*** UNOFFICIAL VOTER TURNOUT THREAD - Post YOUR Experience ***

[matcom]

how is Voter Turnout in YOUR Neighborhood?

I can't vote until tonight. Throughout the day, post your city, the time you voted and the following in the subject line:

Light
Moderate
Heavy
JAM-PACKED

for the crowds at your polling place!

please keep kicked

thanks :patriot:

[asthmaticeog]

1. Cleveland OH, 7:00 a.m., moderate.

The poll workers seemed fully apprised of the Ohio voting regs, even though they were being changed even up until yesterday. They kept things flowing well, I saw no backups, and during my time there only a couple of people experienced confusion with the operation of the Diebold TSx machines. We'll see...

Edit: 7:45 update - I live across from my polling place. From my porch, turnout looks to be getting VERY lively. :thumbsup:

[liberaldemocrat7]

19. I voted here in Nassau County New York 7:00am

The polling place did not appear too crowded since once I entered the school
I voted right away.


I voted this morning for

Democrats

Eliiot Spitzer for governor

David Patterson for Lt. Governor

Andrew Cuomo for Attorney General

Alan Hevesi for Comptroller and if he wins I want him to resign so Elliot Sptzer can name a Democrat to replace Hevesi who will probably go on trial for using state money for a chauffeur for his wife. That appears illegal.

Hillary Clinton on the Working Families Party because I did not want to vote for her as a Democrat
and I wanted to send a signal that she should not consort with the right wing on some of their issues.

David Mejias for Representative

[mikelewis]

31. I took my daughter to vote here on the Westside and it was Dead...

I am going to vote with my wife after 9:00 and am hoping it'll pick up. BTW, this was my daughters first turn to vote... and she voted Straight Dem!!!

[SalmonChantedEvening]

2. Willow Grove, PA - moderate

I was there just after 7 am and was #14. It may end up being almost as busy as it was in 04.

:kick:

[hiaasenrocks]

3. Charleston, S.C., 7am, light.

[liberal N proud]

4. Avon, OH

Polls open at 6:30 with more than 100 people waiting to vote, steady traffic as I was leaving.

[matcom]

5. WONDERFUL!!!

:bounce:

[leftyclimber]

6. Morgantown WV 7AM, extremely light

Like, I-was-solita-in-the-polling-place light.

I vote somewhat out in the sticks, though. According to someone I talked to who votes in town, it's already super busy there.

[MountainLaurel]

62. OT, but welcome to DU!

From a native Fairmonter and Mountaineer alum!

[leftyclimber]

67. Thanks!

I've been around for a while, but I post pretty infrequently.

Go 'Eers!

[Rhythm]

132. Hey!! Another Mo-Towner!!!

We're heading out in just a bit (we vote at North Elementary), and hopefully things are picking up a bit...

i can only imagine what it's going to be like at around 4pm, after shift change at the hospitals and such. *L*

[leftyclimber]

140. Welcome to DU, ThinkBlue1966

...and post back to let us know how your turnout was!

(and, *completely* OT, if you haven't had the chance, make sure to take some classes from Jeff Worsham in PoliSci. He's great. ;-) )

[Lyric]

222. ThinkBlue is my domestic partner--hi there fellow Morgantowner!

Neil Birch is also a terrific PoliSci Prof.

Traffic at North Elementary was moderate when we were there at 2:30 pm.

Cindy Frich's minions were trying to sneak signs ever-closer to the polling place, though. I reported them to the election official at the school.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. light-to moderate, Central PA, 7 am

We were 18 and 19 at 7:10, with about 30 behind us, and more coming.

First time voting on a touch screen.

[mikeytherat]

8. Bon Air (Richmond), Virginia

7:30 a.m. - Moderate turnout, but getting heavy as I left about 8:00.

mikey_the_rat

[MacGregor]

42. Chester, VA (outside Richmond, reasonably red county)

7:40 - Very light turnout compared to my experience two years ago. In and out in 5 minutes.

[wicket]

9. Somerville, MA 7:30am - light

But it was picking up as I was leaving, polls have been open less than hour.

[Glenda]

10. Woburn, MA - light, but always is - 7:45 am

Light
I thanked the people outside with Deval Patrick signs

I always feel so HONORED to vote for Ted Kennedy

Deval Patrick - I'm excited about him becoming gov

And the resolution to get out of Iraq immediately - I voted YES!

[wicket]

18. Hi neighbor!

:hi:

[Glenda]

284. Oh i have a neighbor on the DU!!

I don't think I've seen your DU bumper sticker around town ;)

:hi:

[Brazenly Liberal]

23. I would be honored to vote for Sen. Kennedy, too, if I could.

He's the real deal.

[bigtree]

11. long line of voters!!

very unusual

[Ohio Joe]

12. Dublin Ohio

I voted absentee but the local station is right at the end of my apartment complex, so I drove right past it on the way to work this morning. I went by about a half hour before polls opened and it was light, maybe 10 people waiting. This might be ok though since I live in a lightly populated/heavily republican area.

[goodboy]

57. Hey DUBLIN!!! I used to live and work there, but I'm in Estonia now

and voted absentee...

How's the weather there???

[Ohio Joe]

79. Not too bad

A little on the chilly side and very over cast... and raining a bit... now that I think about it, it sucks :D

[DiverDave]

13. Light

everyone in a good mood.
I was the 15-20th in line when they opened.

[WinkyDink]

14. Bethlehem PA. ~~~7:00 a.m.~~~Moderate (About 20 in line)

[rosesaylavee]

15. Geneva, IL Precinct 1

Light turnout this am - I was there at 6:15 and was #9. They had had to turn voters away earlier as the machines were not working. Only two machines were up and running there. This is very Republican area - they weren't expecting a big turnout.

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Metro Atlanta suburb, 7am, moderate....

I was #24 to vote in my precinct (modest turnout from commuters voting on their way to work; it'll probably be busiest in the evening, since ATL traffic is so fuckadelic that most people can't afford the extra 20-30 minutes in the morning).

[we can do it]

17. Moderate - Cuyahoga Falls 6:40 am Moderate

ID checking and cumbersome ballots seem to be slowing things down.

[Ms. Toad]

75. No kidding!

Two mile long ballot pages in a voting booth that is shorter than the ballots - if you were using the same setup as I was a few miles to the south.

[hedgehog]

166. I remember going with my Mom to vote in the River Estates in

Cuyahoga Falls back in 1960. It was in a little shed heated with a pot belly stove!

[spinbaby]

20. District 18, Pennsylvania--Moderate

Opened the polls late, machines didn't work right.

[Brazenly Liberal]

21. Iroquois County, Illinois. I was amazed at the turnout.

Polls open for an hour. 20 people had voted.

That might not sound like a lot, but it's a polliing place in a tiny village where normally there would only be two or three votes the first hour.

We don't have a senatorial race this year and our currently Republican representative is so assured of winning, he didn't even campaign that I noticed.

So it has to be about the governor's race. Blago vs. Topinka.

[timber84]

22. Waxhaw, North Carolina

Voted on Es&s machine, No problems got there when the doors opened. There were about 20 people there at 6:30am when we voted, our precinct has about 1400 registered voters.

[SAXMAR]

24. District 8 Pa. light/ Machine problems caused late start

I was number 4 to vote at 7:15 am

[canichelouis]

27. PAer with High turn out so far!

[harun]

25. Eastern PA, Light, 7:15 AM

Election workers seemed to have a bit of a struggle figuring out how to initiate the new electronic voting machines. I think they got everything going ok. I was disappointed with how hard it was to read the information on the ballot as there was a very heavy plastic covering over the list that made it difficult to read through. A Democrat legal observer came in while I was there (lawyer in a nice suit), and appeared to be sticking around. I was glad to see this.

My wife voted for the first time, she is a new citizen. She thought it was a pretty good process all things considered.

[tinymontgomery]

26. Cherryville NC

7am light for starters. I was number 23.

[meganmonkey]

28. I got in line at 10 min to 7:00

There are 2 precincts in my location, and the lines were pretty long when I left. It's supposed to rain all day, but they are still expecting record turnout. Time will tell...

No glitches or problems - except, of course, that the machine that my ballot got sucked into said Diebold on it

[Efilroft Sul]

29. Peters Twp., suburb of Pittsburgh, PA: Heavy at 7:30 a.m.

I was #64, and there were more streaming in behind me.

Good times, good times.

[timber84]

35. Hey you

Upper Saint Clair Native here!

[bbernardini]

30. Coatesville, PA - 7:20 AM - Moderate - ALL democratic signs out front!

Looks like the change in polling place didn't affect anything, except it appeared that the Repubs didn't hear about it, as the only signs out front were for Democrats.

[City of Mills]

32. Dracut MA - 8:00am Report - Moderate turnout

Voter turnout was already pretty strong at 8am in Dracut MA. Most voters at my precinct look 35+ with average age around 50. (I'm 32)

Jay Severin (Boston MA talk show repug in libertarian clothing) successfully swung my vote at the poll from Grace Ross (Green) to Deval Patrick (Dem). Although I feel Grace is the better candidate and would make a better governor based on what I've seen and heard from the both of them, I couldn't stand not voting Dem just in case Jay actually managed to draw out Healey supporters.

I voted all Dem with the exception of one Green party candidate.

Great to see so many Democratic candidates running unopposed in my state. I love Massachusetts!

B-)

[tech3149]

33. Grapeville PA 33 in the first hour

For a small precinct, this is good.

[w8liftinglady]

34. I voted early...does that count?

[HereSince1628]

36. 7:10 AM Wisconsin Dist 6/Precincts 16 & 17 Moderate

Nice looking line snaking through the school's first floor hallway, but only about 5 minute wait as they are moving along at about 10 voters a minute.

One touch screen WITH a paper trail available...but it only got sneering looks and chuckles when the poll worker kept announcing it wasn't busy.

[MotorCityMan]

37. Detroit, MI - District 17

Got there quarter after 7 this morning. Already moderately busy.

