So how was YOUR voting experience?

[MotorCityMan]

Here in Detroit, my partner and I got to the poll's right at 7:00 am, and there was already a line two blocks long!

Took 2 hours in my predominately black neighboorhood to vote. I somehow think that Grosse Pointe and Birmingham residents are not waiting that long...

The feeling in line was electric! People were excited, polite, friendly, chatty, and no one was getting pissed off about the wait. People WANTED to be there and it showed.

Beautiful day here in the Motor City, so I think the turnout this year will be huge...

[mike_c]

1. in Blue Lake CA I showed up at the poll at 7:05 AM and was finished voting...

...by 7:15. No line, but a steady stream of voters coming and going. My poll location is about a block from my house. Small town Norcal at its best!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. Huntington Beach, California - more people in line than in previous years

and a lot of people were asking for paper ballots. Four years ago, they kind of gave me a strange look when I asked for one. This year, there were stacks and stacks of paper ballots on their table.

Oh, and BYE BYE FETID CHIMP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cherokeeprogressive]

31. Before Registrar Neal Kelley came along, the standard practice was to hide the paper ballots

and do everything possible to get voters to vote on the eSlates. I really liked working for him. EVERY vote gets counted. Provisional and absentee. Our standing order when processing provisional votes was to err on the side of the voter.

The OC ROV employees will be hard at work until probably 3 or 4 tomorrow morning. You can see them work at ocgov.com. Click the link that says "Election Results", then "Enhanced Election Night Reporting", and finally "Live Streaming Video".

I also think that OC has the best trained poll workers in the state. They are told to challenge NO ONE. Additionally, they're told that if a talking dog walks in and asks to vote, he or she is to be given a provisional ballot with no questions asked. Provided they're not on the roll of course.

[TNOE]

3. Wonderful.

Only had to wait about 10 minutes, its a beautiful day here in our city - low 70 degrees and very sunny.

As I was pulling into the voting place - I saw a young man (probably 20ish) being wheeled out in a wheelchair with what looked to be his mother behind him - he had on an grey shirt that said Army in black - they got into the van next to me which had an Obama/Biden 08 sticker on the car. I can only assume he was a wounded Iraq veteran.

[benddem]

4. great

I filled out the ballot at my dining room table...and handed it to my brother to take with him to the Obama Hq. Best way possible to vote. No lines, no waiting, no harassment.

[DemoRabbit]

5. Uneventful in New York

Met hubby there about 9am... took a total of 10 minutes. We were in and out quick. It felt GREAT, but here in NY in my fairly red neighborhood, it was pretty uneventful.

[knitter4democracy]

6. Over here in Battle Creek, I took 45 min, and Hubby took 2 hrs.

That's in an almost entirely white precinct that often leans to the right. Everyone wanted to be there, and most everyone was excited. It was a lot of fun, actually.

I heard on the radio that they were planning on a 75% turnout in Detroit. Um, dude, with 96% of the population in Michigan registered?! No way. It's going to be way more than that, and they're going to be hurting by the end of the day for more ballots and extended poll times.

Everyone is voting today! Gobama!

[distantearlywarning]

7. In Pittsburgh:

Got to the polls at about 7:30 this morning, and had a 45 minute wait. I was #128 in my precinct. When I left at 8:20, the line was twice as long as when I came in.

I should mention that I live in a large, inner city, 75% African-American precinct, and almost everybody in line with me was chatting about voting for Obama. A man came by and handed out a Democratic party straight-ticket voting guide and at least 3/4 of the people in line took one. There were lots of signs in the vicinity and every single one of them was for a Democrat.

There was a private non-partisan poll watcher present who informed everyone going in that if they had any problems whatsoever that she would be there to help them. I did not see anyone doing anything illegal or trying to disenfranchise any voters at my polling place. Everything was going very smoothly and as quickly as could be expected with the high turnout.

I voted on a touch-screen but everything seemed to go well. I did not hear anyone else complaining about anything related to the machines.

[taught_me_patience]

8. It sucked in Long Beach, CA

I was in line for over an hour to find out that there were 7 polling stations. WTF?!?!?! this is a high density population area with a lot of apartments and condos.

