In the great tradition of Election Day journalism, I plan to sleep as late as possible and spend most of the day doing nothing other than voting and running errands. Consider this an open E-Day thread, to discuss anything from the weather to recipes to your experience at the polls.
Exercise the franchise, at least once.
First returns: Dixville Notch goes for Barry, 15-6.
paddyo' said on November 4, 2008 at 1:23 am
Up too late in battleground Colorado, preparing to hit the polls early on Tuesday. Something about actually casting my vote on Election Day itself this year made me eschew what half the state’s electorate apparently is doing — early voting and mail-in balloting. I had four calls from the Obama campaign on Saturday telling me when, where, how, etc., to vote. I had a door-to-door canvasser yesterday. Today I had an Obama door-hanger on the front doorknob. I’m sensing a theme here . . .
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moe99 said on November 4, 2008 at 1:59 am
Reports from a friend in Virginia is that there have been many calls to Dem households telling them that the polling places have changed and misdirecting them to non existent polling spots.
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Dave K. said on November 4, 2008 at 2:49 am
I just got home from 4 hours of polling place “sign planting” for Indiana Congressional challenger Mike Montagano. His dad Joe drove nearly 2 hours from Goshen to Dekalb County to deliver and help place the signs. Every precinct in the 3rd District has been covered by volunteers, and a close race with our old pal Mark Souder is in the works.
Election rules here say no signs can be posted at the polls until 10:00 pm Monday, but the Republicans had already blanketed the Garrett YMCA at 7:00, and every precinct I visited after 10:00 was likewise. No big deal, really. That just gave me the “hammer”, allowing me to place my signs in the most visible location.
Favorite sign: “The REAL Joe the Plumber for Obama/Biden”, (from the pipefitters and steamfitters union!)
Brother Joe, were you landing at Dekalb Airport about 10:30? What a beautiful night in northern Indiana!
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mark said on November 4, 2008 at 4:32 am
Off to work at the polls. Enjoy the day everyone.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 4, 2008 at 5:41 am
Don’t forget, Republican voting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, and Democrat voting on Wednesday, Nov. 5!
(Hey, if Olberman says i’m gonna say it, what choice do i have?)
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James said on November 4, 2008 at 6:41 am
Jeff:
Olberman didn’t say it, your pals the Republicans said it. He just reported it.
If you want to villainize someone, get it right…
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 7:34 am
Shelby, our 10 year old, has shown a lot of interest in this extraordinary election that we’re in, so I’d told her she could come with me to vote, if she wanted…
and at 5:59 am this morning, she was dressed and ready to roll! (her brother voted with the Proprietress, and opted to sleep a little longer), as so off we went to the polls.
The line was much, much longer than I was expecting, and we stood for more than an hour before we finally made it off the parking lot and into the polling place. But Shelby is a trooper, and we discussed contingency planning as to how we’d get her to the bus, or whether I’d end up taking her to school……and then, a newsie from Channel 15 (Megan Stemple?) put a camera in Shelby’s face, and the bright lights came on, and she was interviewed!
We shall see if that hits the air. Shelby seemed to make a point of not saying the name “Obama”, and her dad resisted the urge to do a “koff koff OBAMA koff”, or pull my Obama ’08 button out of my pocket (we were in the chute, and that would have been against the rules)
Shelby got a kick out of the whole thing – as did her dad!
Onward and upward!
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Joe K said on November 4, 2008 at 7:38 am
Yup that was me.
Nice night to fly, big T-storms over the lake, lots of lightning. probably end up in South Carolina today, after I vote.
Joe
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Colleen said on November 4, 2008 at 7:49 am
I’m still in my jammies, but Husband made one trip to our polling place and came home because there was nowhere to park. He has since returned and called to let me know there are two precincts being served, and if I know which one I am in, I might be able to speed up the process for myself.
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Pam said on November 4, 2008 at 7:53 am
Wow! Woke up today like a little kid on Christmas morning!!! I can’t wait to vote, but I guess I’ll have to. The plan is to go around 10:30 when we hope the lines won’t be too long. Plus, I’m getting my new cable TV today with upgraded DSL that’s so fast it will blow your hair back! Bad planning on my part if my TV is down all day.
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alex said on November 4, 2008 at 8:07 am
Getting ready to leave for my polling place after I polish off the last of my leftover Flemish beef, a recipe I’ve been perfecting. There’s nothing better than beer for breakfast.