As always, the poll workers were very helpful and efficient. Only problem I saw was one man didn't fill in the ovals on his ballot dark enough.

None of the suited rethuglican poll watchers were there yet, unlike in '04, when they were all over the polling place.

Raining here this morning; hope it doesn't stop people from voting.

GO JENNIFER G!!!!!!!! WE HAVE ENOUGH DICKS IN OFFICE!!!!!!

[BigMcLargehuge]

38. Derry, NH - Light

[City of Mills]

39. Hi northern neighbor!

:hi:

[BigMcLargehuge]

41. Hey there! You in Derry area??

We should get together for coffee to watch the returns come in!

[City of Mills]

44. I'd love to...

Except I'm at work in Lowell MA. If I were in Derry I'd be at MaryAnn's Diner worsening my cholestrol problem :)

[BigMcLargehuge]

45. Thankfully they close at 1PM now

or I'd have a one-legged guy with a harpoon following me around.

Love their Chipped Beef on Toast.

[Kazak]

40. Norman, OK - light

No problems, optical scan machines, took less than 5 minutes.

[NewJeffCT]

43. Ellington, CT - moderate at 7:05am EST

Interesting, though, there were a bunch of people with signs outside the polling place - all were Democrats, no Republics at all. There was a Ned Lamont, one for John DeStefano (Dem guv candidate), Joe Courtney (Dem for US Congress) and two for state legislature. All Dems.

[NewJeffCT]

129. I should add - Lieberman's ballot position is ugly

He is on the 7th line, 4 columns in (first column IDs party, 2nd is for Governor, 3rd is Lt Governor)

I have a PDF of the ballot, but it does not tell all the story since my town uses old level style machines, so the lever partially covers up Joe's name since it is so far down the ballot.

(I can email the PDF to somebody, if interested, as I don't know how to upload a PDF to photobucket)

[Cameron27]

180. I love those lever machines

[drbtg1]

250. Old lever style machine, eh? Excellent!

My sister lives in Ellington. Glad to know her vote will count.

[tyedyeto]

46. Sahuarita AZ 6:30 AM - very light

[Carol of the Left]

47. Cass County, Calvin Township, Michigan - 7am - Moderate

Small township in Cass County Michigan. We were using optical scanners for the first time here. Parking lot was full ... took a long time to get through a line of about 20 people. My husband and I have been voting at the same place for nearly 20 years and this year neither of us were listed in the poll books. Fortunately, they recognized us and let us vote.

The whole process of trying to find our names caused the line come to a full stop. I can see how purging just a few names can throw a wrench in the works ... the whole thing comes to a halt while the situation is sorted out. Maybe larger areas have a better system for keeping the lines moving.

We have been working for the Democrats ... and all of a sudden our names weren't listed anymore ... after 20 years of problem free voting. Coincidence? Maybe ... maybe not.

[Berserker]

48. Repuke town in Wisconsin

I stood in line before 7am and stood in line to vote. I live across the street from the voting location and the turn out is Heavy.

[Jacobin]

49. low turnout in my red area

Not much on the ballot. In my part of Louisiana we have the RWer Boustany up for re-selection running against a dem who had zero money and no ads.

Boustany's ads didn't even denominate him as a republican!! Voted Dem.

No problems with the machines being down.

[Craig Leonard]

50. Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio - Moderate @ 7:15

More voters at this time than in 2004. Running relatively smoothly.

When we got to our polling place at the Bethany church on 13th Street, someone had spray painted "Soldiers vote GOP, Osama votes Democrat" on the sidewalk outside the church. Reported it both to the church and the county board of elections.

Republicans - gotta love 'em.

[lapislzi]

51. NY 19 Light

Go John Hall!

[soothsayer]

52. 7:15 a.m., Arlington VA, I was number 175 in the M-Z line (the other

line was much longer, but I didn't hear what numbers they were on). Maybe 5 or 6 machines, touchscreen, said "ADVANCED" on the backs. I wore my tri-cornered cap----I feel a revolution comin' on!

Seemed like a nice turnout, but of course nothing like the long lines for a presidential election.

My old precinct (also a school) held bake sales on election day, and boy do I miss those black bottomed cream cheese cupcakes and rice crispy treats! Why don't all schools do that??

[YOY]

70. Were you at Thomas Jefferson Middle School?

Sounds just like my experience!

They paused the registration lines with me at the front due to hihg turn out.

The pause didn't take longer than 15 minutes though.

[soothsayer]

76. No, McKinley! But I got paused, too! (I'd call it Moderate/high)

[YOY]

99. I'd be inclined to agree...not jam packed, but high turnout still!

I saw far more blue fliers in the voting lines than red, but then again NOVA is rather blue and not red. I was there with a few friendly left leaning neighbors as well. I love the Columbia Pike/S. Glebe area.

It's that Issue 1 that will bring the 'fambly values' (apologies to Steinbeck) to the polls though from what I was seeing.

[soothsayer]

113. Same here! Lovely blue fliers being carried to the booths, but

as you said, we're thankfully in a happy Dem area. I sure hope the rest of the state comes around to a sane way of thinking, if only for today

[YOY]

155. They might regarding the election of Web over Allen

but I think Issue 1 (Lovely Rovian tactics) will pass... Mostly due to hate and misconception over gays.

[soothsayer]

241. Jeezus, I hope not. Hurts any unmarried couples, not just gays

[YOY]

302. Yep, but fug them fer not belibing in Jebus!!!

Libing in SIIIIIN!!!

Or so goes the FReeper mentality.

[bleedingheart]

53. North Huntingdon - Westmoreland County - PA - Moderate

[Zero Division]

54. Davenport, Iowa; 7:30 a.m.; heavy for the time period

I overheard poll workers commenting that they'd never seen so many people at the poll this early.

:patriot:

[Liberal OIF Vet]

55. Voted

7:00am - Buffalo Grove, IL. Voting was light. Precinct Capt could not understand why a "youngster" like me would not want to use electronic voting machines (Sequoia). I had to school him on the problems with them. I got a paper ballot instead.

[City Lights]

First time at this polling place, however,

I was the 241st ballot turned in today, and it was only 8:10 am. 241 people voting before 8:15 am seems like a lot to me. :D

[matcom]

59. WOW! where are you?

:applause:

[City Lights]

254. Chicago's northern suburbs. eom

[Betty]

56. 8:30 AM Waltham, MA light turnout

walked right in and got to vote immediately... there were about seven other people there.

[hatrack]

58. Kansas City, MO (Jackson County) - Pretty Busy

It's a small polling place - I think it's some sort of office annex in a neighborhood school.

Even so, it was maxed out at 7:30 AM - there is space there for only about a dozen people sitting down. There was a line out the door of the room, and people standing around filling in the ovals in their ballots using the wall, notebooks, etc.

One lonely little electronic voting machine was used exactly once during the ten minutes I was there.

[strategery blunder]

60. Kirksville, MO, 7:30-8:00 AM, DEAD.

Now don't freak out that I took half an hour to vote...I wanted to read the full text (i.e. legalese text) of the proposed Amendment 2 before voting and spent about fifteen minutes dealing with that. :)

Possible problem: Confusing signage. The voting from my precinct was held in the same building as in previous years, but in a different location. Though the polls opened at six, there was still a paucity of signage to direct voters to the location within the building (which was, incidentally, further inside the building than in previous elections). However, I heard election workers discussing the issue and by the time I finished voting they were moving signs around and putting up additional ones.

Good news: Paper ballot, similar to scantron, relatively easy to figure out (though at first I eyed it suspiciously because for some reason I was expecting punchcard ;) ). The bad news: Teh ES&S Black Box.

At least we have actual paper ballots...

That said, onto the turnout. If the Black Box has one saving grace, it was that I was able to see how many ballots had been put through the thing. I was the fourteenth person to vote in my precinct, which had been open for just over two hours when I submitted my ballot. I don't know if turnout was low because of time of day (college campus) or if it was because of fundies staying home. My precinct was, I hear, the ONLY one in Adair County to vote for Kerry in 2004 so this could be interesting turnout wise. It's too early to tell what to make of it.

[liberal N proud]

64. Isn't Kirksville mostly republican anyway?

I remember when I lived in Missouri, it was always considered a right wing community, little white houses all in a row and everyone falling in line like good little soldiers.
So no one voting there could be a good thing for the Democrats.

[strategery blunder]

71. Yes.

The Truman State University precinct was the only one in the entire county that Kerry carried, to my understanding. The low turnout was in the TSU precinct though I would not be surprised if it's everywhere in Kirksville.

I said turnout was too early to call because the campus is split fairly evenly, which doesn't help things. Also as it's a college campus people probably will vote between classes as opposed to first thing in the morning.

[izzybeans]

61. Small town Indiana: Me and and kindly old lady voted at 8:00 a.m.

No one else in the place, heavily republican district, not a single dem on local ballot. Perhaps a good sign that few people are showing up here. Go David Sanders!

I had to sign out. This is my first election here and I don't remember signing out elsewhere. However, after two hours there were only about 20 names on the sign out sheet.

[Chiyo-chichi]

220. Hey, izzbeans. I'm also in Indiana U.S. House District 4

Down here in the skinny, silly, gerrymandered part. Ten minutes in either direction and I'd be in the 8th or 9th where the real action is. I had about the same experience, though. I went at lunchtime and expected to have to wait in the rain for a while. I didn't wait at all. I was in & out.

I echo your "Go Sanders!"

[izzybeans]

228. I'm staring at the fifth district across from my porch. The side street in my

neighborhood splits my town in half between 4th and 5th districts.

I'm thinking the negative ads really turned people from around here away on this one.

[MountainLaurel]

63. Cape Elizabeth, Maine: 8:40 am, moderate

But it was hard to tell because there were probably 30 voting booths. (It was in a high school gym.) But the lot was full of cars.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

103. Hello northern neighbor!

:hi: from Scah-town.

[MountainLaurel]

133. Greetings

Out of curiosity, since we're new around here, do you know whether there might be any local watering home where blue-voters will be getting together to watch the returns come in tonight?

