Nerves, Nerves, Nerves!

by hilzoy

By popular request, an election day open thread.

Comments

[cleek]

55 and rainy, here in Raleigh. not exactly "turnout" weather.

[Ugh]

Huzzah!

So, can I just say that the differences I saw in DC at polling places this morning are stunning. My wife and I voted at St. Johns College High School at around 8am, and were in and out in less than 5 minutes. Then driving down 16th Street there were at least 3 places where there must have been over a hundred people in line. One would think that the allocation of voting machines could be handled better (assuming that's the problem).

Also, we had the option of a paper or electronic ballot. We took the paper one, thank you very much.

Oh, and I voted for McCain cause I want to see just how bad it can get with President Palin.

I keed, I keed.

[Ugh]

Nerves, Nerves, Nerves!

Yes. I said over at cleek's place that last night felt like some kind of weird combination of Christmas Eve and Bizarro Christmas Eve.

[MeDrewNotYou]

Fortunately I just missed the pre-work rush so I got in and out within 10 minutes (I vote at my hometown, not at school). The amazing thing, though, was that my precinct was at ~150 votes already. Usually that's how many we get all day. As reddish as central IN is, I get the feeling that all those people aren't showing up just to stop the scary Muslim from taking over.

[DrDave]

I live in a predominately Republican district in the northwest suburbs of Philadelphia. Polls open at 7. I was there at 7:15 and stood on line for over an hour. I have never waited more than ten minutes to vote here before. The Democratic committeeman looked very happy this morning; his Republican counterparts not so much.

[Incertus]

I passed a couple of polling places on my way to the train this morning--lines out the doors with cheery people standing in them. Of course, I live in a fairly liberal part of Broward County, Florida, so that's to be expected, but it's still good to see.

[Redstocking Grandma]

I have voted in the same Long Island, NY ED for 24 years. For the first time, one of the two lever machines wasn't working. There was a long line at 7AM, at least a 35 minute wait. We were offered the alternative of a paper ballot--no private place to mark it, putting it into a manila envelope when finished. The same election workers have been here for 25 years, so I feel confident the paper ballots will be counted.

Most people were highly dubious of the paper alternative. This is the longest wait I have encountered. I live in a predominantly African American area.

Up to now, the New York lever machines seem safer than the alternatives. The Board of Elections fixed and maintains them, not some company of unknown reputation. Nassau County found that 85 percent of new voting machines delivered didn't work properly.

[Phil]

We got the rain out of the way in northeast Ohio yesterday, so it's unseasonably beautiful here -- sunny, clear skies and a predicted high of 68. I got to my polling place in the 'burbs around 6:45 and waited maybe 20 minutes. We've replaced the touchscreen machines with optical scan ballots this year, and when I fed my ballot in I couldn't get past the feeling that I was pushing it into a shredder.

After being part of the 80,000 strong Obama rally in Cleveland on Sunday, and seeing the blocks-long early voting lines Sunday and Monday, I'm feeling provisionally confident about Ohio. 538 is showing a projection of Obama +3.3, with a 3.1 MOE, but we'll see.

[tpy]

From getting in line to walking out the door, 19 minutes at 8:30am in my blue-collar, racially mixed neighborhood in New Haven, CT. If it weren't for the long line stretching out the door, it would be nearly impossible to find the polling place; it was hardly labeled at all.

One woman explained to another how to read the ballot based on the sample ballot posted at the door. Without that explanation, the woman apparently would have accidentally voted for Nader. The CT ballot is pretty simple (except it's easy to miss the referendums at the top), so I'm not sure what would have led her to make that mistake.

CT's funky rules for registrar of voters means that New Haven's registrar is the only tight race on my ballot, with a Green Party candidate possibly getting into office (the Rep & Dem are guaranteed spots). From the state's rules:

"If third-party candidates also listed for registrar, in addition to the Republican and Democratic nominees, and third party candidate receives the highest or second highest vote total, and does not belong to either major party, then that candidate, and also the Republican and Democratic nominees, are elected Registrars of Voters , However, if the major-party nominees run first and second in the vote totals, then they are elected."

That means that if the Green Party candidate takes 1 or 2, then there will be a third Registrar of Voters ($52K salary) in New Haven.

[watchinginwonder]

Got to the polling place in my affluent suburban town in a rural northern NJ county a few minutes after 6am. Unexpectedly, there was a line. Usually my partner and I are ballots 1,2,3 or 4 for the district. This year numbers 22 and 23. It was a new polling place for us this year due to construction and unavailability of the traditional location, but there was one additional machine available for each of the two districts voting at this location which will help to speed things up. I expect many decided to vote early rather than after commuting home from work to ensure they would have time.

