I Voted

[Walt34]

I "sorta voted". Well, I filled out the mail-in ballot but did it after the mail carrier arrived for the day so it'll go out tomorrow. But at the moment it's still sitting on the dining room table.

[rodi]

On Sunday DH, Older son, and I discussed the ballot. DH and DH filled out their mail in ballots. I filled in my sample ballot. We discussed pros and cons of various candidates and initiatives. Interesting perspective from the 19 year old son... he made me reevaluate a few things on the initiative. I think we'll keep this tradition.

Later that evening Son and DH walked to the mailbox to drop off their ballots. Bonus - the dog got an extra walk. LOL.

I chose to vote in person on Tuesday. In previous years I have voted in person, on election day. This year I chose to vote early at the county registrar of voters (ROV) office. I brought my unopened mail in ballot to turn in.

There was a 7-8 car line for drive through ballot drop off. There was no wait to start the process of in person voting. I was given a pen at the first station outside (from a jar labeled "clean pens"). I turned it in at the end of the process at the last station in a jar labeled "dirty pens". After filling out a short form I went inside and was processed by a ROV employee. She accepted my mail in ballot and marked it as void. She gave me a new envelope - affixed with my information. She also gave me a credit card type thing. I took that to the next room and inserted it into the voting machine. The machine let my select my choices, review my choices, and then printed out the votes. (This was my first time using this machine.) The paper print out was then put in the envelope. The next and last station they sealed the envelope and had me sign it (like a mail in ballot). I put the pen in the dirty pen jar, the card in the dirty card box, and the ballot in the ballot box.

Yesterday I was notified that my ballot was accepted and would be counted. Son's and DH's ballots were also accepted.

Done.

[street]

More than 370K Pa. mail-in ballots not accepted because most were duplicates I just seen on the news.

[Philliefan33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by street More than 370K Pa. mail-in ballots not accepted because most were duplicates I just seen on the news.

Not ballots, but ballot applications.

I think this is a case of the process to prevent fraud working, but with unintended consequences. Many of the mail-in ballot applications that were denied were deemed duplicate requests. Apparently when voters requested a mail-in ballot for the primary, there was a box to check that indicated the voter wanted a mail-in ballot for future elections. If voters checked that box, and subsequently sent an application for a mail-in ballot for the November election, the requests were considered duplicate and (both) denied.

While PA has had absentee voting, this is the first year we are able to vote by mail without an acceptable excuse. It’s a great idea but we have to learn the intricacies. I hope the state keeps mail-in voting after virus times, because otherwise PA does not make it easy to vote. There is no early voting, and we can only vote at our assigned polling place.

[street]

^ yes exactly! I should of made myself more clear.

[Popeye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philliefan33 Not ballots, but ballot applications. I think this is a case of the process to prevent fraud working, but with unintended consequences. Many of the mail-in ballot applications that were denied were deemed duplicate requests. Apparently when voters requested a mail-in ballot for the primary, there was a box to check that indicated the voter wanted a mail-in ballot for future elections. If voters checked that box, and subsequently sent an application for a mail-in ballot for the November election, the requests were considered duplicate and (both) denied. While PA has had absentee voting, this is the first year we are able to vote by mail without an acceptable excuse. It’s a great idea but we have to learn the intricacies. I hope the state keeps mail-in voting after virus times, because otherwise PA does not make it easy to vote. There is no early voting, and we can only vote at our assigned polling place.

I just hope we don’t end up being the deciding state. I don’t want to be the Florida 2000 For 2020.

[harley]

Speaking of FL, I just checked and both our ballots that we mailed from MD a week or so ago have been received and counted.

[coveredbridge]

Dropped our ballots in the mailbox today. Voted first time by mail in the primary. Entered our own names as write-in for one office, then checked online with the county election office after the election was certified to make sure we showed up as write-in votes, so we know our votes were counted. Did the same thing for the general. More convenient than going to the polling place. We will probably continue to vote by mail if it is offered.

[target2019]

Dropped off ballots in the county container outside the door of our township government.

I'll check later in the week to see how things are moving along.

[iloveyoga]

Our ballots have been received and counted.

[harllee]

In our town the lines for early voting have been long. So I have noticed that people are posting on facebook and twitter which locations have the shortest lines which is very helpful for people looking for the best place to vote.

[Badger]

Went a half hour before the polls opened this morning for the first day of early voting and the line was too long already. There were many that were probably going before work. I'll keep trying a few times a day for a few days until the I feel safe and don't have to stand on my feet too long. I'll take my walking stick for support anyway. I will get there eventually.


Cheers1

[harllee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badger Went a half hour before the polls opened this morning for the first day of early voting and the line was too long already. There were many that were probably going before work. I'll keep trying a few times a day for a few days until the I feel safe and don't have to stand on my feet too long. I'll take my walking stick for support anyway. I will get there eventually. Cheers1

Keep trying Badger! It is important for everyone to vote! Probably the lines will be less later in the week.

[Midpack]

Though we waited in line for 2 hours to vote early in person on Oct 15, I’ve been following the experience of other locals on FB and ND since and most people are getting done in 30 minutes worst case now, quite a few waited less than 10 minutes or not at all. So it looks like early in person in NC is going well. Just don’t wait until Oct 31 (last day).

And it’s reassuring to be able to confirm our ballots were “valid” and “accepted” online. So we’re all set!

[ShokWaveRider]

Florida EV Starts today, has anyone here seen long lines? Not in the Big Cities like Miami, Orlando, Tampa etc, but in the smaller counties.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Though we waited in line for 2 hours to vote early in person on Oct 15, I’ve been following the experience of other locals on FB and ND since and most people are getting done in 30 minutes worst case now, quite a few waited less than 10 minutes or not at all. So it looks like early in person in NC is going well. Just don’t wait until Oct 31 (last day). And it’s reassuring to be able to confirm our ballots were “valid” and “accepted” online. So we’re all set!

Wake County, NC here.

We saw the lines on Oct 15, which were massive. So, we backed off a few days. Went today at 9:30 and had zero wait. A steady stream of voters were coming through, with little to no wait at that time. Perfect.

I felt pretty safe. It was in a large room, well spaced, and if there were lines, they had spacing markings and a lot of poll workers helping. You get a pen to keep for yourself, no need to use an old pen. They had workers wiping down the privacy booths.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras Wake County, NC here. We saw the lines on Oct 15, which were massive. So, we backed off a few days. Went today at 9:30 and had zero wait. A steady stream of voters were coming through, with little to no wait at that time. Perfect. I felt pretty safe. It was in a large room, well spaced, and if there were lines, they had spacing markings and a lot of poll workers helping. You get a pen to keep for yourself, no need to use an old pen. They had workers wiping down the privacy booths.

It was very well run where we voted as well, despite the long lines (that day). Well organized NC!

[Gulfbeach]

Medium sized county in South Texas.
Voted by mail last week, as I have done for some time.
We do not have online tracking here but when I called, the voting clerk was able to tell me that my ballot had been received.
DH will vote early once the lines thin out.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack It was very well run where we voted as well, despite the long lines (that day). Well organized NC!

We have a few friends working for the elections. They have pretty good training.

Our registration and ballot pull tables were very efficient today. They were putting people through at a good rate.

[Chuckanut]

Ballots in my area were mailed out last week. This weekend the ballot return drop boxes were so stuffed that the county had to send out additional teams to empty them.

Note: We have had mail voting with drop off boxes as an optional way to return the ballot for about a decade. So nothing is new here other than the turnout being about three times higher than 2016.

The high turnout we are seeing makes me feel good about the future of our country.