[WritingIsMyReligion]

162. I have no idea.

I don't think that really happens on a large-scale basis in Maine, although you never know for certain. :D

Sorry I couldn't be of anymore help.

:(

:hi:

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

65. Crowded polling places reported by co workers who voted early

No lines when I voted just before 8 AM

Go Ned !!!

[distantearlywarning]

66. Blue neighborhood in Pittsburgh, 8:30 am, Moderate/Heavy turnout

Due to personal weirdness, my husband votes in one precinct and I vote in another a mile or so away, so we went to both this morning. My husband's polling place had moderate turnout - there were a few people in line, and he was #55 1 hour after the polls opened this morning. My polling place serves two precincts. I had to stand in line for 5 minutes, and I was #89 1.5 hours after the polls opened. The other precinct table was just as full. This is probably good turnout given that each of these polling places serves only a few city blocks worth of people.

We had to vote on one of those evil machines, but everything went ok (on the outside at least).

For the first time in my life, I voted a straight Democratic ticket (I am a registered Libertarian). My husband (also a registered Libertarian) voted all Democratic except for one Green Party candidate. I told him not to vote Green Party in PA, but he wouldn't listen to me - what else is new...? :D I felt a glee I have never experienced before when I bypassed Santctimonius and pushed that button for Casey. My husband wrote a rant about terminating Santorum "for cause" last night in his LiveJournal - I hope it convinced some of our PA friends to go out and also vote for Casey today.

I am looking forward to watching the election results come in tonight, and I hope with all my heart that they go better than last time.

[Bettie]

68. Belle Plaine, IA

Poll workers said it was heavier than usual, lots more than they generally see for a mid term election.

One of the women working there has been doing it for thirty or so years, so she'd know!

[newportdadde]

69. Kansas City, MO - Jackson County - Red Suburb - very light, like Aug primary - 6:45am.

In 2004 I was looking at a 25 foot line at the same time.

I walked right in with absolutely no line. The voting booths are ink ballot, the machine that takes the ballots was broke so I had to put it underneath in the provisional ballot area.

[adreamer]

72. 8:45 Ballwin, MO-West St. Louis County Missouri-Busy

Took my 18 yr old daughter to vote in her first "real" election. We were numbers 275 & 276. Now normally I vote in the afternoon and in an off year election at best I'd be in the 70's or 80's. So to me turnout was pretty heavy. We had a choice of optical scan or touchscreen. Took the optical scan because there was less of a line.

[Ms. Toad]

73. Summit County, Ohio

9:45 AM Heavy - the heaviest I've seen except, perhaps, the 2004 election. Been voting here for 17 years.

New voter ID law creating some confusion - voters first showing their voter registration, then having to shuffle for something else when told that's not good enough. Overheard one woman say she had a copy of her driver's license in the car - don't know how they dealt with that.

Switch to optical scan machines (2d election) still creating some poll worker confusion about ballot handling. Last year they insisted on feeding all ballots in (after removing them from the secrecy sleeve). This year, they first insisted on feeding in my spouse's ballot (she refused to let them), then stood where they could see the ballot going in (and the selections on the ballot if they looked carefully). Same woman later insisted I had to feed my own ballot in (the correct rule), but still stood where she could see my ballot (and selections).

Light drizzle.

(Edited to add time)

[Arugula Latte]

74. Portland, Oregon: There was no line at my mailbox when I put my ballot in last week

;)

Yay, vote by mail!

P.S. -- Democratic ballots in the state are coming in at an above-average pace. :woohoo:

[Buck Rabbit]

224. Rat Bastard ... you beat me to that joke ..

Portland .. voted last week ... yeah, no line at my mail box ... but I did honk as I drove by the those Demo sign wavers on MLK this morning. They were one wet group!

[Arugula Latte]

267. I love it when you call me that ...

:D

Yes, props to anyone who stands out in this deluge! :hi:

[Junkdrawer]

77. Pittsburgh, PA - No secret ballot...

The new voting machines have laughable little wings and are arranged so that other voters MUST pass directly behind you as you vote.

Many, many complaints.

[ProfessorGAC]

78. Northeast Illinois: Moderate, But At An Really Early Hour

I was there 30 minutes after polls opened. I was the 40th voter in the precinct (there are only 3 here, as it's a small city). But, i kind of think that's pretty good. That's more than voter a minute! I know it can't stay at that rate all day, but in 2004, we had 80% of eligible voters cast votes around here.
The Professor

[ChaoticSilly]

80. Memphis TN, moderate

There were 5 people including me in line and voting, which for this precinct is at least moderate if not heavy - when I voted in 2004, I was the only person there at the time.

[LSdemocrat]

81. 8:30am. St. Louis County. Light-moderate. I had a CHOICE between optical scan & touch screen

Of course I chose optical scan. At that time turnout seemed light to moderate in a very Republican area.

[Lurking Dem]

82. Turn out is heavy

but this county is almost 3/4 Republican. (Middle Tennessee)

[Subdivisions]

88. Any sense of their disposition? I mean, were they out for

change or were they out to keep Ford from dating white women?

[Lurking Dem]

93. God, Guns and Gays

I think they were out to make sure marriage between a man and a woman wasn't "threatened". And in this county it's all about taxes/money so they want Corker for that more than because Ford is African American.

This is the wealthiest county in Tennessee but we also have people like Ashley Judd stumping for the Dems.

[cwydro]

83. Key West around 9:30 a.m.

Two co-workers reported back that activity was not heavy. This is the old courthouse where anyone can vote (not an assigned precinct)and no voting machines. I'll go at lunch and report back.

[ProfessorGAC]

205. Key West, Huh?

My wife and i have a friend that lives there. She lives in the southeast part of the island a north and east of the high school! (Maybe 6 blocks from the school. Perhaps a bit more.)

This is the time of year when i start getting jealous of you folks!
The Professor

[cwydro]

209. well

I hope she voted! I work for the county downtown...
The weather is niceB-)

[ProfessorGAC]

212. You Probably Do Know Her

She's works for the state in Social Services.
The Professor

[cwydro]

211. small town

I probably know her....

[tinfoilinfor2005]

214. Key Largo here. I voted absentee, so I held signs at the Elks club

precinct at 7 to 11. Don't know about the inside lines, but the car traffic in and out of the parking lot was continuous. All the signs were democratic...Saunders, Patlak, Tobin that I saw, and of course Davis. No republican signs present. Two other people joined me in sign holding which I found unusual because I was the only one there with signs for the 2004 election. My daughter voted at one of the Islamorada churches at noon and although there was a short line in her alphabetical row, she noted that one of the other rows was extremely long. I got a good share of honks and no boos. :)

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

84. I voted!

For Hillary and Spitzer. (And for Nadler). Feels good to vote for a winner!

No incidents. Everything went smoothly. And I voted on an old-fashioned lever machine, so no Diebold worries for me. All in all, a totally smooth experience. I hope everybody else has the same!

[Tracer]

85. Sudbury, MA. CROWDED!!!

10:00 a.m. and there were more people there than I've seen at presidential elections!

Voted straight Democratic ticket (of course!) on "blacken-in-the-little-ovals, optical scan machines.

Tomorrow we'll have Deval Patrick as our Governor.

[AllieB]

86. Andover MA- 7 AM Moderate

Hubby voted an hour later and said traffic was heavy

[Viking12]

87. Menasha WI 8:15am Light.

My ballot was the 127th scanned into the ballot box; this is significantly fewer people than 2004.

[OneAngryDemocrat]

89. A Marine Corps Vet Brought to Tears; IL's16th District @ 8:00 a.m.

After walking to, and voting at the local Baptist church, I spied an elderly couple (70s?) standing outside, at the front entrance. The polling place was in the rear of the church, and it seemed the two were unsure as to where to go.

''Folks, the voting booths are all the way in the back,'' I told them, guessing they were there to vote.

The elderly gentleman, put his hand on the lady's shoulder, and the two started walking up the slight incline, towards the rear entrance.

As she passed me, the lady said to me, in the most serious of tones, ''It's time for a change.''

"I've been opposed to the war since it began, ma'am - I couldn't agree more," I told her.

''We've been in Iraq longer than the whole time we fought the Nazis,'' the lady replied. ''And what have we accomplished? In all of that time - what have we accomplished?''

Besides the fact that the whole scene was just like having stepped onto the set of one of this week's many, many, political TV Ads, it immediately struck me:

I live in a VERY conservative part of the state of Illinois: This is Ronald Reagan's old stomping grounds.

A democrat Marine Corps vet (Dick Auman for Congress) is running against the incumbant in my district and another democrat Marine Corps vet is running in the district just south of me (the Hastert/Laesch race).

As I walked the 1/2 block back to my house I thought to myself: The ONLY way the GOP can win this election is if they steal it. This 40-something Marine Corps vet felt a mixture of anger (at how far our nation has sunk), pride (that our nation could rise above it all), elation (at seeing the light at the end of the tunnel), and relief (for the same reason).

We've cinched this election - it is in the bag!!!

Please visit my anti-war website, www.shockedandawful.com

[renate]

149. great story! wonderful post!

:woohoo:

It's pretty telling that the lady wasn't shy about talking politics to you--two years ago most people who were opposed to the war wouldn't have said a thing about it to a perfect stranger for fear of being labeled unpatriotic.

[OneAngryDemocrat]

152. Thanx... Where's your ''I Voted'' Icon?

Just asking.

:)

[renate]

233. right here!

I dropped my (vote by mail) ballot off at the library just a few minutes ago.

There was a woman there (not a poll worker, I guess, since we weren't at the polls, but an election person) who said "Miss? Did you sign the back of your ballot?" Indeed I had, and the thrill of dropping off my ballot was enhanced by my having been called "miss" for the first time in years.

[photogirl12]

90. Halfmoon, NY 9:30am

My district had no line. One of the other 2 districts had 2 machines going and a HUGE line!

[photogirl12]

125. Just got word from halfmoon dem 11:10am

He is working the polls in District 2 of Halfmoon, NY. Very busy.