[vanmojo]

Stand... stand men of the west... the hour of doom is at hand!

mojo sends

[Chris Huston]

Voted in Tyler TX...where the polling places are Baptist churches.

There were more campaign volunteers than voters at 9AM Central, they had 4 electronic voting machines and only had three of them on.

Signs of low bible belt Texas turnout and a surprise victory for Obama? My crazy side says yes ^^

[jp]

All I can say, look up ON TENTERHOOKS in the dictionary, and that would be my picture!

In my small PA town, there was no line (at about 9am), but the poll ladies announced with astonishment"You're the 192nd voter already!"--so I guess that means bigger-than-usual turnout.

[The Modesto Kid]

The thing that really struck me about the polling place this morning was not primarily the lines -- although those were unusual, yes, my neighbor who has voted around here for 30 years said he had never seen the like -- but the good mood everybody was in. The standing in line for half an hour went by much quicker with everybody making eye contact and smiling.

[Curtis]

My daughter called me ecstatic yesterday that Obama had won the election at her elementary school by a margin of 414-343. This is in the white suburbs of San Antonio. I was very surprised, thinking this is a pretty conservative part of town.

The line at our precinct was out the door and around the building over a half hour before the polls opened. Happily, my daughter and I voted early, so we just waved and honked at the people in line and she rolled down the window and shouted, "Yes We Can!" and "Si Se Puede!"

Good times.

[Anarch]

Nerves? We don't need to steenkin' nerves!

[The Modesto Kid]

OTOH -- good-natured half-hour lines at my precinct (which usually sees no lines) are one thing; 8-hour lines in Kansas City with hostile poll workers are something else.

In the mock election at Sylvia's school, Obama outpolled McCain by 387 to 11, with four ballots marked for both candidates.

[Oyster Tea]

I'm pleased that my state (west coast) allows vote by mail. I no longer have to vote after knowing the results. I voted two weeks ago. Two thoughts: 1) Regardless of outcome, today is an historic step for our country on its long trek toward fairness and respect for all. 2) Stupidity and tribalism remain strong. There is no other way this race could be close.

[Andy]

I voted early last week in Galveston, Texas, but took a foreign colleague from work to my local precint this morning to show him how the polls work on a local level. There was no line, but I also noticed that on the one page of voter rolls I saw, about half had already early-voted, and several more had today before we arrived at 9:30. So it will be a strong turnout, even if in-person voting today is fairly light.

Also worth noting that many local folks are not back after Hurricane Ike, and many of those who are back have a mountain of other issues to deal with, as well.

Galveston generally trends blue, and my precinct (heavily African American and Latino, low income) does so consistently.

[tim serbo]

voting report from upstate manhattan: i arrived at PS 187 in washington heights at 6:20 to find about 200 people already lined up on the sidewalk outside the school. mostly couples on the way to work, everyone studying their new york times or chatting quietly. parents of kids from the school walked up and down the line, hawking brownies and donuts to raise money for school activities. i sprung for a brownie. little discussion of the contest itself, though i did chat with the woman behind me about GOP voter intimidation tactics. a little kid, asked by a grownup about her electoral preference, hollered "Rock Obama," which drew a big laugh. despite the lines, i was only the 25th voter in my electoral district (76). breezed through sign-in, voted for BHO on the Working Families ticket (the only way a new yorker’s vote counts for anything), withheld my vote from charlie rangel, and walked out feeling better about my vote than i ever had before. saw my friend steve waiting in line (which by now stretched around the corner), gave him a big wave, said "it’s a great day for america." which it is. total time: one hour.

[Andy]

A follow-up -- I should also credit the precinct judge, how while we were there went to some lengths to sort out a situation with a voter who'd come to the wrong precinct, and who took time as well to give my foreign colleague a quick explanation of the process at the local level.

Now if we could just get rid of the damned electronic voting machines. . . .

[Barrett Wolf]

At the poll this morning. No long waits in small towns. Everyone smiling, joking.(I like "Vote early and often!", myself.)

Then the handle closes the curtain slips behind me. I am faced with the shock and awe of an act so many have died for since what we generously describe as 'civilization' began.

I swear, I was absolutely choked up as I pushed down on that small lever and felt the weight and the palpable power, of my vote being called into being.

I am proud to be an American in this moment, when we can commit and act that rewrites EVERY single history book in America. We each are responsible for this one... Each of us here and the millions more who will stand in lines hour upon hour, in order to bring honor to our forefolk and our nation.

