*** OFFICIAL "I VOTED" THREAD #1 ***

We've got a bunch of competing "I voted" threads, and it's difficult to find everyone's voting story. Some members have asked to have an official "I voted" thread so we can all meet in one place. After you vote, please post in this thread to tell us about it. If you've already posted your voting story in another thread, feel free to post it again here. And don't forget to assign yourself an "I Voted" avatar!

When this thread gets too long, we'll open another one.

Here's my voting story (originally posted in another thread):

(reposted from one of those 'competing' threads)

Long line, took 40 minutes.

The weird thing is that the traffic is totally different.

The 'inner belt', I-170, is usually backed way up where it merges into Hwy 40, and this morning, there was NO traffic. Little traffic on 40 EB, as well.

It seems that enough people are voting or otherwise involved in the voting process to change traffic flow significantly.

Rochester, MI (Metro Det.): The line was long at 7:10am, I left at 8:00am. It was a little bottlenecked but everything was calm and orderly, machines and booths were setup correctly and everything was working. At least one poll watcher was present, no exit polling was taking place.

A week and a half ago, on a Saturday morning, in a Very Red State.

And (much to my surprise and delight) the place was packed, and the people packing it were not voting for Bush!

Not a particularly gripping story, but there are millions of stories out there this year JUST LIKE THIS.

It's gonna happen. It's realy gonna happen.

Long lines at 7.15 am in a solid Democratic area. My friend couldn't even get into the parking lot at her precinct polling station at 7.00 am (same town).
WOOOHOOOO!!!

AZ is going to be solidly...
PURPLE... (sigh)

Pulled into the church parking lot with my car (and its 6 pro-Kerry/anti-Bush stickers - including Kerry/Edwards on the Front windshield) and blasting No Surrender (with the windows up...it was pouring rain). Had to wait a few seconds to pull into a spot and then jogged into the church out of the rain.

Waited a minute or two and then the poll worker took her sweet...old....time handing me my ballot and then I voted and left and continued to crank out the Boss! :D


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http://www.conjur.com/politics - Why George W. Bush is WRONG for America

Can't stand those insufferable suburban "God loves me more because I have money" types.

And having it at a church? All voting should be done in government locations.


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http://www.conjur.com/politics - Why George W. Bush is WRONG for America

I am very excited - person behind me was excited that so many people were voting. It was 6:50 AM and the line was several hundred people long. When the polls opened at 7:00AM the lines moved pretty quickly but were still a few hundred long...

Gov. Candidate Lynch was shaking hands in line - some Freeper loudly complained that he was campaigning there - poll worker check it out and told the guy the HE CAN shake the hands of people in the LONG line so long as he was 20 ft from entrance/not blocking or causing a raucous. Was funny hearing him trying to explain his outrage after that!!

at 6:45, there was already a line of ~45 people outside my small precinct, and the OVERWHELMING majority of people in line looked to be my age (25) or younger.

and like always, not another voter in sight. I have NEVER seen another voter at the polls while voting.

Cheers
Drifter

I think this is a good sign.

 Vote as if your life depended on it, because it does.

Call 866 687-8683
If Poll Workers refuse you to vote for any reason
If there is a late opening or early closing of a polling place.
If your polling place runs out of ballots or has an incorrect ballot
If you experience poll worker insensitivity or discrimination in the voting process

The civil rights community have set up a toll-free Election Day hotline. This line is
staffed now and, in addition to logging your complaint, the civil rights organizations have law
students and attorneys who can provide assistance on Election Day.

the hotline number is
866 687-8683
202 457-0473 fax

When you call the hotline, be prepared to give your name, telephone number, and note as many
details as possible, including the names of the people who are involved.

within walking distance around 6:45 am. Already a line which is a first that early in the morning - lived here 16 years. Doors opened at 7am and the line had already tripled. No problems.

and I pressed DEMOCRAT all the way down the line.

my wife went right at 6 when the polls opened! Long lines by the time I got there at 7!

nt

Go to Options, click on Edit Profile, scroll down to the avatar line, type in ivoted.gif, click on the button at the bottom of the page (update, or something like that)

Since I voted this morning.

nt

I was the first in line and first to get my ballot.

for the polls to open in a small Wisconsin town. There was a long line and the parking lot was full and cars circling looking for a place to park. I have never seen this large of turn out in this town.

Luckily we're a two-minute walk from the polls. We brushed our teeth, grabbed our cheat sheets and headed out. The place wasn't packed when we got there, but it was as we were leaving. And we're in Illinois, a solid blue state. I very carefully researched all the candidates because I want to influence the vote from the grassroots level on up this time. But I was definitely most proud when I punched JFK/JE. I too felt a chill. Voting for Barack Obama was another pleasure.

I plan to walk over there again after work tonight so I can get a better gauge of voter turnout over the last election (since I normally vote in the evening). I think it will be amazing because this morning was quite crowded.

Do us proud President Kerry!

