My Angelina County (TX) early voting experience.

[Reciprocity]

Well, the feed store I use is downtown so my darling husband and I decided to give early voting a try since we were in the neighborhood.

The traffic jam in the parking lot, was the first indication that the turn out for this election, was uncharacteristically heavy for our neck of the woods. They were well organized, with at least six parking lot attendants (county deputy's and assorted volunteers) so the wait for a free slot was short. The flow of voters was steady and swift, with no hint of impropriety or intimidation. It was the most enjoyable voting experience we have ever had. The only thing that was a bit worrisome, was that neither of us remember seeing any minorities. It also was the first time I ever braved asking an election official a question. Yes, I can vote a straight democratic ticket, and for the libertarians when they were the only challengers to republicans. So are we demotarians or anti-republicans?


This was on the news tonight.

Voters turned out in record numbers for early voting . As of Thursday night, more than 14,000 registered voters had voted early in Angelina County. The total number of early votes in Angelina County is over 15,000. That may end up being about 50 percent of our voter turnout.

We're seeing a lot of first-time voters this time around, and it's not just young people. We're seeing people come in that are in their 30s and 40s that are voting for the first time."

In 2000, 13,274 people voted early in Angelina County. That number might have been skewed a little because the county's jail bond issue topped the ballot that year.
Shanklin (tax assessor) said the 1996 general election, when 9,450 people voted early, represented a more typical turnout for Angelina County.

Stats for my county.

Angelina County
Population 2000: 80,130

Presidential politics: Angelina County strongly supported George W. Bush in the November 2000 election. Countywide, 16,648 people voted for Bush and 9,957 voted for Gore. Nader received 245 votes.

Voters: Measured by the count of citizens age 18 and older at the time of the 2000 census, Angelina County has the following numbers of potential voters:
Total: 54,910
Male: 26,283 (47.9%)
Female: 28,627 (52.1%)
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/politicalInfo.php?locIndex=22578

[Briarius]

1. Good to hear!

Hope the turnout is as good everywhere...harder to steal when more people have a stake in it, at least I hope anyway

[5thGenDemocrat]

2. Question from way up here in Michigan

Where in Texas is Angelina County?
John
I've heard Texas is a pretty big place. Or is that bullshit?

[Reciprocity]

3. Deep Central East Texas not far from the Louisiana border.

No bull itza big state. Two rivers make up the boundary for my county and it sets diagonal where as most counties are north south or east west. There is only one road that doesn’t cross a river, lake, or reservoir. Angelina is a dry county which means if we want to buy a beer we must cross county lines to do it. The local euphemism for this “Crossing the river”.
Map of Texas with counties.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/texas_map.html

Texas Quick Facts
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/48005.html