To them I say thank you. And thank you, one and all for being here, for speaking your piece (and your peace). Thank you for making every hour I spent typing worth it.

[von]

Had an early-morning meetin, got to the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation around 10 a.m., cast my ballot in about 5 minutes, walked out. Ended up voting for two democrats (one is a friend), two republicans, and one libertarian.

[dutchmarbel]

European election monitors in Florida complained that they were only allowed to visit ONE polling place, elected by the government. They were amazed about that in view of the earlier voting irregularities.

[KCinDC]

Voted a week ago, and it took about 90 minutes. Morton Kondracke was in the same line (though not near me).

[alchemist]

I was amazed how good it feels to vote for a candidate I actually like... it's my 3rd election, and the first time to actually feel something about it.

At 10 am wilmington, NC (liberal beach town) was quiet, but 210 people voted before me. Everyone I've talked to says polling places across the city were packed at 6 am.

[Roger Moore]

I voted this morning in Pasadena, CA. I got there at 7:00am as the polls were opening, and the wait was about 45 minutes. When I got out, the line was about as long as when I got there. I've never seen turnout like this before.

I expect things to be crazy in LA County. Non-absentee early voting is practically non-existent. There's exactly one early voting location for over 10 million residents. Why even bother with in-person early voting if you aren't going to provide a decent number of polling places?

[Jay C]

Strangely uneven on the Upper W Side of Manhattan this morning: one big polling station I passed was virtually empty: on my block, though, the line (at least 200+ folks) stretched around two full blocks. Glad we absentee-voted.

[Ian Spivey]

I voted this morning in Brooklyn, New York's ED 96. There were lines at the polling place for some districts (probably about 30m for ED 98), but not mine. The voting machine was broken and I had to vote on affidavits anyways (moved to my new district about 35 days ago), which was a new experience - filling out a paper ballot by hand like a scantron while sitting in an elementary school cafeteria. The students were holding a bake sale to benefit the school.

All in all, a great experience.

[Bernard Yomtov]

No wait at all here in Cambridge at 1:00 or so.

According to the posted sheet there are about 2000 voters in my precinct. If I read the machine correctly my vote was #845 of the day.

[bc]

Voted here in the Sierras. No problem with waiting (very small town) but I'm always amazed at the huge number of propositions (12 this time).

Remind me why I elect representatives to the state assembly and senate again?

[Donheff]

Voted on Capitol Hill in DC at about 9:30. Lines were short but poll workers said they were longer during rush hour. Saw a clueless young guy who stopped by my polling place because his was too crowded. He didn't realize he couldn't just stop in anywhere. I guess that is not a big surprise. My daughter mentioned that she might vote in another part of DC after work. I set her straight and she joined my wife and me at the correct polling place.

[hilzoy]

I voted. There was a negligible line -- I think I had to wait behind maybe three people -- but there has never been any line at all before. And this was at about 11:30. I asked the election judge how turnout was, and she said, and I quote:

Oh. My. God. We've never had anything like this before.

[JakeB]

I can't remember ever voting before with such a sense of satisfaction. No wait at the Methodist Church, lots of cheerful volunteers; no request for ID beyond voter card.

On Muni I saw a gorgeous woman. Tried to avoid staring. Then I saw she was reading a Terry Pratchett novel. Argh . . . madam, may I lay my heart at your feet? Then I noticed the big rock on her left ring finger and went back to thinking about work.

Saw a 50-person or so line extending out the door at some marina-front residential building on King St. Was glad I had already voted.

[Ellis]

I voted a couple of weeks ago by mail-in ballot here in Colorado Springs. There is *huge* tension in this town: the evangelicals have well and truly drunk the "Obama will turn the US into a Muslim nation" kool-aid. For that reason alone, I would want him to win. But--honestly--the prospect of his becoming the next President of the United States just fills me with such *hope*. And right now it's fluttering in my chest, and it can't settle, and it's making such a racket! Please, please, please.

[JakeB]

Oh, and as for those still undecided, you might consider this ticket.

[A.J.]

Or this ticket.

[Roger Moore]

Sorry, JakeB, but Shatner is a no-go. There's that whole born in Montreal to Canadian parents thing to overcome.