...My polling place had many democratic yard signs (at least two per democrat) and only one or two Andy for Indy sign (but no Bush/Cheney signs or any other republican signs as far as I could tell). I heard a couple of people talk about MoveOn.org (in a favorable way), lots of African-Americans, which is no surprise, because I live in a predominantly African-American area.

It took me about 30 min. to cast my vote and there were no problems.

wifey and I voted this morning
go Kerry!

Got up at dawn just for the occasion. :)

Mail-in ballots rock!!!

. . . in my Republican-intensive district of NJ. Ten minutes, from the time I got in line until the time I cast my vote.

The eastern sky at sunrise was a glorious purple. Not that I'm all that superstitious, but I was wondering if that color was significant.

I'm very emotional about all this. I've never flown an American flag from my house, but I am ready to do that at the crack of dawn tomorrow, after we take our country back.

:kick:

In my little town (in my little state) there is almost never a line at the polls. I was there when they opened and it took almost half an hour to get through the line. Many happy, upbeat people voting. Got through the line and stood in my little 'privacy booth' and 'connected the arrow' for kerry/edwards. also voted for my democratic representative in congress (no senate reaces here this year), and spent some time on our many, many referendums in the state.

Always makes me feel proud to vote. Even more so this year!

Polls open at 6am. I was in line at 5:45 - yes IN LINE - # 23 to cast my ballot. No problems - just a steady stream of people exercising their right to vote. Democracy IN ACTION!

Now I wait for the cell phone to ring - am on call all day to GOTV

GOTV=Kerry Landslide!

NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!

:D

:kick:

It is raining in the Chicago area--turned on ch 5 and there was a CROWD of Kerry signs and cheering people in the local NBC window, right at 5 am! :-)

Our "church ladies" are our judges, from my husband's Lutheran parish. They were a little flustered as the punch cards were not fitting at first. It got straightened out--I will come back later with food to keep 'em going. One thing that is crazy on our ballot is voting for pages and pages of judges.

Calling from home the rest of the day, phoning Cleveland voters for ACT. There are few phones in Chicago at any of the phone banks--everyone is being asked for free minutes on their cell phones. MoveOn and Common Cause are calling, too, for anyone else who is interested.

What a blessed, blessed day! Did you all see Kerry in Milwaukee and Lacrosse at 2 am in the rain? Victory is in the air TBG!! Love to you all!!

a woman whom I did not recognize 4 people ahead of me said MY address! I was concerned it was a republican ploy of some kind, so when I got to the table, I said, did that woman give (my address) as her address? they then relieved my fears because she had owned the home previous to the previous owner and had to file a change of address form.
She was a very attractive young thing and the female election worker winked and said "maybe she's a new roommate" to which Ijoked "I think my wife would have something to say about that!"

other than that, there were no challengers of any kind at our precinct, but then again, its in washington township in Dayton, Ohio, so there are not many african american votes to suppress. (its an affluent, predominantly white neighborhood)

I'm surrounded by cheney signs...so that gives you an idea.

I was thrilled to finally vote! punch card ballots, pretty clearly marked so there's no butterfly shenanigans. everything went smoothly. I brought a book to read in line, but it went fairly quickly. The woman behind me kept trying to talk to me. I tried to be completely noncommital. She said she was canceling out her husband's vote. I said I was canceling out my neighbors. She said the ONLY thing she wanted to vote on was issue 1 (the anti-gay marriage amendment). The only commital thing I shared was that there were too many signs with blue backgrounds. She hesitated, then said " but they both have blue backgrounds" I said "yep".

I wasn't going to let her trick me into saying how I'd vote UNTIL I got a chance to vote.

I went in the AM, but the line was huge and I had to pick up my daughter from pre-school. So I came back after lunch with both kids in tow, hoping hoping that they would stay calm enough to let me vote.

We went to the library first and picked out books. I highlighted my sample ballot ahead of time (complicated ballot in NC this year, non-partisan judges and lots of amendments and bond issues). I didn't have to spend too much time in the booth, so I got done with the actual vote in only a few minutes. I listened to Black Eyed Peas 'Where is the Love' on the way home to kind of savor the moment.

It was an even bigger rush than my first time voting. I have been waiting to vote for John Kerry and Erskine Bowles since early spring.

I live in a small rural community. There were no lines, but all three precincts in my town (we all vote at the senior center) were very busy.

My town is predominantly repuke, but the Democrats have become a presence here over the last couple of years. Oddly enough for a repuke county, there was a poll watcher. She was sitting right between the two Democratic judges!

I was voter number 54 in my precinct, after the first hour of voting.

Another odd thing -- the stupid state highway department chose this day, of all days, to do repairs to the main highway that runs through town. The road was one lane on the way home. I yelled out my window at one of the guys. I asked him why they were doing repairs on fucking election day!

I wore my black hoodie, and was parked right next to someone with K/E and Obama stickers on her car.