[stepnw1f]

91. Heavy Activity this Morning in Roslindale

and Brookline!!! (8am - 8:30 am)

Deval wins in Landslide!!!!

[NicoleM]

92. Moderate to heavy.

I voted at 9 am in my small town in MN. I was voter number 70. The population of the town is 700. 10% turnout is pretty good for it being so early in the day.

[nuxvomica]

94. Queensbury, NY -- 10:00 am -- Heavy

I'm in district 20 where Gillibrand will defeat Sweeney despite the fact that he's beaten women before. This is a 2-1 Repub registered district with the Democrats on the second line of the voting machine. Old-fashioned lever type because NYS hasn't complied with HAVA yet (yeah, NYS!). Parking lot was unusually crowded but not much waiting at the plentiful voting booths. Overheard one middle-aged female voter say to another upon leaving the building "I don't think I've ever voted for anyone in that party before." :D

[photogirl12]

141. Very good news nuxvomica!!!

Very busy in Halfmoon, NY where the Republicans are mad. halfmoon dem had one come up to him while he was putting up a Gillibrand sign to ask him to put the WHOLE Democratic line on his lawn. He went back and put up one of those huge Gillibrand Congress signs with "& I am a Republican & I am a vet" spray painted on it.

[Kber]

95. Mendham, NJ - light

lighter than usual, according to poll workers, even for an off year.

(Mendham is almost 70% republican, for what it's worth.)

[July]

118. Same here in NJ-07.

Much lighter than in 2004.

[jhain]

96. Cape May County, NJ

Heavy turn out. Workers reported being very busy already. I'm taking it as a GREAT indication.
As long as our votes count...
First time with the f'n machines- no paper.

[JackBeck]

150. I just moved to East Orange a few months ago.

Found out a few days ago that I'll be voting electronic for the first time. There have already been problems.

[fishwax]

97. Champaign IL, 8:30 a.m., light/moderate

There was no line until after we got there, but the poll workers said they'd had more than usual by that point. (It's my first time at this polling place, so I'm not sure how to guage it.)

[ljm2002]

98. I got there at 7:10am...

...right after the polls opened. There were already lots of people there voting, no lines, all went smoothly.

Hooray, let's give 'em h*ll!

[MidMichiganBuckeye]

100. Birch Run in Mid-Michigan (MI-05) - JAM-PACKED

Birch Run is a sleepy little town, mid-way between Flint and Saginaw. I voted at 9, 2 hours after the polling station had opened. I was number 414 (we only have 1200 voting age people, so 1/3 had voted already), and had to wait in line for 20 minutes. I saw many women and union guys (I think today is a union holiday.) Our House seat is safe (Dale Kildee), but the govenors race between Granholm and DeVos is nasty and close.

[slestak]

101. 7:15 AM -- ABQ, NM -- Light

There were 40-50 people in line when I got there, but it was a real clusterfuck once it was my turn.

By the time I reached the table, the poll worker in charge of the clipboard where voters are supposed to sign in suddenly realized that, yes, VOTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO SIGN IN. She had let god knows how many folks through without signing in. The poll worker in charge of writing your ballot number on the little piece of paper was duplicating ballot numbers. And the lady tearing ballots off the pad was accidentally ripping every other ballot in half while trying to remove it.

It was like The Three Stooges.

It was twenty minutes from the time I got in line till the time I walked out the door, and it was a beefy ballot, too.

[in_cog_ni_to]

102. I voted this A.M. at 7:15 in Bourbonnais, IL.

I'd say the crowd was moderate....there was no line when I went in. There are 8 voting stations there. I filled up the last available one. By the time I left, there was a line and I passed 3 more people going in as I walked out.

I must say, I've NEVER, EVER, EVER seen my polling place as busy at a MID-TERM ELECTION. Is that good for us? I sure as hell hope so!

[Clintmax]

104. Tallahassee, Florida 10:00 am:

Traffic was heavy at my precinct! Had no issues with anyone trying to keep us from voting and the people working the polls were in high spirits! I hope it stays that way!

[Lochloosa]

178. Where in Tally Clintmax? My hometown.

I miss the "Old" Bullwinkles...

[Clintmax]

183. Hello, Lochloosa!

My polling place is on Thomasville Road not far north of Bradford road. Of course, I don't live too far from there. Remember "The Loop" on Tennessee street? LOVE THAT PLACE!

[Lochloosa]

184. I do....what about "Superman" at Poor Pauls?

[Clintmax]

197. Well, I can't answer that one...

never been there, actually. I've heard of it though. I need to go obvisouly.

[Blue_Tires]

105. Virginia Beach, VA --- 10 a.m.

moderate when i first got there, heavy when i left!

[Catchawave]

167. 11:30 a.m. moderate to heavy

at Brandon Junior High :hi:

[Blue_Tires]

176. see post 115

there are a lot of us here in the area....we all ought to meet sometime!:bounce:

[Catchawave]

268. Cool beans !

:hi: We'll have to plan this in the Virginia forum :toast:

:grouphug: VA-02

[CabalPowered]

106. Twin Falls, Idaho. 8:20 a.m. Light to moderate.

No problems to report. I did notice I was the only new registration they had so far. :patriot:

[MiniMe]

107. Gaithersburg, Maryland, moderate at 9am

But nothing like the 2004 election. No problems, double checked the final screen to make sure my vote didn't flip. Proudly wearing my I voted sticker.

On a good note, one of my neighbors was a Repuke in 2004, he has seen the light and is now part of the local democratics. There is hope.

[matcom]

108. i grew up in Gaithersburg!

born and raised :hi:

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

147. rockville/aspen hill

took about 25 minutes to wait in line and vote.

alot of comments about the size of turnout. larger than normal.

diebold machine.

democratic area.

[lukasahero]

109. Hudson MA 7:02 am, steady traffic

I was told by the women signing us in that most of my neighborhood had already been in. Geez, what time do my neighbors get up in the morning? (FTR, most of my neighbors are very, very blue.)

[Cobalt Violet]

148. Hi neighbor! Another Hudson, 9:30, light.

:hi: Did you vote at the Town Hall?

[lukasahero]

195. Sweet! So I'm not the only DU loon in Hudson. :)

No, I vote at the Mulready Elementary School.

Funny, for a small town we sure have a lot of places to vote. :hi:

[NoSheep]

110. Durham NC...very light at 8:15 am. Starting to mist rain.

[Tommymac]

111. Pittsburgh/Allegany Co. PA HD04 - 7:15 AM

PA House District 04

Voted with my wife this morning around 7:15. Turnout for that time of morning was moderately heavy. Straight DEM - Rendell, Casey, Altmire.

Encouraging thing is I live in a RED precinct - and there were no GOP workers outside shilling. Not normal - usually there are no Dems. Bob Casey had a worker - and the anti Ricky Dicky signs were awesome and overwhelming. (One was great - "Lives in Virginia - Represents Pennslyvania" - what more needs to be said?) Only two or three repuke signs up outside compared to dozens of Dem ones.

The new electronic machines were causing issues - the worker was trying to explain - but voters were having a slow time of it. We waited 15 minutes in line - there were about 15-20 others there - normally we used to wait about 5 with the same turnout.

Overall not bad - but this is a affluent repuke district - so I didn't expect many issues. Our precinct had 4 working machines - the other precinct in the same room had 3 - all working.

Oh yeah - I live in Missy Hart's district (GACK!) - which is now a tossup - if you live there get out and Vote for Jason Altmire - he CAN win and pull off a huge upset - a month ago Hart had a big lead - this weekend it has gone to a tossup.

Bye Bye Ms. Conservative Pie - take your ricky to the cricky but the cricky was dry...YEAAAGGGGHHHHHHHAAAAHHHHHHH!

[npincus]

112. Light-- Hoboken, NJ

[Gin]

115. Va Beach,VA at 8:30 a.m. I was # 150....voting was easy.....used

touch screens...no paper trail.....my vote may or may not be counted correctly!

[Blue_Tires]

175. hello!

[dethl]

114. Las Cruces, NM, Corbett Center @ 8:15am - very light

Precint 54 and 58.

When I voted I was #18 on the optical scanner.

[djack23]

116. Silver Spring, MD

Silver Spring, MD (DC Suburbs)

Heavy turnout. Solidly blue precint. 77% for Kerry in 04. :-) 7th in line this morning

[GumboYaYa]

117. Uiversity City, MO, one of the most reliably blue precints in MO.

Heavy turnout and lots of chatter in line. People were excited to get in and vote Dem. The line was almost the same as the Presidential election and there were several more machines this time.

[DTinAZ]

119. Tempe, AZ - 8:40 a.m. - light

Not surprised, in that the "work day" has begun for many, but both my wife (at 6:30 a.m.) and my daughter (at 7:30 am) also reported no lines/light turnout. My son can't report, in that I slid his completed early ballot into the slot on the designated plastic tub (which is legal in AZ).

We have two precincts in our polling place, and I first went to the wrong table, where (of course) they couldn't find me...until we all realized that I needed to walk across to the other table....oops.

So, to regain my dignity, I tested the voter ID rules by presenting two non-photo forms of ID (voter registratrion confirmation card, and sample ballot). The worker started to ask me for my driver's license, but I reminded her that the other documents should suffice, and after a brief glance at the rules, she agreed. I hope we (my family) made a difference.

Peace,
DT

[W_HAMILTON]

120. Just voted, for the first time ever

I wanted to vote in 2004, but found out the time to register had passed, so I wasn't allowed.

But I got to this time! It's a rainy day, in Northeast SC. Since it was my first time, I don't have much to compare it to. It was mainly a bunch of older folks, mixed in with a younger person here and there. One young woman was turned away because they said she didn't register in time, either.

One of the bright spots was the person I signed up with in my name bracket. She was the youngest up there. I told her it was my first time voting, and she said that that was great, and that more young people should come out and vote. I took that as codewords to mean that maybe she was a fellow Democrat as well.