Looking forward to giving right-wing partisan grouches a taste of their own medicine. Now it will be my turn to say to them, as they said to me four and eight years ago, “The country has spoken. You’re a loser. Get over it.”
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 8:24 am
“The country has spoken. You’re a loser. Get over it.”
Amen!!
Last night Pat White parroted Glen Beck’s discombobulated “They’re* gonna riot, just like when Detroit won the NBA championship”, and “They’re* gonna come for your guns” and “They’re* gonna have thier own paramilitary” (that was a new one on me; presuemably it’s a Little Green Football talking point; Pat is big on those).
The rabid right on the hate-radio seems to have barked itself hoarse (literally, in Uncle Rush’s case), and they’re now consigned to the electoral beating they’re in the process of taking, and they’re reduced to incoherent yelps.
*the yappers never quite define who “they” are
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John said on November 4, 2008 at 8:40 am
“They” were at the polling place this morning before 7 where I had to wait an hour to vote. “They” were wearing uniforms, nurses, cops, guards, casino dealer, mechanic, building contractor. “They” were elderly, middle aged, young, first time voter young. “They” were white, black, brown (several continents represented brown), Asian. “They” were smiling, happy, ecstatic, and eager. “They” are tired of the past, the bickering, the gotcha, the party hacks, and the jingoism. “They” are the Americans who are finally being asked for their opinions.
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Dorothy said on November 4, 2008 at 8:54 am
Woke up @ 6:10 – hit the snooze button but jumped out of bed four minutes later, remembering what day it was. Showered, dressed, took my pills and put on my Reeboks to walk thru the grass and up the little hill to vote next door to our apartment building. Thankfully the line was NOT formed outside yet, but inside had to wait about 40 minutes. Not bad at all. I skillfully slipped off my Obama button which was on my jumper, slid it into my pocket, and then took off my Steeler’s leather jacket cause it was so warm inside. Once I voted, I put the button back on my jumper and fairly danced out of there. All before 7:30 AM!
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Jen said on November 4, 2008 at 9:06 am
I made my husband get up early (5 a.m.!) and come with me to vote at 6 a.m. I was afraid that if he waited until after work, the lines would be really long. We only had to wait about 15 minutes. My mom waited 45 minutes. Usually, I walk right in, but, then again, I vote even if it’s just little local elections. Of course, I like local elections, since I cover quite a bit of the local government ’round these parts.
Luckily, it should be a pretty easy day, but I’ll have to come back tonight to cover one of the local races for the paper. My husband is hosting an “anti-election” party with some of our friends, where they’re going to watch “Spaceballs” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and avoid watching the returns because they’re all so sick of politics.
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James said on November 4, 2008 at 9:15 am
We just got back from voting. Took <15 minutes. The poll worker said there’s only about 1000 registered voters in our precinct.
Easy-peasey.
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nancy said on November 4, 2008 at 9:25 am
The New York Times Word Train is too cool for school.
I want one!
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Dexter said on November 4, 2008 at 9:26 am
So I decide to arise at 5:00 AM to get to the polls early to beat the long lines. Of course, once the alarm went off at 5:00 I immediately shut it off and drifted back to sleep for 90 minutes.
The polls opened at 6:30, and I made it there at 7:30, fully expecting long lines out the doors.
No lines.
I was directed to my precinct’s station , and there I waited behind exactly one man for about five minutes , who was very upset because his name was not on the rolls.
That was my wait. Five minutes.
I see these lines all over the USA and people are waiting many hours to vote. My hat is off to them. I was getting impatient just waiting for one man trying to vote.
Our ballot was easy to read and had many state issues . I was very thorough with my voting to be sure I understood each issue clearly: water rights, casino , funding of health issues and so forth. Voting that way took about 15 minutes…I can see how huge delays could form in large-population centers.
We use paper ballots , blacking in squares by our choice’s name or number. Then we feed the papers one at a time into a reader which lights up with an electronic image of a flag when the vote is cast.
No complaints…well, one complaint.
I quit eating doughnuts quite a while ago and it’s been a couple years since I had visited our local doughnut shoppe. I was shocked…nearly $2 for just two little doughnuts. I trust President Obama will restore some sanity to doughnut pricing!!
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 9:38 am
The New York Times Word Train is too cool for school.
That WAS cool. I’d submit:
consummation
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Dexter said on November 4, 2008 at 9:47 am
Word Train …my entry…”twisted”
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Jeff Borden said on November 4, 2008 at 10:08 am
We voted last week to beat the rush, which was apparently a good idea. As I was running an errand in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago earlier this morning, there were lines out the door of every polling place. And this is in Illinois, where the outcome is not in doubt.