We party tonight at the Democratic headquarters in the county seat!

polls opened at 7am, I got there at 10 till 7 and was out by 7:20. Glad to be an American and glad to be part of a great Kerry victory!

here in Brockport, NY. his is my usual time to vote because there is never anyone around at that time. When I got there 27 people were already in line, I've NEVER seen anything like it. This is a Blue State, but it's going to be VERY BLUE by the end of today. Today is going to be a great victory for Democracy, now I have to go take people to the polling places for a while, GET OUT THE VOTE!!

In East Windsor, to be precise. I got there about 6:45 a.m. Only one person ahead of me. However, I was #25 in the A-K line, and there had been more in the L-Z line, so I was at least the 50th person to vote there that morning (polls had opened at 6 a.m.).

One of the poll workers (a neighbor, also a member at my synagogue) told me there was a line waiting when she arrived at 5:45 a.m. to get ready!

This augurs well, I think (I hope?), for a heavy turnout in New Jersey.

People in non-swing states may think their votes don't seem to matter as much as people in the battleground states. This is wrong for two reasons: A) If too many people were to think that way and stay home, it might be closer in New Jersey than we want it to be; and B) The more votes Kerry gets nationally, the stronger he would look if he were to win.

Bottom line: It doesn't matter where you vote - just vote.

And get out the vote!

thanks skinner from a newby. in ar. we just sit down at long tables kind of like taking the college entrance exam. make sure you bear down hard with that soft lead pencil...love you all.

This is "Big Dog" country:

I was #38 when I put my ballot through the machine. I undervoted because I never vote for the judges. I did do a write in vote. I wrote in Krista Grimm for the 3rd IL Cong. District. She's a Dem running a write-in campaign against Dan Lipinski.

Dan Lipinski is the son of the retiring Congressman "Bungalow" Bill Lipinski. "Bungalow" Bill ran unopposed in the primary in March and the suddenly "decided" to retire and he made absolutely sure that his son got the spot.

My write-in vote was a protest vote, nothing more. There's no way Dan Lipinski is going to lose to his Repuke challenger. The challenger is a "ghost" candidate from Cicero and between the Dem & Repuke powers that be in Chicago politics, i.e., Mike Madigan and Fast Eddie Vrydolak, they made absolutely sure this seat would stay in the Dem column for now.

Some things NEVER change in Democratic politics in Chicago and Cook County!!!!!!!!

The other thing that really got me mad was when Mr. Wonderful and I got to our polling place, the local elementary school, there wasn't one sign for Kerry/Edwards or Barack Obama. As I've said before the DINO's from the Worth Township Regular Democratic Organization need a good kick up the hole.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x1924409

My polling place is right across the street from my house, so I just rolled out of bed at 7:00, threw on a robe and slippers, affixed my Kerry pin to the lapel and trundled across the street so I didn't have to wait in line. The mood was upbeat and we had at least 3 lawyers standing around outside just WAITING for any hint of voter irregularity.

I voted (no problems, straight Dem ticket, easy), and came out to tell the lawyers that one of the voting machines was broken (it was) and the line was going to start backing up, discouraging people from voting. They whipped out those cell phones faster than you could say "Go back to Crawford, you fucking freak!"

I think Philadelphia's a lock.

Usually, there is no one else at the polling station at that time of day. Today there were about 5 people in front of me. The guy in the booth obviously had never voted before- he kept asking questions about what to do. The woman directly in front of me was not listed in the book even though she said she had voted at this polling place before and hadn't moved. I was curious as to what would happen and was wishing I'd brought a copy of the PA voter rights list with me. However, no problem- they simply told her they give her a provisional ballot.

Before she got to the table and found out she wasn't listed in the book, the woman in line before me mentioned that she had passed other polling places and they had long lines. As I waited to vote, another 7 or 8 people lined up behind me. Basically, I saw more people voting today than I've seen in my three years worth of elections at that polling place combined. A good sign.

My little polling station is in the local elementry school. I got there just before 7:00, There is never a wait here in Bethany OK. Last Presidential I waited about 5 mins.
Well today i figured about 200 people in line. The line went down the hall towards the cafeteria and back. I was so excited. I have voted in this precinct for 14 years, there have been local elections that I have voted late in the day and only seen the counter on the machine read 60-80. Today I had to wait 45 mins and the counter at 7:45a.m. was 171. Un believable the turnout. We want 100% turnout but I don't know if we could handle it.

Went very smooth, around 6:30am. Parking lot was 75% full, and no annoying people outside like usual. Must be the rain. :D

The big news, the election judges were in their 40-50's, with some college age people. :D Happy smiling people. :D :D

I woke up feeling really crappy...turned out to be my nerves. I have been waiting for this day for almost 4 LONG years!!!

GO KERRY!

The southern 'burbs, kind of a 'bedroom community' for the city and the southern burbs. Very white, very middle class, lots of Bush* signs in people's yards. Of course, I also know that our county Dem Party chose to concentrate funds on radio and newspaper ads and robo and human calling efforts, so the lack of K-E yard signs didn't really concern me, and tells me nothing about who's voting today, or for whom. Our registrations are a fairly good three-way split between Dems, Republicans and Independents.