[Kip Humphrey]

9. We early voted in Houston. About 100 people in line on a Monday afternoon. The fellow ahead of us

in line said he tried to early vote on two previous days but the line was way too long (3+hour wait) so he had left. We waited about 40 minutes, voted on Hart Intercivics. I checked the party slate voting option and was surprised to find it worked without screwing up (first time in 3 elections). I've felt "historic" ever since!

[meow2u3]

10. In lower Bucks County, PA, there was a line stretching to the end of the parking lot

This is the freakin' suburbs and I stood in a line stretching out to the parking lot of the firehouse/polling station. I waited in line for about half an hour, but once I got in, I have no trouble voting. I took my driver's license because it was the first time I voted there.

[skeewee08]

11. My wait

was about 30 minutes in Edmond Oklahoma, I called my husband and told him I just voted for Obama, and I must admit I got a little emotional it brought tears to my eyes. To think of all the men and woman Black and White, Christians and Jews that died for the right to vote.

Obama/Biden 08-16

[Fuzz]

12. District 6, Middlesex County NJ

At a little past noon. Poll workers said over 1/2 of the registered voters had voted already at that point. Great turnout. They break up the area very well so that not everyone is trying to vote in the same place. There were 6 people in front of my wife and I so we waited about 10 minutes. All went smoothly.

[dysfunctional press]

13. nothing special. fairly long wait in the mostly red collar county nor'west of chicago.

more people than i had expected to be there at 6:30- we had to wait almost 5 minutes in line to get checked in to vote.
altogether it took us over 15 minutes from the time we left our house to the time we returned home after voting. i wish that they would have had more than just the 12 voting machines- it might have gone faster. :shrug:

[NWPatriot]

14. What was it like for me?

I went to my polling place this morning, which was a church in a suburb south of Tacoma. I got there a few minutes before the polls opened, intending to be first in line.

I pulled into the parking lot, and SURPRISE! there were over 50 people waiting in line!

It was 40 minutes before I got to vote, but I didn't mind. The poll workers, bless their hearts, were NOT expecting this amount of people! They were nice, and they did their jobs as quickly as they could. I voted by electronic touch machine...no problems, no flipped votes. All my votes were recorded on a 'receipt' that I inspected before I finally submitted my vote.

Even so, there were so many people there to vote with the paper ballot, and they only had something like 7 “booths”. So, some people were using open tables, pews, and one lady even went to the lectern and voted there!

One other thing...the rule is that you're not supposed to have any campaign materials withing 100 feet of a polling place. However, I saw a couple people with Obama buttons, and one guy with an Obama t-shirt. Technically, they shouldn't have been allowed in, or at least asked to remove them.

No one said "boo" to any of them. I think that's an indicator of how things are going to turn out.

THERE WAS ONE OTHER THING: Some polling places in Pierce County, WA were moved, and the public wasn't really informed of some of them. In my own precint, three polling places were combined into one, and a couple up in Bonney Lake were moved completely down to Sumner...and some people can't find them.

[slackmaster]

15. Smooth, quick, and painless in my part of San Diego

As it always has been. I was in and out in under 5 minutes.

[MotorCityMan]

16. Thanks for sharing, everyone

I was really surprised at having to wait so long, but it was really nice to talk to all the many, many Obama supporters waiting in line, also.

People are really excited about Obama in a way I've never seen. If the rethugs try stealing it, there is going to be major trouble.

[Ms. Toad]

17. I am normally voter #1-20 or thereabouts

I was voter #198 this morning. More than double the number of booths, and still a wait of about 20 people ahead of me.

Beautiful day.

Only slightly sour note was that the church in which it was held had set up its bake sale in the hallway where everyone had to pass to enter the voting area and were offering church literature to everyone (not political).

I don't get really bent out of shape at polling places being in churches - there aren't too many places that are empty on a weekday that can hold the crowd. I also don't think they need to cover up all the crosses (or whatever other symbols) just because they are allowing their facilities to be used for polling.

I do think actively recruiting passing voters should be prohibited. We reported it - no one had stopped it by an hour or so after it was reported.