Went up to vote, finished in less than a minute. I already knew all the amendments, and since I voted straight Democratic, it took no time at all. Made sure to hit the blinking red VOTE! button, and it said my ballot was cast.

Overall, pretty satisfied. Plan on wearing my "I VOTED" sticker on my work uniform :) I gotta work tonight, but I hope to hear some good results when I get home!

SWEEP 'EM OUT!

EDIT: Oh yeah, it took maybe 15-20 minutes total from when I arrived to when I left. Most of that was spent waiting for people to finish with the machines (there were only 6). The 7th was broken. I heard one of the poll workers call in about it, and she mentioned to another poll worker that they had a list of broken-down machines, and would get to it when they could.......

[Glenda]

122. Yay!

:applause:

[Tommymac]

134. Welcome to DEMOCRACY!!!! You ROCK!!!!

You are now one of WE THE PEOPLE!!! Congrats on voting.

:bounce: :toast: :party: :patriot:

[kitkat65]

121. Columbus OH, - Franklin County - Precinct 32A

I got there at 9 a.m.-ish and there was no line and all of the seven machines were in use when I walked in the door. I showed my ID to the poll worker, a male senior citizen. Since my drivers license had my old address on it, he said I would have to vote provisionally. Luckily, I brought my last electric bill with my new address on it and said here's proof that I do live at this address. By that time another poll worker - maybe a captain? - said the electric bill was an approved form of ID and I got the authorization ticket.

I waited approximately a minute before a machine was available and it was my turn. The poll worker inserted a cartidge into the machine before I started. As I pressed my choice for a candidate, the printer on the rolling paper tape printed out the candidate. I made sure to check the tape every time I made a selection. The tape viewing window was not covered or closed in any way and the printout matched my selection every time.

After making all the selections, there was a review of my choices on the screen and when I pressed the cast the vote button, the paper roll with my choices rolled up and out of sight.

I then looked for that cartridge that the poll worker had inserted and didn't see it so I assumed that the procedure was to insert it between voters.

I'm not sure what would have happened if I had accidentally picked the wrong candidate and gone back to change the selection since the printing was done before the review stage. I don't know if the tape would have shown it or how.

[Mr. Jinx]

123. Winston-Salem, NC- starting to get busy at Meadowlark Elementary (8:50 a.m.)

I went to vote at 8:50 this morning and walked right in without a wait. I had my voter registration card handy, but several people were able to just give their name to receive their ballot. There were using optical scan machines there too, but I'm still hopeful. In the end, I was #156 to submit my ballot and there was a line of people forming as I was leaving.

Here's hoping we have good news tonight!

[NanBo]

124. WI

Waited in line of about 50 for doors to open this morning. LOTS of younger people--20's--registering to vote. Quite a line on my way out!!
We have a sickening marriage bill on the ballot here that hopefully is drawing out a lot of younger voters. Cheers all.

[Theduckno2]

126. Coloma, Michigan, 9:30am probably moderate.

I could pick the time I could vote and chose a relatively quiet time with little time in line. A poll worker implied that turnout had been substantial so far. This is in Berrien County, a heavily Republican area of S.W. Michigan.

Go Gov. Granholm!

[capi888]

157. Woo HOO Duck...

Just voted in Covert, 300 @ 10:00 am..out of about 1300 reg voters..also went by Watervliet on my way to my office...and lots of cars...so looking good...even tho Berrien is Rwing...Lets keep hoping. also noticed, lots of Stabenow, Granholm Clark Signs up...the other side signs none...M140...the ones I do see for devos and Bouchard are ALL beat up...go fiqure!!!!

[primavera]

127. Cape Elizabeth, ME, 8:30 am, Moderate

Lots of people voting, but we still were able to get in and out in a matter of minutes - what a change from DC where I was voting in the 2004 elections and had to spend four hours standing in line to get to vote! Of course, the District is 86% registered Dems, so the powers that be didn't want us to vote and we consequently had a miniscule number of booths to serve a huge number of voters. Since we just moved to Maine, we're not yet 100% sure of the political composition of the Portland suburb of Cape Elizabeth where we live now, but they certainly do provide lots and lots of booths to ensure that people can get in and out speedily.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

163. Cape Elizabeth is a mix, I think.

There are certainly plenty of blue cats around, but the really wealthy have a tendency to be Bushbots. I think CE is bluer than my locality--Scarborough--which is really, really red.

:hi:

[primavera]

181. Oooh, good thing to know about Scarborough

My wife and I have been thinking about buying a place there, it's so beautiful, but if it's as red as you say... I'd hate to run into some of those Black Point Inn nazis in my local grocery store. Thanks for the tip! :hi:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

187. It's not rabidly red.

But I'd say it's the reddest of the Greater Portland suburbs. :D

[spacelady]

128. Alabama, 9:45am Moderate, steady crowd. Paper Ballots, very easy. n/t

[DancingBear]

130. some anecdotal musings from northern Virginia

I stayed at my polling place for about 10 minutes or so, and here are my unscientific thoughts:

1) Turnout was moderate to heavy - Republican county

2) Of those folks taking sample ballots, I'd guess about 6 out of 10 were Democratic ones.

3) We have the option of paper or electronic voting, and the poll workers asked each person what they wanted. About 7 of every 10 took paper ballots, although I did overhear two election officials saying they were "pushing" the electronic option. I didn't experience that, however.

[soothsayer]

143. What county? (I'm in Arlington)

[DancingBear]

169. Fauquier n/t

[underpants]

131. The old man handing out the Allen/Cantor lit said towards Josie

"You need an ID to vote" he said this in a very loving and joking manner

I replied "No you don't!"

He didn't say anything to me after that.

No cell phones allowed in Va. voting booths so I couldn't take pictures. Touch screen voting. Josie was in my arms when I voted.

[Delphinus]

135. Sitting here at work,

(before heading off to do my driving to the polls duties) and we have two precincts here. The parking lot is full and there are cars driving in and out of the parking lot. I'm excited!!

Also, when I voted this morning at my polling place, it was about 8:30 AM and I was voter number 91. We had a lot more precincts represented at my location - at least five - and since I've always worked at another polling location, don't know if that's high or not.

NE Indiana (Fort Wayne)

[kentuck]

136. District 11, Colorado Springs, CO

I took my dog with me to give him the experience of civic participation. The polls are about 3 blocks from my house. Some guy, with his wife, asked if my dog was Republican or Democrat. Not wanting to show my hand, I said he was Independent but was leaning "Democratic" today...There was a TV camera filming the voting. I was #51 which tells me it is rather light voting in my precinct.

There were several young people, Colorado College students I assumed, standing on the corner with a huge Jay Fawcett campaign poster to which I gave a big thumbs up as I drove by. They were gone a few minutes later after I had voted. They may have been run off from being too close to the polling place or they may have only moved to another polling place? That was encouraging....

[William Bloode]

137. I took two load this morning.

The first was very early, it was moderate. I made another a bit later, very heavy. I had to wait around 1.5hrs. Kinda a lull in the action now as i have already gotten all who are home who wanted to go. Gonna make more trips starting around 4-5p.m. when more get home from work. I'll update then.

My mom came over and said it was totally jammed at her precinct.

[ChrisCat]

138. Bethany, IL, no lines at 10 am

I took my 8 month old with me. We had paper ballots with an optical scanner. On the way out, an older gentleman coming in using a walker leaned over to my baby and said, "Another little Republican!". Yuck! LOL! Being respectful of my elders, I just smiled and thought, "Like hell".

[H2O Man]

139. Rural upstate New York.

I voted at about 11 am. The church where I vote had about 10 people inside, ranging from an estimated 20 years old to about 80.

[ThatsMyBarack]

142. Oak Park, IL, 10:00 a.m.--Light

But that's okay! It's still early in the day. I used the "connect the arrow" paper ballot! :patriot: :hippie: :toast:

[siligut]

144. Seattle, light turnout so far.

27 voted before me. About 8 paper ballot voter boxes and 1 Diebold machine. Only 1 person chose to use the Diebold as yet.

[mcar]

145. Inverness, FL 10 a.m.

Moderate, which is unusual for this district and that time of time. In fact, I actually had to wait (about 10 seconds) for an available booth. That's never happened in a mid term before.

[LifeDuringWartime]

146. Boston, MA 11:00AM - Light

No line to wait to vote. This was my first time voting in MA so they should have checked my ID - but didn't. I thought that Boston used Diebold touch screens, but they were Diebold optical scan. No indication that it counted them correctly (I made sure I filled in the bubbles perfectly!), just that the total number of ballots increased by 1. I was either 507 or 508.

[Coventina]

151. Scottsdale, AZ 9:00am. Moderate. ATTEMPTED VOTE SUPPRESSION!

:mad:

I brought my two forms of ID: My official sample ballot & my voter registration card.

The nasty woman asks if I have a DL. I say yes, but it doesn't have my current address on it (perfectly legal according to AZ law).

She nastily says that they have to see PICTURE ID. Which I know is NOT TRUE!!! I tell her that, but produce my DL anyway.

But, they did give me a ballot & I voted.

Voting against JD Hayworth felt SO GOOD!!!!!

Then, I got in my car and turned on my iPod which I have on "shuffle". The song that came up immediately was "Cities In Dust" by Siouxsie & The Banshees. Which I interpret as a message to the Republicans.....tonight THEIR CITIES WILL BE IN DUST!!!!

:toast:

Today is a good day. And Madonna's new single is released today!!

:woohoo:

on edit: Plus, I got Pederson two votes: my in-laws. Staunch republicans, but they were so discouraged with what is going on with everything that they decided to give voting Dem a try!!!

:party:

[liberaldemocrat7]

218. I call him JD Blowhard

I may live in New York however I have seen JD Blowhard give many speeches on CSPAN in the house over the years.

[Dr. Death]

153. My polling place moved

Yesterday I looked at the official county election website to find my polling place, as I am new to this area and it is my first time to vote here. According to the website, the polling place was a church right next to the entrance to our neighborhood. My wife and I went there, and there were no cars in the parking lot - my first thought was, "Jeez, this is awfully low turnout." I went up to the church doors - all locked. Fortunately, a nice church official happened to be there at the time and told me taht the polling place had moved. We went there (another church, a few blocks away), and cast our votes.