I've voted in two general elections from here, and I know turnout was about 60% in 2000. I went before work, probably about the same time Mr. Nownow and I went today -- around eight o'clock -- and from door to door it took me less than twenty minutes.

It took forty minutes today. The only holdup in our precinct (we share a polling place with another precinct of similar demographic makeup; it was even more backed up than ours) was someone whose name was misspelled on the voter registration card sent out by the county. A check with the photo ID cleared it up, but this person waited around for a half hour to get things straightened out. The most important thing was -- the person waited. The second most important -- there were that many people, it took forty minutes.

I know we're likely to go Republican, but the turnout this early in this precinct is a good sign. There are many elderly people in this precinct, and they didn't let the weather hold them up -- if suburban, middle class elderly people don't let the weather (very warm for Election Day, probably pushing 65 already, though it's sprinkling occasionally) hold them up, I don't imagine those more motivated to 'throw the bums out' will let it hold them up, either.

Mr. Nownow and I noted that the poll workers are all probably over seventy -- not sure they'll make many more general elections. We decided we'd look into what it took to do that ourselves, if we decide to stay in Ohio (we've discussed heading to Chicago, if things are too 'red' here after this).

Just got back from voting around the corner at the firehouse. I live on eastern Long Island and even though its overcast with damp cold, I walked up the street rather than drive. The autumn color on the trees is much stronger this year.

So at 8:30 there were only short, fast moving lines and friendly faces. Two people ahead of me was an author who just wrote a book about Ronald Reagan... two young interns that helped him finish the book stayed at my family's bed and breakfast. As I left, my neighbor was just walking up the block with a paper cup of coffee in hand. He works for the World Bank.

There are a lot of Kerry signs around here. Only two B/C that I've noticed and precious few of their bumperstickers.

We vote on lever machines, so I'm confident my vote will be counted.
It felt good to do my civic duty and finally have my voice heard. I pray that everyone's vote is counted this year. That's how Democracy works.

As soon as I had my last carrier on his way, I drove to my polling place. When I arrived, I was the thirty-seventh voter in line, waiting for the doors to open. The weather is warm, with light, scattered showers, but will be clearing by noon.

:)

Just voted straight DEM (outside Milwaukee) in heavily repug Waukesha county. About 100 people in line when polls opened, (I was #31), then line looked liked it was staying at a steady 100 when I left.

GO KERRY, FEINGOLD and all the other DEMS!

I am NOT a morning person. After about 4 1/2 hours sleep last night I was up at 6:30 with a smile on my face just knowing today I had the honor of voting for the next President of the United States. My voting experience was wonderful. There was a longer line than usual but everyone seemed to be in a wonderful mood except one older male who audibly grumbled to himself about "getting this shit over with". My guess is that he was a Bush voter.

I am proud to now have my "I Voted" avatar.

boy, did it feel good! I was so excited that when I closed the curtain, I did a little jig and began to sing, "Oh, Happy Day!" (Kind of loud, and folks cracked up.)

The polls opened at 6:00 a.m., but I dallied until 7:15. I was gratified to see so many people waiting to vote; old, young, crippled and healthy. In 32 years of voting, I've never seen anything like it.

Working transporting seniors to the polls!

Every have a blessed day!

Precinct worker looked like she'd seen it all before.

and there was already a line and about 70 people had already voted!!!

I just voted in Wauwatosa, WI. I got there at 6:30 and ended up being #7 for my ward. When I left, there were about 200 people in line behind me! Great turnout!

Most of the people were smiling and looked happy. So they must be there to vote for President-Elect John Kerry!

RL

I wasn't able to get thru to the voting booth in time to get to work and teach my classes. I have to show up at work by 8:15. I got to the polling place at 6:55 and waited for over 30 minutes before I realized I was cutting it too close.

That's still a good sign. Traditionally high turn outs are good for Democrats and bad weather is good for Republicans because it depresses voter turn out. But today it was raining buckets of catpiss and the lines were still too dang long to allow me to vote within an hour. And this is going on after record-setting early voting across the state.

This is gonna be good, folks. I'll have to get my vote in tonight after work, even if Voting is for fags.

... so did my wife.

:cheers:

No lines here. It's snowing, so it may affect turnout, but I doubt it. When I signed in, it looked like about 3/4 of the sheet had already been done by early voters.

LANDSLIDE (no thanks to this part of the country, but still.....)

The line had to be at least 50 people long (minus a few children).
Moved briskly to the gym, where I registered (didn't get my voter registration in on time before, but MN has Election Day registration. Yay.)
And that was it. I filled in all the bubbles correctly, enjoyed a brief flashback to the standardized tests of my childhood, and fed the machine my ballot.
One more vote for John Kerry. (And John Edwards, too)

I was voter number 180 at 8:45 this morning. Usually, it would have been # 80 or so at that time. I saw at least three other dems in the short line. (surprising)

I went at a good time, just after 8:00. The line was shorter than it had been all day according to the poll workers. I waited about 20 min.