Of course, no one had come by to rescue the Republican leafleters who were stuck about 300 yds from the entrance, either :) (I worked that polling place 4 years ago - Ohio law says you must stay outside the flags and the flags must be placed 100 feet from the entrance. For some reason they think if they place the flags at 300 feet then you have to stay 300 ft from the entrance. In 2004 it took until mid-afternoon after we called first thing in the morning (having been threatened with arrest if we insisted on standing at 100 ft)) I didn't volunteer my knowledge to them - and when I made my call to report the literature, I didn't report that they were being illegally kept too far from the entrance.

[AnthemRoad]

18. Pretty simple...

...to borrow a Stevie Wonder song, it was:

Signed, Sealed, Delivered.

Postal voting, ftw!

Gawd I love Oregon's way, heh. Too bad it isn't that way in California where I'm moving.

[MazeRat7]

19. Voted early last week - Austin, tx. Waited just over 30mins. Very smooth all in all. -n/t

[Pastiche423]

20. My voting experience was wonderful

although it din't happen today.

Three weeks ago, I received my voter's pamphlet in the mail. During the next week, I went to a few meet and greets for local candidates, as well as a mayoral and state representative debate.

A week ago, I filled out my ballot, then my neighbor and I strolled the four blocks to our local library and dropped off our ballots.

EVERYONE IN THE U.S SHOULD VOTE THIS WAY!

[Iggo]

21. Whittier, CA.

I called Sunday morning for an appointment Sunday at noon to early vote at the County Registar's office in Norwalk, about a five minute bus ride from my house. Easier than the DMV!

Bypassed a few thousand people (lots and lots and lots of black folks and teenage to college age kids) who did not have appointments. Filled in bubbles on a paper ballot. Retained my numbered stub for proof. It took a little less than an hour. Done deal.

Spent my afternoons since waving a No On 8 sign at the intersection of Beach and Imperial.

[Dems4me]

22. I live in a rural area, but waited til 2:30 to vote, to avoid any crowd...n/t

[XanaDUer]

23. It was fine.

Went during the day. no line, but there was one earlier in the morning when i drove to work.

[Number_Six]

24. Cakewalk!

Seriously. I had the day off, but decided to wait until after the early crowd came and went, those who vote before heading to work.

Around 11. Not that crowded. Rainy, though.

A few buttons, I'm done. No flipping detected.

Now, if the rest of the state (South Carolina) will ride along with me!

[MrSlayer]

25. Easy, as usual.

Walked in, signed the book, waited two minutes for the person ahead of me to be done, voted.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

26. early...short line...seamless process n/t

[OKIsItJustMe]

27. Just great! 3-5 minutes in line

Sadly, this will probably be the last chance for me to use a mechanical lever voting machine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmSn4qLdgbU

[TheCentepedeShoes]

28. Fine

Have the day off, so we went about 10AM. We took the doggie along, took turns holding him on his leash outside. No line and after signing in I only had to wait about a minute for a machine to open up. Steady stream of people coming in and out but no back up. This is a verrry Repug precinct. Met the Dem running for county sheriff out on the sidewalk. He complimented the doggie and I told him "good luck."

[jpak]

29. Big line at the opening - and the little old french canadian ladies were hoot

One of them had to get her car registration to register to vote and she was quite loud in her annoyance.

(in a Quebec accent)

"Here's my (mutter) registration and you keep your mouth shut closed now - I approve dis message".

then one of them said...

"Is dis da confession line at church?"

the the other said...

"Jumpin' up Josephine... I never seen so many sinners"

then all three of them...

"OOHHH VAAAAHH" ...(making the sign of the cross).

:rofl:

[JoeyMac]

30. It started with a getting a "sample ballot" from a few obama supporters...

There was no crowd or line around 8am (small town) so I was able to go right in. A pair of younger people were handing out "Sample Ballots for Change". I cordially took one and thanked them, "Thank you for giving me a map of potholes to avoid on the ballot this year." It was a good thing they were handing out the sample ballots, because I had lost my NRA sample ballot and not all the names are listed with party affiliation. So, I walked in, voted for McSame & the Bimbo, and left 15 mins later. Pretty pleasant, I thought. I checked a few democrats on the list, but most of my votes were cast were Republicans or incumbents.

Molôn Labé