Man, people really want their voices and votes to be heard. I’m a cynic by nature, but this is pretty inspiring.
We may watch Fox News tonight, just to see if the heads of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and the rest of the cabal of cretins explode. I wanna landslide!
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Deborah said on November 4, 2008 at 10:10 am
Up at 5:30, out the door by 6 to vote next door. Waited about 20 minutes, never, ever had to wait before. People in line were saying they’ve never seen a line at that hour for 25 years or more. Lots of people in front of me trying to vote had problems finding their names on the list. The poll workers were extremely slow. Many voting booths were vacant, the hold up was the workers finding names. I live on North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.
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Colleen said on November 4, 2008 at 10:21 am
Took me about half an hour…NEVER have I seen that many people there. Could have been better organized WRT what line a person should stand in when, but overall, it was very cordial and people were pretty excited about it all.
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Dorothy said on November 4, 2008 at 10:27 am
We had two lines at our place – C or D. I was C, which was the longer line. I was voter number 34. The lady behind the desk said many times it’s 11:00 in the morning and they are just then reaching number 25. And this was at 7:15 or so this morning.
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paddyo' said on November 4, 2008 at 10:36 am
Word train upon returning from my Denver precinct: “Confident.”
There are reports of busy precincts and long lines in some parts of town, but fully half of “battleground Colorado’s” 3-million-plus voters already voted early or by mail.
I arrived 10 minutes after the 7 a.m. MST poll opening to find about 10 people spilling out the door of my local polling place, a church about seven miles east of the football stadium where Obama accepted the nomination. About 40 degrees and mostly cloudy outside, but no one complaining. Inside, all moving smoothly, all 12 or so polling stations in use.
We’re using big cardboardy ballots this year, about the size of placemats, two pages printed on both sides. We draw a pencil/pen line across a gap, like a fuse in a fusebox, to mark each vote line. After Denver’s central-voting-center disaster with electronic voting in 2006 (up to 4 hour waits in line in a light off-year general election), we’re kickin’ it old-school with pencil and paper. Tangible and tactile. Comforting.
Anyway, no long wait, maybe 15 minutes to get to my booth, and then close to 10 minutes just working through the very, very long ballot. (Besides taking back a formerly GOP U.S. Senate seat and putting a Democrat in the White House, we’re staving off one question that the anti-abortion folks pushed onto the ballot to declare fertilized eggs as “persons.”)
Feeling good. Think I’ll put “happy” aboard that NYT Word Train next hour.
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Gasman said on November 4, 2008 at 10:43 am
For the first time in my life, I voted early. Even though there were reports of long lines at early polling stations, I sailed through. Well, we had a long ballot with lots of constitutional amendments, so the ballot took awhile.
I opted to vote early because when I voted in the primaries, my name was listed as “inactive” even though I never missed an election. They apparently didn’t have my address right for mailing purposes, but they had it right for my actual registration. I was afraid that if I waited until today that I might get jammed up. Plus, here in NM our state Republican thugs have been up to all sorts of shenanigans in trying to block access to the polls for various bullshit reasons. I was afraid that my name might somehow have been part of their slimy tactics. However, I was needlessly paranoid.
I have always enjoyed voting on election day and am somewhat sad that I can’t cast my vote today. However, I have already voted for Obama and am anxiously awaiting the early results beyond Dixville Notch.
McCain and Palin are SOOOOOO going to lose. And deservedly so, I might add.
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caliban said on November 4, 2008 at 10:45 am
I cannot conceive how any man can have brought himself to that pitch of presumption, to consider his country as nothing but carte blanche, upon which he may scribble whatever he pleases.
Edmund Burke said that. Somewhere back in the 18th Century. Prescient does not begin. I think he was talking abut signing statements and kneejerk religiosity from irreligious men that don’t value human life.
I see this election as America snatched back from a precipice, but that might be kinda dramatic. Whe I woke the computer today, I got Ah, May followed b>No Woman No Cry…..and going out to poll-watch.
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caliban said on November 4, 2008 at 10:48 am
My Logitech wireless keyboard is failing. That was Ah, Mary, a song as great as Fortunate Son.
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alex said on November 4, 2008 at 10:49 am
Deborah, I used to live at 3550 N LSD and my polling place was in the lobby of the same building. Last time I voted there was exactly four years ago today, when I helped elect Barack Obama to the Senate. It was a long line that day and I just about gave up. Can’t imagine what it must be like this year.