Though Indiana is Shrub country, my county is more Dem, a university community, though * carried it by a little bit in '00. On leaving I noticed a lot of Kerry bumper stickers on cars & no Bush ones.

The lady who checked me in noted "You're all alone up there on the list. Is there no "Mrs. Soonerhoosier?" I told her that there is an ex-Mrs. Soonerhoosier in a different precinct. She told me she has 3 divorced daughters and said "Which one do you want?" "You've got my address," I replied. "Send 'em all over."

Had a good laugh, & voted KERRY with a smile!

I've been voting in this polling place for seven years, and I've NEVER seen the line snake back like it did this morning. NEVER. (Stone Mountain, Georgia)

I stood in line about an hour.

When I first arrived, I asked this guy who was leaving how it was going (I got there about 8). He had been there since 6:00, and had stood in line 2 hours. The morning was very, very busy :D

I can feel it -- People are coming out in force to get rid of this cancer of a presidency.

Voted at 8:20am this morning (damned alarm clock didn't go off earlier). There were no lines at all and the courthouse looked like a regular business day, walked straight into the booth after signing in with voter card and DL. Relatively small population in Concordia Parish so I didn't really expect to see crowds of people.

Concordia Parish is using the old lever booths we've been using for probably 30 years; I'm 27 and have I've never voted with a paper-trailed ballot here.

Didn't see ANY signs or stickers on any of the vehicles outside, and there no signs at all along the highway median like there usually are before turning into the voting location.

We were 57 and 58 to vote in our precinct, no problems getting signed in. I woke up early this morning, our polls open at 6:00, I would have been there waiting for the workers to open if it were just me.
After waiting for four long years, screaming at the tv, radio, newspapers, and I'm sorry to say my wife at times. I would have been there if there had been ice and snow everywhere, and below zero temps.

We received our ballots, and I thanked the poll workers for what they were doing, voted a straight democratic ticket, and pur my ballot in the box YES YES YES.

We use opticle scan here, I love it, we vote in the same room as another precinct, and when we left the count was 121, before 7:00 a.m.

LANDSLIDE LANDSLIDE LANDSLIDE.

and even then I waited in line for an hour! Turnout for early voting in TX was very heavy, as in all other states. Everything was calm and orderly, with people chatting amiably while waiting in line to cast their vote. When it was my turn to vote, I stepped up to the nearest machine and voted the straight Democratic ticket - Kerry/Edwards and Morrison all the way!!! After checking my ballot carefully to make sure that the straight Dem ticket registered my votes for all the Dem candidates (since we have electronic voting here in Houston), I hit "ENTER", and crossed my fingers that my Kerry vote would be properly counted. Hopefully it did, as I haven't heard of any problems with e-voting in Houston.
I then left my polling place, grateful to have the right as a citizen to vote and happy to have cast that vote for Kerry!!!

so I have my ballot all filled out...I'll take it to my polling place and drop it in the box so I don't have 2 stand in line. My son did not receive his absentee ballot and he is concerned but i understand there was an absentee ballot problem here in Orange County, CA.

The day I've been waiting for for four years has finally arrived and it felt SOOOO good to fill in that Kerry/Edwards bubble! There was a HUGE turnout, HUGE! I'm SOOOO happy!

My mother's very bright, but born in the wrong era. She was born to my sharecropper grandparents and quit school in the 9th grade. She grew up with that distinctive mindset that poor Americans often have: Don't trust the Authorities, you have no power either way.

I've often bugged her about not voting; planting the seeds of social democracy whenever I could by discussing unionized labor, working conditions, pay scales for workers and management and so on. She understood what I was talking about, but to her, unionized labor was just another type of authority she couldn't trust.

She's a very tough woman. She's had to be. So when she feels threatened, watch out! Well, sure enough, the apolitical factory worker gets pissed off by Shrub. "I'm voting", she tells me over dinner one day. "That George Bush has screwed up my prescriptions. He's crazy." And she proceeds to recite the litany were all familiar with here. Bad choices, stupid war, innocent lives lost.

I tell her I'll take her to the Polls and help her through the process. Last Friday we went. The line was very short. I asked the Poll worker if I could help my mother out since she had never voted and she said yes. Since my mother didn't know any of the other candidates she voted for Kerry and a straight Democratic ticket. I did go over the state amendments and explained them as best I could. She fed her ballot into the machine and as we were walking out the door she said to my husband and me, "Well, that was easy!"

We took her to breakfast to celebrate.

Democracy at it's best.

In line with my roommate before polls opened, just around 7. Jeez, it's still hot out. At least it's not August. Saw lots of folks. Folks behind us were bitching about "wanting the economy to change" and health care. Ka-ching! Folks in front of us were wearing shirts that said "Peace" on them. Boo ya! Going over in my head how I was gonna vote on the Constitutional Amendments for the state.

