early voting: a nonpartisan thread

[cantlogin]

If I still lived in the city, I'd be voting early. But there are never any lines out here in the boonies. We don't even have lines at the post office during lunch hour.

We don't have lunchtime lines either because the post office CLOSES for lunch.

 

[Goonie]

.......I prefer to go to the polls on election day though, so on Nov. 4th, that's what I'll be doing! 8)

Well, circumstances changed. The banquet hall where we normally go vote (along with 2 other precincts) closed it's doors a couple of weeks ago, and is up for sale. It was very convenient because it was only a few blocks from home, and had a huge parking lot. The new polling place for us (and the other 2 precincts) is now at the parish hall of a local church quite a ways away in the middle of a of quiet residential neighborhood, and the parking is extremely limited due to narrow streets with parking on one side only.

Soooooo, we got up bright and early this morning, and went out to the county complex that's only a short distance from home......easy access, ample parking, no long lines, etc. There were 4 people ahead of us when we got there at 8:30am (that's when they unlock the doors). When we left after voting, there were about 6 people behind us.

So with our civic duty accomplished, we got back in the car and headed out to our favorite neighborhood restaurant for a nice breakfast! So all is well here in happy valley!

 

[Khan]

I voted yesterday morning. Only a few people ahead of me. By the time I was through, there were at least 20 people behind me.

I was impressed by the workers' knowledge and patience.

 

[Gotadimple]

Still voting, may finish up today, tomorrow, maybe Monday (absentee ballot).

-- Rita

 

[Goonie]

I was impressed by the workers' knowledge and patience.

I, on the other hand, was amazed at the workers' lack of knowledge and ineptness! Had I not known that they were regular fulltime employees of the county clerk's office, I would have sworn that their normal occupation was working nights at the drive-up window at our McDonald's (ya want fries with that?). Dang!

I guess I was just used to dealing with all of those nice, well trained, volunteer, election judges that we normally deal with at the regular polling place. There was one of the clerk's office managers doing her thing....and quite well I might add.....and 2 others who had NO clue what to do, or how to do it.....even after being walked through each step, for each voter, by the office manager. It would have been semi-acceptable had this been their first day at this, but they've been doing this same thing for the last 2 weeks ....6 days per week, for 8-10 hours each day (depending on the day of the week)!

It's been rumored for the last few years that the clerk's office wasn't the most efficiently run office in our county, and I'd tend to have to agree on that after this morning. (and their keyboarding skills were of the '2-fingered hunt & poke' method.....my tax $$ at work!) So, since the clerk's position is up for election this year, I decided it was time to give someone else a chance to try and improve things.

 

[W2R]

Early voting wait long, but voters are committed by Molly Reid, The Times-Picayune Saturday October 25, 2008, 12:33 PM

The line of New Orleans residents waiting to cast an early ballot for the Nov. 4 elections stretched outside City Hall nearly halfway down Perdido Street around 11 a.m. today, with wait times averaging over three hours.

Early voting wait long, but voters are committed - Breaking News from New Orleans - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

Notice the wait times for early voting here are AVERAGING over three hours. Some are probably waiting 4 or 5 hours 6 hours or longer to vote early. I wonder if maybe this is due to the intensity of not only the Presidential election, but also six other fiercely fought federal, state, and local positions on the same ballot. I have decided on all of them except the Louisiana Supreme Court Justice, and then I still need to study the seven state constitutional amendments and a Parish proposition.

At any rate, I'm glad that I am voting on election day! Usually 4 voting machines are squeezed into the 1-car garage that is the voting location for my precinct. The line forms outside. I hope it isn't raining.

 

[riskadverse]

I'm a poll worker and have ample opportunity to vote at the polls, but I still end up voting via mail. This can have it's downside. In the primaries, I ended up voting of a candidate that dropped out before the election. Then again voting in Florida (as the OP does), it is a crapshoot as to if and how it will be counted anyway.