Today voted at a rural church here in Hoosierland. It took only 45 minutes.
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Snarkworth said on November 4, 2008 at 11:02 am
I’m in Pennsylvania, McCain’s Hail Mary state. Our town is heavily GOP, but we’ve had lots of Obama signs this year. The polling place was jammed at 10 a.m. Had to park in the mud at the edge of the soccer field. Later today, husband and two sons will make us four for Obama.
Four years ago, my mother voted absentee for Kerry from her deathbed. She’ll be watching the returns tonight, along with Molly Ivins, Studs Terkel and Barack’s grandma.
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MichaelG said on November 4, 2008 at 11:11 am
I’m one of those lazy types who voted absentee. I dropped it off at the post office last Wed. I do kinda miss voting in person. Filling out a form and dropping it at the post office doesn’t really feel like voting. I think maybe for next time I’ll switch back to doing it in person.
I am looking forward to watching TV without every few minutes some dweeb talking about how he’s going to fight for me or somebody who sounds about ready to cry trying to scare the crap out of me about gays getting married and on and on and everlasting on.
Brian, with respect to your quote: “They’re* gonna have thier own paramilitary”. The administration already has its own paramilitary with Blackwater et al. It’s a real issue and it’s real scary.
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michaela said on November 4, 2008 at 11:19 am
I just got back from the polls at the local Boys & Girls Club — no lines, no waiting. Seriously. It’s at times like these being a work-at-home freelancer pays off….
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jcburns said on November 4, 2008 at 11:20 am
Ah, Caliban uses a cranky wireless keyboard…that explains a lot!
And Jeff, please, it’s DemocratIC. I’m hoping that the election will at least restore those two letters to the party name.
And I (well, we) just won $25 worth of Trader Joes’ goodies because Sammy is so diligent about bringing recycled bags in…there’s an omen!
I asked the pollworker where the checkbox on the voting form was for my choice of Starbucks or Krispy Kreme, and she got a laugh out of that. One hour to vote at the Ponce library here in Atlanta..went quickly, with good spirits all around.
It is a beautiful, beautiful sunny day.
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Crabby said on November 4, 2008 at 11:22 am
“Jeff:
Olberman didn’t say it, your pals the Republicans said it. He just reported it.
If you want to villainize someone, get it right…”
Actually I heard Obama himself say it also in one of his speeches a few days ago, then said he was just joking
If you want to villainize someone, get it right…James.
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jcburns said on November 4, 2008 at 11:24 am
If Obama said it, even in jest, he would say ‘DemocratIC.’ Everyone, now, repeat after me. you too, Newt, Bob Barr…
Now I can get back to slamming folks over misuse of “fewer” and “less.”
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Debbie said on November 4, 2008 at 11:26 am
Voted around 7:30 am in suburban Chicago. The first time in 30 years of voting that I’ve had to stand in a line! It is quite thrilling to be able to be part of this historic election. Still trying to decide whether to go down to the Obama rally in Grant Park or to stay home and watch on TV. What would you do?
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moe99 said on November 4, 2008 at 11:35 am
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-36611.html
A german ‘auf wiedersehn’ to Dubya. The pictures are priceless. I will be glad to see the last of him, unless it’s behind bars.
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nancy said on November 4, 2008 at 11:39 am
I’m Little Miss Anticlimax. In and out with no waiting, although the poll workers said they had a packed house at 7:30 a.m.
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Julie Robinson said on November 4, 2008 at 11:52 am
Just got back; had to wait for 50 minutes and though they had chairs available, the room was getting very hot. I was worried about some of the older ladies looking faint. But the lines to vote early were longer than that–2-21/2 hours.
Our daughter is doing an internship in Seattle this year so she voted absentee. She said almost everyone out there votes by mail–you just check a box when you register. Sounds increasingly logical to me.
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nancy said on November 4, 2008 at 11:56 am
I should probably add: I didn’t vote a straight ticket. In the end, a vote for Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick simply wasn’t something I could live with.
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Connie said on November 4, 2008 at 11:58 am
I am about to head out of the office for voting and lunch with my husband, our long time tradition. Have never seen a line to vote at Sugar Grove Church, so here’s hoping.
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 12:12 pm
And Pam tells me that Shelby’s moment before the bright lights made the noon news! WooHoo!
Debbie – no question about it – Grant Park!!
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 4, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Democratic, Democratic, Democratic, Democratic.
Really wasn’t makin’ a point or anything, but my penance is here. (Democratic.)