An hour and a half in line, and there I was, card in hand, leering at the evil touch screen. Insert card...

English or Espanol. I touch English.

Nothing.

I touch English again.

Nothing.

Inside, I'm going ballistic. Oh, you picked the wrong jackass to fuck with, machine.

Then the screen clicked over. Voted my mind (straight Dem ticket). Beaming with pride as I reviewed my ballot, ensuring all the right choices were there...

Submit your vote. Touch...

Fuck you Bush. You're fired.

Since we live in a quiet little township in central New York, all you need to vote is a signature that matches the one in the book. They even have little old ladies holding a bake sale right next to the voting machines.

My wife was all like, "how the hell do you vote on these antiques!" We have the quaint old lever machines like we've had since the Eisenhower administration. We spent exactly zero minutes in line waiting to vote on them - imagine that!

my husband and I voted this morning ... we waited in line about 20 minutes before they opened at 7am. We were about 15th in line, and there were probably 100 people in line total.

No problems for him, I had a slight issue, which was resolved and I did vote, with my name change. Changed name when I married in 2001, and glad I had my new voter reg card with my correct name on it with me because the list at the polling place still had my birth name on it.

Staff had to ask a couple questions, and I had to fill out a name change form and turn it in with my completed ballot, but then all was fine.

The woman on the staff said something to the effect of "you're putting us to the test right away this morning, aren't you!" ... but in a nice way. All were very helpful and professional, thanked me for my patience.

So two more votes for Kerry/Edwards in Michigan.

Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot this part! I was parking near the polls, and have a "I'm voting for Kerry/Edwards on Tuesday" sign in my back window. The school bus stop for the high schoolers is right there, and as I was walking to the poll, some high school boys hollered "vote for Bush" so I hollered "why?" ... one of them said "Bush is cool" ... I asked "Do you know anything about his policies? Why would you vote for him?" A different voice answered something about favoring the Iraq war and I asked him "Are you going to go fight it? Do you think that much of it?" Then the first voice answered, kind of smart ass, "yeah, I'd go fight it" so I told them they just might get their chance to go and die.

By this time, I was at the 100 foot limit for campaigning outside the polls ... there was a volunteer at a table for the MoveOn PAC who kind of smiled and gave me a little sly thumbs up ... I ended the conversation with the boys and got in line.

On the shores of beautiful Lake D'arbonne.

After my yoga practice this morning, I walked over to a nearby elementary school to vote. I moved here from Brooklyn a week before the registration deadline, so I was worried about whether or not my change of address made it in on time, and whether or not I'd have to fill out a paper ballot. But they had me on the rolls, and everything went smooth as silk!

It was busy! There are multiple assembly districts at our polling place, so you have to vote at a very specific station and stand in a very specific line. Some lines were longer than others, but all of the districts were absolutely hopping, and the poll workers at my district's table said they'd been seeing a steady stream of voters since 6 (this was at about 8:15). I was #55 in my district.

It was a real thrill to FINALLY cast my vote for Kerry.

And my 19-yr-old brother just called me from Burnsville, MN, where he was the 3rd person in his precinct to vote. He's not sure whether all of the appropriate state races were on his ballot, but he definitely got to vote for President. He's going to go get his black hoodie on, and he and his friends are going to be holding up their Kerry signs at some busy intersection for most of the rest of the day.

just came back from voting in the 7th congressional district of New Jersey. Largest turnout I have ever seen and believe me, I have been voting for years!

Go Kerry/Edwards!

:hippie:

Just voted and had hour 20 minute wait. They say it has been that way since 7:00 No one complaining or leaving. My first vote at this precinct so I asked if this was a big turnout. Several people said they had never seen anything like it here. Reynoldsburg is usually Repug, but not heavily so. Hope the big turnout means it is in Kerry's favor. Going to go later tonight and check the results which will be posted on the door after the polls close.

The line was fairly long.

There was a large number of new voters carrying yellow forms (I don't know what those were); a very large percent of those carrying the forms were African Americans.

By the time I was leaving the line had grown about 20%.

The rain is coming and going, but everyone seems to have their umbrellas ready.

I got my exercise and helped kicked some repugs out of office at the same time. What a morning for me in Ohio. I didn't have any problems at the polls and I didn't see anyone else having problems either. But this is a small town where mostly everybody knows one another. I did have to wait in line for about 20 minutes but that was no biggie for me. :)

:D

People seemed discouraged by the 21 degree weather and the long lines, but everyone stayed the course.

I usually go about 10:00am and there's never more than three or four people there. I went at 8:00 this time... lonnnggg line !! Had to wait about 25 minutes or so.

Minnesota usually has the highest percentage turnout nationwide... I hope we get beat this time. Turn those red states blue... please.