[Warren Terra]

Short lines this morning in the Cambridgeport neighborhood of The People's Republic Of Cambridge, maybe thirty people, but I've never seen lines of more than a half-dozen, even on a contentious Super Tuesday last spring. All the voting stations were occupied, even though the only issues at stake were three state referenda (one of which is monumentally dumb and dangerous). Someone had done a number on the electoral rolls, though; I've lived and voted here since the '06 primaries at least, but my name was gone, and in the ten minutes I was in the polling place I was one of at least half a dozen in the same boat; at least one voted here in the primaries, and another voted here for twenty years. This despite that I, like at least one other delisted person, got a postcard reminding me of my polling location some weeks ago (and I was in the right location). Still odder, they accepted my driver's license (four years old, it has an address from across the river printed on the front, and my current address printed on a sticker on the back; it's possible that the sticker has verification measures embedded in it, but the nice pollworker couldn't know), and waved me back to the checkin to request and receive a perfectly standard ballot, indistinguishable from the rest, the only paperwork being a scribble of my name and address appended to a growing list. There can be no partisan motive here, not in Cambridge, but it was odd practice. P.S. afterwards, did 150 calls to VA and IA, got at least one vote with IA's same-day registration.

[mjm]

It's about a ten minute stroll to my polling place in a Greek Orthodox Church along Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. Along the way, I saw many lawn signs for the Obama/Biden ticket, as well as many for Al Franken -- the only dissenting opinions were a McCain/Palin sign that had been thrown in a tree (in the yard of a duplex with a Franken sign) and a homemade Bob Barr sign. I suppose that's to be expected, though, since my precinct is the most reliably Democratic in the State.

When I got to the polls, they were set up in the gym, rather that the conference room they were in in 2006. There was no line, it took me all of five minutes to vote, and I was voter 841 at 11:25 local time.

As I walked to run some errands, I met a man who was canvassing the neighborhood for Obama -- still working hard! I lost my "I Voted" sticker, though.

[mjm]

"that"="than"

[(The Original) Francis]

Voted at 10:00 am in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach, California. 10 minute line, when there's never been any line. InkaVote worked fine. Poll workers said that turnout was way up.

[OCSteve]

hilzoy: I voted.

And I didn’t cancel it out. ;) Well, unless you voted yes on slots.

[MeDrewNotYou]

OCSteve- So, what flavor was the Kool-Aid they sent you? ^.^

[phg]

i'm waiting for my son to get home from college. we will be going to vote together with the mrs. here in suffolk county, long island. the other son voted this morning, and told me the turnout was heavy in our traditionally moderately right leaning town. earlier today, while in manhattan on business, i walked past a polling station in lower manhattan near the seaport. my office used to be around the corner from this polling station, and in past elections, i have never seen a line. this year, at about 8:00 a.m., the line stretched out the building, and then snaked completely up the block and around the corner. never thought i would see that. whoever wins tonight, it's a great day for america.

[Ara]

Francis: High turnout will help turn back Prop 8 in CA, hopefully.

[wonkie]

I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack but i cn't tell if it's stress or joy,

Voted last week by mail. Got teary eyed. Didn't think of taking a picture of my ballot until it was too late.

it is a glorious fall day in Washington state, big blue sky, showers of golden leaves blowing around, all the russets and crimsons and ambers and oranges of fall relfected in the water of the inlet.

I'm going to walk my dog soak in the hot tub have a drink and then I'll check up on resutls. Should be some in soon.

[nous]

Lines are about 2.5 hours long on campus here in SoCal. That's about a 45 minute longer wait than four years ago. This after having early voting on campus for several days. Most of the profs and TAs I know are excusing students who miss class because of the lines (yes, regardless of who they voted for, Mr. Horowitz).

Glad I voted by mail. Also glad the registrar of voters has an on-line db for making sure that the mail-in ballots arrived and were valid.

[Hob]

I've been in San Francisco for 5 years and was just starting to get used to how fast the voting process is. We use paper OCR ballots, so the equipment is very easy to set up and lots of people just open up their garages as polling stations -- some areas have literally one on every block. The poll workers tend to be pretty well organized and helpful. I never had to wait more than a couple of minutes. Of course, this is also partly because the turnout is usually no better than it is in the rest of the country.

This morning I had a 40-minute wait. From the end of my line, I could see the end of another line a block away. In San Francisco.

I hope beyond hope that the enthuasiasm for Obama will carry over into a defeat for Prop 8 here. If not, it'll be really hard for me to celebrate anything... or to look my newly de-married friends in the eye, because my good intentions didn't result in me doing anything for the cause other than donating some money.

[The Crafty Trilobite]

After voting, I walked half a mile to the bus in the chilly rain -- and I practically floated. Voting is always a thrill for me (yes, I really am that much of a romantic about democracy and America, warts and all) but never so much as this time.

Wonkie, I never thought of taking a pic of my ballot. But that's okay, I'm far more interested in tomorrow's headline.

Fret, fret, fret. Eleventerhooks!