I usually show up at our polling place at 6:28 and vote either first, second, or maybe third. Today i got there at 6:25 and joined a 45 minute line . . . God bless the fine elderly ladies who are the bedrock of our democraticacy, but chip cards and cranky printers and multiprong outlets seem to leave them more than a bit dithery. Things picked up later, they reshuffled some machines around the county, and by 10 am the lines were non-existent, but traffic was still steady.
They’re saying we should crack 80% in this election for Ohio, and i affirm that, regardless of outcome, Republicans or Democraticans, this is a good thing. And buying enough machines to guarantee that no one ever waits just strikes me as silly, but i hope they figure out how to hire and train some college students (or maybe middle schoolers, who can reboot a Cray while playing Zelda on their DS and thumb a couple text messages, too, plus they can’t vote yet, so how fair is that? ideal pollworkers, those 7th graders) so the process can start smoothly.
They’re gonna need some Red Bull in the county elections office tonight, i’ll bet.
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 12:23 pm
no no no – BLUE Bull!!
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derwood said on November 4, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Me and the wife got to our polling place at 5:40 and we were about 60th in line. By the time the door opened at 6 there were over 200 people waiting and the parking lot at the Castleview Baptist Church was full. Took about 25 minutes for us to get through the line. Wife’s DL was expired but they let her vote anyway. The Republican and Democrat inspectors both looked at it and said she could vote…they were not going to turn people away today if they didn’t have to.
I am amazed at how many people took the day off from work. It is a ghost town here.
d
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Julie Robinson said on November 4, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Jeff, I noticed lots of new and younger faces amongst the workers this time, when it used to be 80 and up. And I didn’t see any problems with the machines; they were even handing out sample ballots to those in line. But they could have used triple the machines.
The problem with hiring college students is that they have classes they can’t miss. It does make me wonder if we should vote on a Saturday, or make it a holiday, or again, vote by mail. It’s wonderful that people care again and want to vote, but our country is not prepared for large numbers.
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John Brown said on November 4, 2008 at 12:58 pm
In Aboite township in Fort Wayne this morning around11:00, I drove past 7 different polling places. All the parking lots were full and the end of the line extended out onto the sidewalks.
I have lived out here through the last three presidential elections and there has never been lines like this.
And this is with around 30,000 early and absentee voters already in.
It is either “Yes, we can” or “No, you don’t”
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Dexter said on November 4, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Crank the V…a video/audio tribute to the next President’s path to the White House…”Once in a Lifetime”….”Time isn’t holding us—time isn’t after us !!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUgKb-5u6v4&feature=related
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Andrea said on November 4, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Just got back from voting. Decided to wait until my lunch hour instead of standing in line at 7am with all of the other workers. Turned out to be the right decision. I walked right in! Four voting machines, two were empty. I vote in one of those small townships in PA in a building where they store our township’s snowplows and other equipment. When we had the old lever voting machines, they used to call out to the whole room “Republican” or “Democrat,” which bothered me. Now they use a number system to get your touchscreen machine card. I was #335 for registered Democrats. 864 registered Republicans had already voted. The incumbent Republican candidate representing our district for the PA State House was actually outside shaking hands. Overall, a great experience.
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Connie said on November 4, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Six cars in the lot at Sugar Grove Church, no line, in and out in a couple of minutes.
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kayak woman said on November 4, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Planet Ann Arbor Haisley neighborhood reporting: 50th or so in line at 6:30. By 7, the line was around the corner going up Duncan. Everyone was in good spirits. A long lost buddy from back in the Jurassic Age when our kids were at Haisley was behind me in line. Out the door at 7:40. Good times.
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Say – you can see Shelby’s mini-interview on Channel 15 at
http://www.wane.com/
The video is titled “Voters experience long lines”, and the headless plaid shirt with a hand, visible behind her, is me! (and – I DID like the generational point that Shelby makes!)
She’s about 1 minute 15 seconds into it…
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nancy said on November 4, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Nice to see all those chubby Hoosiers, Brian. Like being back in the ‘hood again.
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Pam said on November 4, 2008 at 2:18 pm
It’s about 2:15 P.M. here in the battleground state of Ohio and I just closed the door on an Obama volunteer who was checking to see that I got out to vote. What dedication! What a campaign!
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 2:18 pm
The plaid makes me chubbier! (that’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it!) But did you note the anorexic reporterette?
Good God – I think she couldn’t have been more than 109 pounds!