HUGE turnout! Everyone was clustered around the Democratic party tent outside. Volunteers were so happy to get my DU updates. The poor pubs looked really really lonely. Dems are in the majority (home of Chris Dodd, who was in line behind me) but not overwhelmingly so. I have always loved voting (almost a religious experience for me) but today was simply exhilarating.

When I got there, there were about 20 people waiting to vote. I was in and out within 10 minutes.

I did see something unusual...They were keeping two lists of people who voted. I signed my name in the voter log and there was a guy behind them highlighting my name in another list.

the weather is beautiful! Kerry in a landslide!:bounce:

There were about a dozen people in front of me, about two dozen on line when I left, but only two voting machines. I don't think that's going to be able to handle the extra heavy turnout. I contacted the New Jersey Dems and the county elections board when I got to work.

Wanted to yell something appropriate as I pressed the lever for Kerry, but settled for returning the bird Bush flipped on that video. Best of all, I no longer have to be jealous of those of you who got to sport their "I Voted" avatar early!

VISUALIZE WINNING--and that's an order!


rocknation

I was there early, watched them get the machines ready. Democratic poll worker voted first to make sure machines were working, then me, then lady behind me (also voting for Kerry), then my husband. So we were 4 up within a few minutes.

Feeling good.

Partner and I voted about an hour ago. Our polling place was very quiet, as usual. Young man ahead of us was in the wrong place; they asked him whether he wanted to call the board of elections to find out where he should be, or vote on paper.

Rainy, chilly day here.

I waited in line for 1.5 hours. Been voting there for 10 years. Never seen the turnout like this - everyone was commenting on it. Voting went VERY smooth. No problems.

Looked like some repub poll watchers (2 stepfords) were assigned ... sat there with pursed lips in amazement as the "Sea of Dems" flowed through this predominantly black precinct. There was a buzz in the air. Everyone was jazzed.

Got up early so I could vote before work.

I got to my polling place about 5 after 7 and there were about 10 people in line. About 10 minutes later, after voting for Kerry/Edwards, the line had about 20 people in it.

I have never had to wait in line a t my polling place. My partner and I usually vote together (as we did today) and we are often the only people there.

There were a lot of people out front with t-shirts that said Election Protection. We assumed they were from moveon.org. All in all a positive experience and I was thrilled at the turnout. I was #22.

Go Kerry, Hoeffel, Murphy, O'Pake!!!

I was number 5 at my precinct -- my mother was number 4 (it was the first time she'd voted since Nixon/Kennedy). By the time we left, a line was forming (the election official said there'd already been 23 voters in the first eight minutes the poll had been opened -- not bad for My Little Town!).

Several Happy Peppy People were walking in as we left. Either they'd OD'd on Vitavetavegamin, or they were looking forward to sending boosh* a one-way ticket back to Crawdad. Around here, I think the latter. :-)

(On edit: That's Vitameatavegamin. And it's so tasty, too! :9 )

I'm one of those newly registered 18-25 year olds in the swing state of Ohio. I am so proud that I cast my first vote ever for John Forbes Kerry. I was up at 5 am because I was too excited to sleep. There had to be over 100 people in line at my precinct, and no one was leaving without voting. Ohio's going blue, and we're going to win this thing.

(reposted from 'nother thread.)

I live in a little town in Maine. Voting is held on the fairgrounds (not in the cow barns, though). LOL About 30 people waiting in line.
The local candidates were working the crowd. Not big deal usually. Been doing it for as long as I've been voting there. The guy in front of me started yelling that it was illegal. Turned what was a pleasant experience into something a little more tense. So I started singing Landslide. My friend was threatening to say something about big mouths & small peni...Once inside the line went quickly with every voting booth full. More people were streaming in as we were going out. The vote is rockin', folks!

and back in September when I changed my address w/ the Town Clerk, she told me that I would go to the Clara Barton School.

So I went there, and no one was there.

So I went to the middle school, which was where we went when the Clara Barton School was under construction. They didn't have my information there. They sent me to the Chaffee school.

Nasty place to go if you want to vote first thing in the morning. Lots of parents dropping of their kids. Big traffic jam.

I went in and voted. The place was busy, but not overwhelmed. There was a man there in a suit with a badge pinned on his suit coat. He didn't look like a policy officer. He wasn't standing near the check in table, or the check out table, but by the ballot box, and he wasn't asking anyone any questions.

(NoVA)

First time voter, really excited! Waited 90 minutes in line (got out at 9:40 am, the line had probably shortened by 20 mins or so)

Saw around 10 cars in the parking lot with Kerry stickers. Not one with Bush stickers.

Only noticed one person dropping out of the line, I think she was Republican!

That's right. I did.

(approx 20 miles north of Charleston) Had my daughter with me and the lines were much longer that I expected.
Nice to be done, now I hope it counts even here in Red land.

Walked into my suburban elementary school gym to vote. No lines, no "Poll Watchers", not too many voters. In and out in 5 minutes, including the minute I took to make sure there were no "hanging chads", and to carefully line up Kerry and Obama.