So that came out OK, but what worries me is, what about people who show up at the original location, find it deserted, and give up? I know that people shouldn't get discouraged that easily, but you know that some will. It bothers me the most because the official county website continues to show the WRONG polling place.

Turnout was moderate, I'd say, but I don't have a lot to base that on, considering that this is my first experience here. I'm in eastern NC, and there are no major races here this year. It did give me pleasure, however, to vote against Walter "Freedom Fries" Jones, even though he is expected to win.

[capi888]

154. COVERT, MI: Small Town In SW Michigan.....huge turnout so far

Approx registered voters...1300 voters..as of 10:00 am...300 voters already voted...usually evening is the busiest...ALSO strong Dem voters in a very ethically MIXED community...Yippee....!!! We have NEW machines Sequioa, optical scan...with a paper trail on the top to see vote is counted. My research showed they are do have a paper trail...I looked at mine...as it spit out the reciept...no votes on it but did register my number for my voting...here is hoping ...

[laylah]

156. Coal Valley, IL, 8:30 am, heavy!

[AlCzervik]

158. just voted in Ca district 3, firehouse 76 cast the 61st ballot, no lines

no waiting and losts of people walking in their absentee ballot.

[blue neen]

159. PA District 12--northern Westmoreland County (east of Pgh).

Turnout was fairly light, but steady. This is a heavily Republican precinct.

NOT ONE SANTORUM SIGN UP! I saw several Casey and Rendell signs.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

160. IL 6th (Duckworth)/ Elk Grove 19th precinct. Moderate.

Voted around 8 AM central. No lines but it seemed slightly more active than past few elections.
One of the two Sequoia touch screens was down and most people were going paper ballot rather than waiting so that might have slowed things a bit.

[Coexist]

161. FL - Pasco County 110

turnout is slow but steady. very red area. about 50% gave my Davis/Jones sign a :thumbsup:

VERY encouraging. I expected 1 in 3 or 4 to do so.

[Lugnut]

164. Kind of quiet

I'm in a very small precinct. I was the 44th person to vote at 11:20 AM which is a lot at this time of the day around here.

I voted on a ES&S iVotronic touch screen. No paper. I hope my vote counted.

[Lugnut]

269. Forgot to add.....

Lower Luzerne Co PA in a heavily Democratic area. My husband voted on his way home from work at 3PM. He was the 75th voter. The polling place workers said it was steady all day.

[hedgehog]

165. Upstate New York - Republican area - I just realized what I saw this morning;

or rather, what I didn't see! In NYS, there is a law about barring you from campaigning too close to a polling station. On election day, I'm used to seeing a barrage of Republican signs up against the post marking the limit. Today I saw NONE!

[Horse with no Name]

168. Voted around 10 this am

Small town--they only had 14 listed on the door, however, it looked like at least 100 had signed in.
They only update every so often, so I am not really concerned about that.
It was just myself and 3 elderly pollworkers when I went in.
Two of them were making a quilt and having quite the conversation.
Didn't say anything political, but one said to another while talking about "the good old days"--that "they" (not sure who "they" were) would roll over in their graves if they saw the shape of our country today.
When I had finished up, there was another voter coming in. He was asked if he wanted paper ballots or the machine--he opted for paper.:applause:
Overall, it was a pleasant experience.

[hedgehog]

170. That seems to be a pretty consistent comment about paper vs. machine

It never occurred to me that people would be offered a choice, but others have reported people standing in line to vote with paper rather than use the electronic voting machine standing idle. It sounds like people have really been paying attention this year! How many people would bother to use a paper ballot to vote Republican?

[starroute]

171. PA-08 unusually heavy (Murphy vs. Fitzgerald)

Hundreds of voters by 11 am in our small-town fire station -- and our poll-watcher friend said the early voters were particularly heavy on Dems.

[MuseRider]

172. Big turnout

in my little area. I have been voting there for 18 years and not once have I ever been higher than # 60 when I signed in. I usually don't go in to vote until around 3 PM but just got back and I was #140. We could not find a parking place. Many stations were full, some waiting. Only one touchscreen and like myself most people when offered said, "Are you kidding? No way." not that the Acu Vote is the best way to vote. We did our best now it is up to whoever tabulates, boy that sure sends shivers down my spine.

[Ilsa]

173. Easy to do on machine, easy to write in a candidate, heavy turnout.

this morning, steady while I was there. The poll workers said they were on page five or six of the list, had alot of people waiting in line at 7 am at the school to vote.

I had a write in candidate for DA, and it was easy enough to do, but you have to know how a keyboard is laid out so you get the proper name, spaces, etc.

Lots of phones being made, including from several Dem candidates in our area. I got no GOPer calls.

[Jankyn]

174. Sacramento, CA, MIDTOWN...

Short line at the poll when it opened at 7 a.m.; no problems voting (scan machine); people trickling in steadily.

But there was a HUGE line next door at the Sacramento County Health Office, and it might deter people who mistake it for the polling place.

[txindy]

177. Central Texas and there was a line!

A LINE! I've never seen that here. Never. Not a huge line, but still... Everyone there was shocked. Pleased, too.

A LINE! Add to that the fact that a repub I know solemnly wished me luck in the election - AND HE MEANT IT. I think I need to lie down for a while. My mind is still reeling.

[annonymous]

179. 11:45 a.m. Baltimore, MD, light

There were more poll workers than voters.

[wicket]

182. kick

:kick:

[WilliamPitt]

185. Dead as hell in Ward 4 Boston

but the poll workers said they had been slammed in the morning.

[mmonk]

186. Voted around 11:30 a.m. Heavy turnout despite rain.

No glitches or complaints reported to me. Leadmine precinct, Raleigh, N.C.

[smirkymonkey]

188. Manhattan, NY - District 105

7:30am - moderately crowded for that hour.

I had one of the old lever voting machines, and believe it or not there were a few glitches. A technician had to go in a few times because the levers wouldn't go down all the way - I don't know if it was just that it was an old machine or that someone was messing with the mechanism.

It's the Upper West Side in NYC which is a heavily Democratic, very politically active area.

[HappyWeasel]

189. Albany Co., WY. Light - it was 8 am.

Yeah, its pretty light.

[Seen the light]

190. Lillington, NC; 12 EST; moderate

I didn't actually vote as I've already done that through absentee voting. I just stopped by to see how heavy it was. Nothing out of the ordinary.

[bnr65432]

191. akron ohio moderate-heavy 7am

[Hazelrah]

192. Chester County, PA (valley forge)

Optical scan ballot which was easy to use and has a paper trail. The cool thing is when I went to put my ballot in the machine it shows a count of the total ballots cast and I watched it tic up as I entered mine.

Only 766 (including me) voted by 1:30 this afternoon, in this heavy repub area I'm hoping that's a good thing. :)

[katamaran]

193. Suffolk, VA - 10am - Heavy

I had almost a 45 minute wait to vote in my precinct today. It's usually very Republican, but during the 2005 Governor's race, it was only 55% Republican, which is a definite change from the 2004 elections.

Lots of people talking smack about George Allen. Some things I saw and overheard:

Older guy #1 - "I still haven't decided who to vote for!"
Older guy #2 - "Well, I'm voting for the guy who was actually in the military. At least he was man enough to serve. First time I've ever voted Democrat!"
Soccer mom behind them - "I'm voting for my kids' future, and George Allen is a good Christian!"
Both guys snickered at her.

Lots of minivans and SUV's with multiple ribbon magnets, some with the 10 Commandments magnet, and one with a ribbon magnet that said "My Ribbon is Bigger than Yours!"

This was the BEST part of the experience: I saw a young guy in a wheelchair, missing a leg from the knee down. He looked like former military. He was wearing a shirt with "Iraq Vets for Webb" on it. Frigging awesome. Some old guy (probably in his 70's) came up and started sniping at him for supporting Webb. He said that Allen cares about vets too. The guy said he would have rathered have Webb in a foxhole with him than Allen. He started wheeling himself to his car, and threw back over his shoulder "Allen helped get us into this...he's one of the reasons why I'm missing a leg!" If I wasn't in such a hurry to get to work, I would have chased after him hugged him.

FRICKING. AWESOME.

[Blue_Tires]

202. hello katamaran!

i'm saying hi to those that live close to me

[S n o w b a l l]

194. IN08 Brad Ellsworth

Lines were short when I arrived at 11 but, were very busy earlier. No problems with the ES&S machine.



:patriot:

[photogirl12]

196. kick

[Ino]

198. St. Louis, Noon, busier than usual

There were maybe a dozen voters there, which doesn't seem like much, but it's twice as many as I've ever encountered. Had a choice between 8 optical scan booths or 3 touch screens. It seemed most were choosing touch screen, standing in line rather than being able to vote immediately with the optiscan ballots.

I chose touch screen, and did not see any problems. Encouraging!

Normally, there are always people handing out literature for their candidates, but the only person there today was a guy trying to convince voters that the stem-cell research proposition would allow cloning, even though it says it won't. I said I was voting FOR it and walked away. He continued to shout propaganda at me until I went through the door.

This is a heavily Democratic district.

[devilgrrl]

199. Smooth sailing in very BLUE West Hollywood, CA

In and out in 10 minutes.:-)

[Tansy_Gold]

200. Apache Junction, AZ -- light when I was there but

poll workers reported it had been busy earlier.

I was there about 7:10 and there was no waiting to mark paper ballots. There were eight or ten stations, with two open at the time.

I tried to see the counter on the optical scanner and it looked like about 165, but I can't be sure. I'm new to this district so I don't know if that's high or low, or how many registered voters are in my precinct.


