Ohio citizens wait – happily – more than 3 hours to vote

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Sunday, November 02, 2008

DAYTON — The air was electric in the Montgomery County Administration Building on Sunday evening, Nov. 2, as hundreds of people waited their turn to cast early ballots.

At 6:15 p.m. — 75 minutes before the polls were officially supposed to close — the wait was estimated at two hours. When a reporter took a number to vote, there were about 400 people ahead of him.

But one of the many upbeat election workers on hand assured folks in line that no one would be turned away.

In fact, the last of the 2,781 early ballots cast Sunday came in a little after 8:30 p.m, said Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections.


"We're getting nothing but compliments on the process, about how organized it is," Harsman said. "Voters are not losing their patience or growing frustrated."


Steve Ritsch drove from New Lebanon with his wife and daughter to vote. Although they waited 31/2 hours, they spent some of that was walking around downtown looking at the architecture.

"It's been a great experience," Ritsch said. "They did a really good job of keeping people under control. People seem excited about being down here exercise democracy. It's kind of like a party."

read more: http://www.middletownjournal.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/11/02/ddn110208earlyvotingweb.html


Ohio Early Voting Hours Today:

Montgomery County: 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Registered voters can cast their ballots at the Board of Elections on the lower level of the Montgomery County Administration Building, 451 W. Third St., Dayton.

Other area counties: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Greene County Board of Elections, 651 Dayton-Xenia Road, Xenia; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Miami County Board of Elections, 215 W. Main St., Troy; and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Warren County Board of Elections, 406 Justice Drive, Lebanon.


Ohio election day hours and tips:

Polls open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 in all counties.

State law prohibits any campaign shirts, signs or similar items within 100 feet of a polling place.

Bring a valid ID, which can include a state driver's license or ID, a military ID, utility bill or payroll stub.

A new requirement allows any voter to use a paper ballot instead of a voting machine.