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crinoidgirl said on November 4, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I live in Redford Township – a suburb that shares a border with northwest Detroit.
My partner and I voted at 10 AM – I lost my job yesterday, so I could pick any time today. Sigh.
The lines were long – took me an hour to vote, when normally it’s about 10 minutes. The one thing that stuck out at me was the number of young voters – just barely old enough to vote. They were there in droves, unlike any previous election here.
We’re heavily Democrat in this area. I expect Michigan will go for the big O. Thank goodness.
This is the most important election of my life.
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Deborah said on November 4, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Debbie,
You should go. My husband and I are definitely going to Grant Park, we have tickets. I work lose by the Park, in the old Carson Pirie Scott building. Someone from my office went down to the park during lunch and here’s what she said: “There is already a lot of police / fence / barricade activity around the park. For those who do not have tickets to the rally at Hutchinson Field (south of Buckingham Fountain) there will be a jumbotron set up at the north east corner of Butler Field (Monroe and Lake Shore Drive). In order to access this park you have to enter at Michigan Avenue and Congress then head south into the park. I believe that the gates open at 8:30 PM. There are a lot of portable toilets around the perimeter of the field and I would imagine that there will be no Obama sightings until well after 10 PM.”
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Connie said on November 4, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Deborah is that the old cps building that has all the wonderful wrought iron?
One of African-American co-workers told me she has taken this afternoon off and is heading to Chicago with a bunch of friends, and they don’t care if they DON”T HAVE NO STINKIN TICKETS!
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crinoidgirl said on November 4, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Hi Brian –
A very cute and intelligent little girl!
It was interesting at the end of the video – we should pray that God will have control and the best man will win?!?
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 2:59 pm
crinoidgirl – Pam and I took that as “I shore hope the darkie don’t win!”
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brian stouder said on November 4, 2008 at 3:02 pm
crinoidgirl – Thanks; The simple truth is – Shelby gets all her brains and poise from mom! (didja notice how she resolutely did NOT mention any candidate’s name? THAT’S straight from Pam!)
Pam and I took that as “I shore hope the darkie don’t win!”
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beb said on November 4, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I couldn’t for Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick either. I was going to vote for the R but at the last minute I just couldn’t, so I voted “Green.”
1:45 hr in line to vote and this was at 9:30 after (one would think) the morning rush. Block and a half long line. Normally I vote after work, usually voter 125-150. Today at 10:30 I was voter 250 so, yes, huge turn-out.
Rachel Maddow is right that these long lines are a form a “poll tax” aimed at disenfranchising poor voters.
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Gasman said on November 4, 2008 at 3:58 pm
beb,
I’m in total agreement with her poll tax analogy. Any one involved in any voter suppression tactics should spend time in federal prison. ANYONE, from ANY party. I can think of nothing more un-American than restricting citizens’ right to vote merely for partisan gain. I hope that a President Obama and the strengthened Dem majorities in congress will pursue criminal charges against those who have so engaged themselves.
If a party cannot bring itself to honor the letter and spirit of the constitution, maybe it is time for that party to cease to exist. Goodbye Republicans!
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KarenNM said on November 4, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I miss voting in person. I’m in Oregon now, and while I appreciate the convenience of vote-by-mail, I miss standing in line and taking an ACTION and getting my sticker. This weekend my husband and I filled out our ballots while watching the Texas Tech/Texas football game, and dropped them off at Goodwill on Sunday morning. Today’s a little anti-climactic for us, so I’m thinking of leaving work early to watch the election coverage.
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Deborah said on November 4, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Connie,
Yes, it’s the old Louis Sullivan designed building that is being renovated. I work for an architecture firm, we designed our office space in the building, it has all the original ornate column capitals. Really beautiful. The exterior ironwork is being refinished so the building is currently clad is scaffolding. It’s gonna be great.
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Cosmo Panzini said on November 4, 2008 at 6:33 pm
A large thank you to whoever posted that Talking Heads link. I spent so long looking and listening to all the other TH stuff that I don’t remember now who it was that posted it. Oh, and voting today–spent longer on the shitter this morning than it took to vote.
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Bill said on November 4, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Cosmo: TMI.
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joodyb said on November 4, 2008 at 7:43 pm
nancy: you have a wonderful custom exit-poll snapshot in this thread, a little miracle of democracy in itself.
we voted as a family today at the Nokomis Rec Center, the closest the three of us get to any form of organized religion. it felt good.
the Mr. and I are camped out now at our respective news outlets until 2a. it’s an amazing day.
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