Tansy Gold

[kma3346]

201. San Jose, CA, 9:00 a.m., light

I waited too long to send in my absentee ballot, so I dropped it off in person. I only hope that the polls prove wrong in just one instance and that the governator's second term gets terminated!!!!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[King Coal]

203. I voted for Al Gore.

[donco6]

204. Colorado - Adams County Center - PACKED all day so far.

I work here, so I've seen a steady flow all day long. Lines waiting for machines. This is Perlmutter v. O'Connell country.

[HeeBGBz]

206. Biloxi, MS

Turnout around 11:30 was moderate. About 25 people in line. My first time voting on Diebold was creepy, but I saw no glitches and the vote was also registered on a paper roll. (which I thought was going to give me a reciept, but they keep those too.)

I didn't even know Trent Lott was on the ballot. I was told he wasn't this go-round. So I voted for Fleming, who I'd never heard of but was anyone BUT Lott.

I went to the polls just after having my tooth pulled. So I'm trying to spit out my name through gauze and bloody drool. The poll worker told me I was a real trooper.

Now I'm home after calling in to both my jobs and my drugs have kicked in and I'm ready for a most pleasant afternoon and evening. (Aside from the dull ache in my jaw)

So I have officially named my extracted tooth - Trent Lott. Wouldn't be nice if he got pulled today too?

[LittleClarkie]

207. New Berlin Wisc, 9:30 am Heavy

At least that's what the poll workers were saying. There was a line, which was unusual, and when I asked how the turnout was, they chuckled at me like they were alittle swamped. It wasn't jam packed, but more than usual.

According to the morning show I listen to, the djs were saying that the listeners were reporting heavy to jam packed all over the state.

[borlis]

208. Northern Chicago Suburb, 12:30 PM, Light

I was the 206th person to vote there today. They said it hadn't been crowded, but steady so far. There were 3 other people there voting also.

[noshenanigans]

210. I had a strange thing happen..

It's probably nothing, but when I went this morning to vote (Im in Los Angeles, voting in the Valley- it was early but pretty empty) they told me I was already "active"- as if I had already voted, is what the lady said. I had to show my ID and sign an oath thing and voted normally- does anybody know what could cause that?

[tinfoilinfor2005]

216. kkkkarl?

:)

[spuddonna]

230. Have you reported this anywhere?

If you haven't, I would! You can call 1-888-336-8683 (1-888-DEM-VOTE) to report any problems! I know there are a few others here if anyone else wants to jump in! :)

[soup]

262. Also try 1-866-OUR-VOTE (Election Protection coalition)

I had some problems with the touchscreen wanting to switch my vote to (R) Grrr!, and couldn't get thru on the 1-888-DEM-VOTE line, but filed a report with the 1-866-OUR-VOTE number.

[spuddonna]

300. Thank you! I heard Laura Ingraham 'suggested' Repubs tie up the DNC number...

Thanks for the phone number! :hi:

[mnhtnbb]

213. Chapel Hill, NC 9:15 am --Waiting in line!

[ncrainbowgrrl]

243. Chapel Hill, NC 10am, waiting in line in rain. (Weaver Dairy pct)

Brrrrr!

[mnhtnbb]

301. Greenwood precinct!

[treestar]

215. Delaware, noon, light

Lines in 2002 but it appears they got more machines (opened up another lobby of the same school)

[sillyphoenix]

217. Albany, NY suburbs, 11:15 AM, light.

I live in a little village of about 2000 people, though, so turnout is never that heavy.

[shawn703]

219. Woodbridge, VA (11th CD) 7:00AM - fairly heavy

Especially for this location. I've voted here the last six elections, and I haven't had to wait in line until this time. Took about 45 minutes!

[Lyric]

221. Morgantown, WV, district 91, moderate. :)

Everything went smoothly, but one of the Republican candidates was putting signs questionably close to the polling place. The election official said it was 300 yards away from the door, though, so I guess it's technically okay.

I can report that none of our local Dem candidates were trying to sneak their signs beyond the permitted limit. :)

[PreacherCasey]

223. Scranton, PA heavily blue, moderate mid-morning turnout

I love my neighborhood. Very heavily democratic. Voter surges in early morning and late afternoon.

[spuddonna]

225. Kirkland, WA 11am Light-Moderate n/t

[RayOfHope]

226. Rural SW MO, moderate turn out, no (visible) problems, Sequoia optical scanners n/t

[PVnRT]

227. Terre Haute, IN, 6:15 a.m., Moderate

n/t

[Bawston1]

234. Schaumburg, IL (Cook, Co.) 2:00 p.m., Moderate

While I was signing my card I was asked two times by two different folks "You know you're enrolled" Dem"

[peacefreak]

229. Topsham, Me--moderate & steady.

I was a poll watcher through out the mid day & the workers were surprised about how many people had showed up so far. They are expecting to be slammed around the dinner hour. Around noon there were about 1600 people that had gone through & another 100 absentee votes in. I didn't see much difficulty & only had one run in with a worker that was less than cooperative about relaying names.

[Kingofalldems]

231. Saw a freeper ex neighbor in the precinct lot ---moved to another state

a while back. The state is at least 200 miles from here.

[Arkana]

232. Um...

I sat in a quiet room, pulled my paper ballot out of an envelope, and very carefully filled in the circles.

Then I replaced it in the envelope, filled out all the relevant information on the front, and gave it back to our town clerk.

(I voted two weeks ago.)

[shadowknows69]

235. Mrs. Shadow and I just voted

I had to vote for the Republican candidate for sherrif because the Dem incumbent is a bonehead but straight party line other than that. I was only the 125th person to show up at my polling place though which is pretty sad IMO. Upstate New York BTW. Not a lot of heated races. Keeping fingers crossed for an upset by Bob Johnson.

[greatauntoftriplets]

236. Moderate at about noon in Forest Park, IL, just west of Chicago.

This is my first time voting here and I have no idea how large the precinct is. Optical scan only, no touchscreens. :D My ballot was # 243 going through the scanner.

[Mind_your_head]

237. Western Burbs of Chicago - moderate at 1:00 pm

Talked with one of the poll workers there - they said they had just done an unofficial count and it looked like they had about 22% turnout so far, which they all felt was good considering that there was still 1/2 of the voting day left.

I asked one of the ladies if 22% at this point in the day was a 'good' turnout for this area for a mid-term election? The two ladies at the table looked at each other and kinda chuckled and said, "yeah, that's sad to say a pretty good turn out for ANY election!"

on edit adding: I guess (but am not positive) that 22% would not include any absentee ballots that were submitted, and I think that there were a lot of them this year.

[Chimichurri]

238. Lodi, NJ - All went smoothly. There was no parking. Never

had a problem with parking before - which made me happy.

[NorthernSpy]

239. Maine, heavy turnout, paper ballots, no problems that I know of...

I voted early (last week), but some other people here said that the turnout today seems high, and they had to stand in line for a while when they went in to vote between 9:00 and 10:00 AM.

In Maine, all voting methods leave a verifiable paper trail (by law).

:patriot:

[photogirl12]

240. kick

[tavalon]

242. Duvall, Washington Noontime

Moderate

[jus_the_facts]

244. Approximately 2:22pm ~ Turnout...extremely light...

....so I tried...on a brand spankin' NEW and UNIMPROVED SEQUOIA which has NO verified receipt nor any manual audit afterthefact. x(

www.verifiedvoting.org



Map Legend

Dark Green: VVPR + manual audits required (13)


Tan: VVPR required; No audit requirement (14)

Yellow: VVPR not required but in use statewide; No audit requirement (8)


RED: No VVPR requirement; No audit requirement (15)

July 7, 2006
:nopity:

[leftofthedial]

281. Jefferson County Colorado

no problems

no line
no waiting
no hassles (unless you count a couple of egregious mispronumciations of my last name)

machines seemed to work perfectly



the repukes seem to have targeted Denver (biggest Democratic bloc) for the passive aggressive disenfranchisement campaign

I bet I got ten phone calls in the last 24 hours from live Democrats reminding me to vote

[jus_the_facts]

283. Good Job!

:applause:

[gully]

245. Heavy for my area. A largely white/working class neighborhood

that went D in the last election. The area is also heavy with "I" voters.

[Oilwellian]

246. Southwest VA....2:30 PM EST ... heavy n/t

[UrbScotty]

247. Voted absentee in Kentwood, MI - Dad says it was Heavy @ 7:10

Dad was #9 to vote this morning, and he said around 75 people were in line behind him.

[Jack Rabbit]

248. I am pleased to report that my experience voting was uneventful

I used a paper ballot marked with a felt pen.

[yng_dem]

249. calvert county , md

low to moderate.. its heavily repub tho .. so its a +
around 11 today

[goclark]

251. Middle -Upper Class African American Station in Los Angeles

Well organized but average turnout.

I believe it is because of many voting Absentee in the area.

On my way back to work the polls.

Wish everyone good lick.

Let's take our country back tonight -- victory!

[flvegan]

252. Tampa, Florida (Central/North Tampa) 3pm VERY light.

No wait in line...hell, no line at all. Of the 12 voting machines, 5 were in use (including mine). Of course, right now it's POURING out. More rain than we've seen in months.

[SoCalifer]

253. Southern California

I just voted. My area is South Shores San Pedro / Palos Verdes. Experience was as usual from all the other times I voted. Everyone's polite, not crowded but a constant flow of one to three people coming and going. No wait time. System used is paper ballot optical scanner.

The only thing different this time was that when you handed in your ballot, you dropped it into a machine where there was a poll worker. It showed rather or not if there were any errors on your ballot before you left it.

[dollydew]

255. Light

I'm in Donalsonville Georgia. Voted at 8:00a.m. Turn out was initially light but I saw quite a few people arriving as I left.

[Mutley]

256. Light

Baltimore. 1:30 p.m. EST. I overheard one of the poll workers saying they'd had about 500 people by that point. Not good for an over-crowded downtown Baltimore neighborhood.

[Pithlet]

257. 10 a.m., Memphis, TN. Light.

It looked to be picking up as I left, though.