Voted in the Bronx @ 6:30 a.m. No problems, about a ten minute wait.

:toast:

I got up way earlier than I normally do, but that's just because I couldn't sleep. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and got a bottle of water. I headed towards the polls, but there was an accident blocking the major highway, so I had to take backroads to get there.

When I arrived, this Republican bitch and her daughter handed me a "sample ballot" to show how to correctly fill the real one out. Of course, I was supposed to mark Bush/Cheney. Fuck that. I crumbled it up right in front of her. She saw my Kerry/Edwards sticker when I came rolling in.

There was hardly a wait at all, but then my voting precinct is in bumblefuck county. I'm pretty sure everyone else there was a Bush voter, but I was proud to vote for Kerry/Edwards, and I'm hoping Northern Virginia will make the state go blue.

A lot of my nerves were eased when I voted. Now it's just a waiting game.

..... home address in California.

My wife and I got up at 4:30 this morning and got to the polls 15 minutes early. This may not sound like much compared to what is happening in the "hotter" states, but usually, in this town of central NJ, we are the first at the polls. This time we had 3 ahead of us and it started to build fast.

It took about 3 seconds to switch the levers. It took about 10 more seconds to check, recheck, recheck, recheck that I did the right, uh, excuse me, I shouldn't use that word, CORRECT column.

If Kerry Wins, we will go out to dinner to celebrate.
If Bush Wins, we will still go out to dinner, but we will cry in our beers.

I am thankful that we do NOT have new software based voting machines. They are the old lever machines that have been in use since I can remember being taught about them in the 50s.

By the way this is THE "Middletown, USA" ---- the small town with the most WTC 9/11 casualties of other small towns. Home of Kristen Breitweiser, who headed the team of women who got the 9/11 commission hearings started. We live only 1/4 mile from the train station where victims cars were never returned to on 9/11. My wife goes to that station and travels under the Hudson River every day. My sister WAS IN the second tower of the WTC to be hit when it was hit. Fortunately, she was well on her way out, ignored the voice to go back to the office and, with her coworkers, made it out safely 15 minutes before the collapse.

It makes me nervous sometimes when I think about it. But, I DO NOT and NEVER DID for one nanosecond, think that we were or ever will be "SAFER" with George W. Bush as president.

One more thing before I get off my soap box. As you can tell from my DU "handle" I am a Vietnam Veteran. I served for four years, but only a short *tour* in Vietnam and Thailand during the war. I was not wounded physically nor do I have any Purple Hearts and I am glad. NeoCon pundits like to downgrade Kerry's service by trying to confuse the public between tour and time in service. It drove me nuts when my mother, who is a Republican, twice said, "but, Kerry only served for four months." I told her both times, that I would rather serve in safer places for 4 YEARS than four MINUTES in a dangerous combat zone. And I would rather leave because my time is up rather than because I was wounded three times.

To those who think that saying "wrong war, wrong time, wrong place" is demoralizing to the troops, let me say this: Nobody knows better than the troops how the war is REALLY going. Nothing is more demoralizing than knowing that it is going badly and hearing people at home say or think that it is going just fine and dandy. You can verbally support the troops simply by expressing your thanks and appreciation. Make them feel that they are doing an honorable thing simply because they are serving a great country and are loyal to it. They don't want or need to hear lies about how the war is going from people who are not there or are trying to stay in political office by justifying their actions. We can also support them by letting them know that we sincerely hope that something good can come from the war whether we agree that it should have been started or not. (I was very annoyed with Ben Stein's commentary on CBS Sunday Morning and his idea of what to say to the troops.)

So, now I want to thank our troops for serving our country. All who serve will also be part of a lifelong brotherhood and sisterhood of veterans. You will make instant friends whenever you strike up a conversation with a fellow vet for the rest of your lives.

Also, I am not a frequent poster on DU, but I want to thank DU and all DUers for a safe place to come and share feelings with people with like minds and values, even if it was just reading. It has been very educational for me, especially from those who are far more politically savvy than I.

Other than simply voting, I have never been active in any other way in politics. This year it has been different for me as it has for many others who have felt they had to do more than they are used to doing because something is terribly wrong.

Now, let's give Bush&Co a big pink slip!

My apologies in advance for those who don't like long posts.

Line at the polls at 730AM.

2 more votes for President Kerry. To a person, everyone said they had never seen lines like that at this polling place in their lives! I have always walked in and walked out as even the polling place workers said!!

Even the woman who was giving out flyers for the republican congressman said "Sounds good!" when I called out PRESIDENT KERRY!

I took a first time voter to the polls with me..and so I was able to conger up another Kerry voter!!

I am excited...got to go to work now...!!!

Bush is fucking TOAST.

I was the FIRST online at the school I walked up to the desk at 6:00 presented my drivers license and then was told "Your not on the list". I went thru 3 different people until they handed me an affidavit ballot, same for my wife. Im pissed. But Kerry got two more votes from us!