Report from Columbus OH - from a friend

My friend said he got to the poll at 6:15 and there were 300 people in line already. If turnout in Ohio is high I think we have it all sewn up!

1.5 hours in line, and I think I was #155 to vote in my district. Longest lines I ever saw!

Damn!

but this is great for the side of light & goodness.

. . . and it took us 1:20. The line was longer than I have ever seen it. It is starting to shrink a bit now, so if you haven't voted yet, this is a good time before the after work rush.

...that it's time we make Election Day a national holiday so that people have all day to vote, rather than not having time before having to go back to work. Plus, it would be much easier to get volunteers to work the polls and make things more smooth.

the polling-place monitor said turnout was phenomenal. I waited just over an hour to vote and the word was that was the shortest wait of the day.

a holiday to celebrate and exercise our freedom - sounds good. Parties for all the night before; a late morining rise and vote, and an afternoon of more BBQs and parties.

I'm in!

idea for every American to "report in" once every four years. Say during the month of Oct/Nov you have to report to your county courthouse for a census and you could vote at the same time. You wouldn't be required to vote just show up to be counted, people living or traveling overseas could go to nearest embassy. I think that would lead to like 98% participation, of course most politicians would hate it.

Turnout is good everywhere.

I spent the morning monitoring one polling place, and just got back from voting at another. Both places had incredible lines ... people waited over an hour to vote. First district was very encouraging - lots and lots of Kerry bumper stickers, only a scattered few Bush; lots of people came up to chat upon seeing the MoveOn sign, and only one jerky Bush supporter who didn't like the fact that we were there. (A problem with the concept of democracy, I guess. Had a fixation on Michael Moore - said we were "spreading lies like Michael Moore" - when in fact we were just checking off voters from our list so we know who to bug so they get to the polls.) It was pouring rain and cold, people had to stand in line outdoors, and they stuck it out.

Second district (where I voted), had an indoor waiting area, out of the rain and cold, but it seemed to me less encouraging just from the snippets of conversation I overheard during my hour in line. But lots of Kerry yard signs in the vicinity, and MoveOn PAC also had a group stationed nearby. Ballot itself was endless, with issues and judges and several Republicans running unopposed (I left them blank), and due to the lines, each person only had 5 minues. I was lucky in that I had a card listing all the Democratic judges, because judges here aren't identified as R or D. But the most important things were the Presidential and Senate races, and the "Defense of Marriage" and Zoo levy. Once I had those filled in, I went back and filled everyone else in. I think I got 'em all, before I was told my time was up.

Haven't heard of any voter challenges yet....

2 hour wait, LOTS of kerry people, and insane lines; when i left, at 2, there were STILL lines of over 300-400 people. i tabled this morning for Students For Kerry, and we had alot of good reactions


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

And I mailed early!:boring: I'd much rather have gone to the polls.

TWIG

Grove City, on the SW corner of Columbus--hour wait seems standard, people taking it fairly well. People were lined up half an hour before the polls opened. And that on a wet, cold, miserable day!

Looks REAL good for democracy and Democrats!

She lives in a very Republican area (Dublin, OH near Muirfield Country Club), and she told me that the turnout was low.

Of course, she and my dad both voted for Kerry/Edwards, and this is their first time voting ever! :)

Professor 2

...two hour wait at the Methodist Churh, and a slew of 'pubs grumbling about "Kerry and the liberals" in line. Somehow, they seemed to know I was from the "other side", and one old bat said that "I must be voting for Kerry!" I told her yes, and "may even vote a straight ticket!" She obviously needs to smoke one or something!

People (pubbies) I've never even met have whispersed to each other at bars, auto mechanic waiting rooms, all over the place.

"Shhh honey, he's one of them"

Must be too pretty :D

(north side of Columbus) at 6:35am, and there were at least 100 people in line ahead of us. Everyone was pretty cheery and chatting with one another. I didn't hear any partisan conversations from either side. Most people were just marveling at how wonderful it was that so many people were voting. After we had been there about 15 minutes, a poll worker came out and instructed people to form two lines depending upon which precinct they were in - and to ask him if they weren't sure. That shortened our line considerably, though we were still the longest line. The same guy came out about every 10-15 minutes to repeat the instructions to any newcomers, however, those of us already in the "long" line for 21A were telling them.

Around 8am, we were signing in. Since we are long-time residents and voters, we had no problems. In fact, we didn't hear of anyone having any problems at our polling place. A pollworker told us there was a challenger present and pointed him out, but said he hadn't done any challenging, just wandering around looking self-important. Someone here mentioned all the issues and unchallenged Repubs on the ballot, and I'll second that. I was nervous about leaving any light blinking, so I gritted my teeth and voted for them. Ick. Bleh. I also had one of those nifty voter cheat-sheets that MoveOn or some group handed out to us - it helped a lot!

All in all, a good experience. The pollworkers were very friendly and helpful and seemed to have a handle on everything. And everyone handled the waiting quite well.

My 19-year old stepdaughter voted for the first time today at the student union at Ohio State. She had to show THREE forms of ID because they had her name misspelled on the voter list. She was prepared, and she got to vote!

they're saying its a dead heat and we need to get everyone who hasn't voted out to the polls.

Everyone I know has voted though.

But if anyone else in Ohio knows someone who hasn't gone yet, drag them to the polls!!!!

Professor