and there's been a lot of excitement about voting here (as there has everywhere, I suspect). My plan is to arrive at my polling station at 6:30. I'm due at work at 9:00, but my mgr blocked my schedule until 9:30 just in case 2.5 hours isn't long enough to give me time to vote before work.

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

What she said. Except I'm working from home and planning to go vote around 10 or 10:30.

[sanj.livejournal.com]

Pretty much what she said. I have a long lunch approved mid-morning, which is meant to be the slowest time... but if that doesn't do it then I will have to get back in line after work.

I've never had much of a problem before, although the *very* pro-Kerry suburb I was living in in 2004 had about an hour backup. I'm in a different part of town now, but I expect the crowd to be overwhelmingly pro-Obama and resigned to waiting.

[megastoat.livejournal.com]

I think I had to wait a bit when I lived in NC, but i'd be really surprised if it was more than 15 minutes. In all my various Boston-area votings, I've rarely had to wait more than 5 minutes, and currently if I go before 8am (which is most convenient for me) there's absolutely no wait at all. I love it. :)

[megastoat.livejournal.com]

guess who had to wait 25 minutes this morning? :)

[winterborne.livejournal.com]

Early voting last week meant waiting in a line that took about 30 minutes to get through; there were many reports that most polling places in the Miami area were taking much longer, and one man I spoke to in line had come down from North Miami because the lines there were 4-5 hours long.

[ban-sidhe.livejournal.com]

Worst ever was living in a dense part of LA, where 95% of the population is mostly at work or in transit by 7, when the polls opened, so the line "after normal working hours", starting at about 4, was immense. This was lengthened by a failure by poll workers to post appropriate signage identifying which line was which once you got outside the building: A-M, N-Z, provisional only, etc. What was nice was that the poll workers did sent someone round about every fifteen minutes to try and straighten out the lines and assure everyone that if they *stayed* in a line (any line) they were guaranteed a chance to vote even if it took til midnight because LA has a "in line by the time polls close" clause so most people took the line in stride and were standing around telling stories and jokes and sharing newspapers. I think it took me about 2.5 or 3 hours to get through, but it wasn't horrible.

[kouredios.livejournal.com]

I just barely missed voting in 1992, so by my first voting experience I was at Williams and voting by absentee, which requires only waiting for the mail. :D

I've lived in MA ever since, and in itty bitty rural towns, so it's never been much of a wait, if any.

[journeywoman.livejournal.com]

I have voted absentee for over 10 years now, but the longest I waited before then was about 15 minutes.