[Bluebear]

258. So. New Hampshire, 4pm. HEAVY. Presidential-election-like turnout

[recoveringrepublican]

259. my son's school was packed at 3pm, in Dunedin Florida

I voted Oct 23....but when I went to pick up my son the parking lot was crazy!!! The flooding (it was raining) didn't seem to stop anyone. It was scary really. Kids, rain, cars, and voters wanting to get out before the flooding got even worse don't really mix too well.

Dunedin is located just north of Clearwater, Fl. Pinellas County, which is west of Tampa.

[jmowreader]

260. Fayetteville, NC. 2:30pm. Moderate

I vote at an elementary school that lets out at 2:15pm, but most of the booths--nine of 12--had voters at them.

I was the 386th vote on the scanner.

I went past there at 4pm and voting has picked up. As of then there were about 750 votes on the scanner, and this precinct only has 1500 registered voters in it.

[countingbluecars]

261. Hillsboro (Loudoun County), Virginia

There were about 20 people in line at 7:15 this morning-fairly heavy for this polling site. We had a choice of touch screen or scan type voting.

[citizen snips]

263. lots of rain

with light crowds.

[never cry wolf]

264. Lake Zurich, Il., 1:30 pm, light

I asked the poll workers how the turnout was and they said moderate. I picked 1:30 to miss the lunch hour rush in this purplish Chicago burb.

[David Zephyr]

265. Seemed strong and steady at 11 AM here in SoCal.

My employees all have voted already and they all voted Democrat as did their families, too. I can't tell them how to vote, but I can encourage them to vote with paid two hours for doing so. They all voted DEM.

[Ms. Clio]

266. voted in the burbs of Dallas, TX, midafternoon, turnout seemed light, no problems

Paper ballots and an optical scanning machine this time, as opposed to the electronic voting machines 2 years ago. No line at all, and turnout seemed about half of what it was in 2004 (approx 485 people had voted before me on that afternoon, as opposed to 181 today). No problems and everything seemed to run smoothly on this gloriously warm and sunny day.

[tammywammy]

272. 2pm Arlington, TX

About 10 people there. Poll workers were very helpful to the elderly gentleman in front of me that had a few question.

One electronic machine, which a lady was using when I arrived. But everyone else just picked up a paper ballot, and no one asked about the electronic machine while I was there either.

I think this polling location picks up around 4pm when people start getting off work.

[Ms. Clio]

298. I'm hoping people here in my town are also voting after work

I'm curious to know how this year's turnout here compares to previous midterms. I'll be watching this site for Dallas County results: http://www.dalcoelections.org. and this looks like a similar site for Tarrant County: http://www.tarrantcounty.com/eVote.

:hi:

[photogirl12]

270. kick

[Patsy Stone]

271. Miami Beach, FL, Noon -- Heavy

It's a small precinct, only about 10 machines, but they were all full, and everything was running smoothly. On the way out I asked the Election Protection people if they'd had any issues and they said no.

[covadcalifornia]

273. mid day - very busy

Montana

[Patsy Stone]

279. Welcome to DU, covadcalifornia!

:hi:

[RawMaterials]

274. cincy dem polling station 515pm

mod hev. but people getting turned away.

[libnnc]

275. Voted this morning at 9 am--Latham Ele. in Winston-Salem, NC

I think it was pretty steady. SO voted at 10 am--optical scan ballot counter was at number 141. Weather could NOT have been worse. It's been raining hard all day long.

[The Count]

276. Heavier than usual - NYC - per poll workers

[dropkickpa]

277. Pittsburgh PA 5:10pm moderate

And the repub stumpers have apparently finally decided that showing up in my Democrat neighborhood is a waste if time! I saw many old vets out stumping for the following:

PERSIAN GULF CONFLICT VETERANS’ COMPENSATION FUND
REFERENDUM
Do you favor indebtedness by the Commonwealth of up to $20,000,000 for the
payment of compensation for service in the Persian Gulf Conflict of 1990-1991?
* * *
PLAIN ENGLISH STATEMENT
PERSIAN GULF CONFLICT VETERANS’ COMPENSATION FUND
REFERENDUM
ACT NO. 29 OF 2006
The ballot question asks the voters of Pennsylvania whether they approve of the
Commonwealth borrowing $20 million to create a fund for the payment of compensation
to veterans of the United States Armed Forces who served in the Persian Gulf Conflict and
were Pennsylvania residents at the time of such service. The Persian Gulf Conflict was
fought in 1990 and 1991 following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.
If the ballot question is approved, payments will be made from the Persian Gulf
Conflict Veterans’ Compensation Fund in the following amounts: (1) up to $525 to a
veteran of the Conflict; (2) $5,000 to a veteran who was a prisoner of war in the Conflict;
and (3) $5,000 to the survivors of a veteran who died in the Conflict or from a wound,
disease, or injury sustained during the Conflict.
Act No. 29 of 2006, which presents the ballot question to the voters, authorizes the
Pennsylvania Adjutant General to create rules and procedures for administering payments
from the Compensation Fund. If necessary to meet the obligations of the Fund, Act 29
authorizes the Governor to transfer money from the General Fund to the Compensation
Fund and to reimburse the General Fund from other available funds.

[Lilith Velkor]

278. Rockville, MD; 12:30 pm; moderate

'Sup homeskillet! :hi:

[Blue Gardener]

280. Iowa City, Iowa

I would say Heavy turnout, 3:30 CST.

[NEDem]

282. Lincoln, NE 4:45p

busy, short (15 minute) wait

[Marlana]

285. Springfield, MO about 4:30pm Packed, no visible problems

I live just outside Springfield. The school we vote at was so packed we had to park in the grass outside. We have Sequoia Optical Scanners and people were voting at tables, against the wall, on the floor. I've never seen turnout like this in the twelve years I've been voting there. I didn't see any problems but people did seem upset that there wasn't any verification that their vote was counted, just another number on the machine. I was voter 1169, I think I'm usually in the mid 100's.

And there were no signs for Democratic candidates outside, just for Republicans and signs to vote no on Amendment 2 (stem cells).

[matcom]

286. Guess the OP should FINALLY weigh in!

turnout was HUGE here in MA

waited for about 20 minutes. DEVAL PATRICK IS GONNA KICK ASS TONIGHT!! :bounce:

[AntiWarPoster]

287. Geneseo, NY 1:25 pm

One person in line ahead of me

Ny-26 Tom Reynolds vs Jack Davis is the big race.

[cbear70]

288. Columbus Junction Iowa

Heavy turnout for such a small town.. Muscatine heavy as well...

[leeroysphitz]

289. 40 percent turn out at 6 pm in my suburban Detroit district

According to a helpful poll worker.

[bikebloke]

290. Arlington, Virginia

When I arrived at the polling station, there was a moderate line. Then the after-work crowd lined up behind me (I've always said my bike is faster than the train). It grew so long, that they had to stop it until the queue eased up.

One machine crashed. They said it had been crashing all day. It made me wonder if those votes will make the final tally. But I voted on another machine, so I only have the normal wonder if my vote will be counted or vaporized.

[Texasgal]

291. No problems

In and out at 6:00 P.M Austin, TX time.

People seemed genuinely happy and non-frazzled!

[Fire Walk With Me]

292. Full when I arrived, empty when I left.

At least people are getting out to vote. Please don't let Ahnold win. Please. No Ahnold for pResident in 2008.

And betting time: When will gas prices start going up again?

[last_texas_dem]

293. Moderate turnout in a light-red precinct

Locally, it's mostly unopposed Democrats, but since '02 my area has been voting Repug on the state level. However, I think this had much to do with widespread love for Shrub, which I'm sure isn't so widespread anymore. I voted at 5 PM, and there was decent turnout for a midterm election, but I only had to wait in line behind two or three people. However, there aren't any particularly major races here this year, besides perhaps the Governor's race, and Texas generally has not-too-great turnout anyway.

EDITED to add that I live/voted in Orange, TX, a small town (pop. 19,000) in southeast Texas, about 100 miles east of Houston and a mile or so from the Louisiana border.

[yewberry]

294. Seattle//7:45 am-4:00pm//light to moderate

I work in an elementary school, our local polling station, and there were folks in and out all day.

A poll-worker told me that she'd heard that they were expecting 60%, but that they were getting reports of 30% by noontime.


:patriot:

[sugar magnolia]

295. Davis, CA, 4:15pm, Light

Paper ballots, lollipops for the kids.

We must have small precincts because there's never more than 2-3 people there at a time yet we have high voter turnouts.

[Dem_4_Life]

296. San Antonio, TX, early voting last Wed JAM-PACKED

When I drove by all the polling places today on my way to work and home the parking lots were JAM-PACKED, I know a lot of replublicans in Texas as you can imagine and NONE of them like or want to vote for Rick Perry (R) for gov.

FYI: A friend at work who has NEVER voted Dem is pretty much voting a strait Dem ticket this year!!! I am so excited and feel a since of hope.

[LTR]

297. Just got back

Longer wait than '04 (same precinct).

Very smooth and efficient, as always here.

We use optical scanners with paper receipt, meaning TWO paper trails.

Only snag was they ran out of "I Voted" stickers. I jokingly demanded my ballot back, which got some laughs.

All in all, a pleasurable experience.

And I voted the scumbags out (well, one scumbag in my district, which is heavily Dem).

[MoseyWalker]

299. I drove 90 miles to help my sister vote

she is disabled, and hadn't been out of the house for months. We got to the precinct at 11:45, and she voted. I asked the guy asking for signatures if it was a good turnout. He said bigger than last time; maybe as much as double. Big turnout.

My precinct was above last time also. I'm not talking about the last midterm election. I'm talking about compared to 2004.

Big ass turnout around these parts!

[Blue_Tires]

303. TTT n/t

[Vox Acerbus]

304. Fort Mill, SC at 7AM - Moderate to Heavy

6 voting machines. About 40 people in front of me at 7AM.

By the time my husband got there at 8AM I had just gotten up to the front and about 70 people were in line waiting.

Our district sent Spratt (D) back to Congress. Kept the R governer (boo) and sadly, beat the crap out of the idea of gay marriage.