In South Bend, Indiana, Spouse and I went to vote at 6:30am.  The fire station was pretty empty, and mine was the 31st ballot cast.  So it looked like pretty much every other election year for us, except it’s going to be a LOT warmer than usual—74 and sunny in November? What? 
We had no canvassers this year, but that may be because some MoveOn organizers live in our neighborhood and know their efforts would be better used elsewhere: our street is littered with Obama signs, and the pumpkin on my porch is carved with the Obama campaign logo.

Weather was cool and pleasant in Christiansburg, VA (western Virginia, near Virginia Tech) this morning.  When the polls opened at 6 AM, the line was between 30 and 45 minutes.  Everything went smoothly, but the machines were touch screen with no paper trail, so who knows…?

Got my free Starbucks, now I’m at work.  This is not likely to be a productive day.  I’m going to bail early and see if the Obama office needs some volunteers for afternoon voter mop-up.  Then to a local restaurant to watch the results roll in with the county Democrats.

At my polling place in Newark, NJ, the largest city in the state,  the one(?!?!?!?!?!?) voting machine is broken and I was given the choice of coming back later or an emergency ballot. Now I don’t suspect that anyone’s trying to steal an election here, but if this is the baseline level of incompetence it certainly supplies plausible deniability in the places where the right will try some shenanigans.  This machine needs to work a few days a year and they can’t make that happen? EPIC FAIL

Arlington, Virginia. I ran to the poll to avoid parking issues and arrived at 5:20. I was about 20 people in, among a mostly elderly crowd. Most people seemed to be in a good mood. I was out at 6:05, one of the gents with whom I was waiting offered me a ride home (“You aren’t running home, are you?”) Great experience.

I then watched the kids at home while my wife went to vite. She was back in under an hour. Everything went more smoothly than I expected. Kudos to the poll workers and whoever improved the flow of the line (they changed the way the line was organized from previous elections.)

Voted in Bergen County, NJ here, traditionally a reliable Republican stronghold.

No lines.  None.  I spent more time in the voting booth than it took to actually drive there.  Seems like the pubbies didn’t feel like turning out early in the morning.  Weather was a bit chilly, but manageable.

When I dropped off my brother in Jersey City, however, WHEW!  Huge lines spilling out of polling buildings everywhere at 6:30 in the morning!  Incredible!

Weather is exquisite ere in Kansas City. I woke up at 6a and drove to my polling station. The line went to the end of the block, so I went back home and will stop by again before I head to work.

We had the National Republican Trust ads in Georgia as well.  Pretty much with every commercial break on MSNBC.

Cook County Illinois (Chicago Suburbs). We got to the polling place a half hour before it opened, and there were already people in line. Two precints vote there, so two separate lines, and by the time we left at 6:15, there were 40 or 50 people in line, and people arriving in the parking lot.

My hubby passed a northwest indiana police station on his way to work and the lines were already well out the door and around the building at 7 am.

Boone, NC: I voted at 8:10 on the first day of early voting (and was voter number 33), but I stopped by the courthouse before work to talk to the poll watchers at 7:45 and ask how things were going. They said the real turnout so far was on campus: they were getting cell phone calls asking for extra materials because they were running out as fast as they were arriving. So far about seven people have come by the courthouse to vote. There were no Republicans leafleting so far, but I saw one woman all in red with flag pins all over walking past the Obama signs with her head held very high. I am thinking about helping on campus at lunch.

I am so, so nervous.

Polls open at 6 AM here in Greene County, southwest Missouri. I got off work at 5:45 and decided to go straight to my polling place, the rotunda of the county courthouse, instead of grocery shopping first. Got there about 6:10; the line was out the door, which I’ve never seen in 29 years of voting. My wait on line was about 30 minutes. A wonderful variety of citizens! Lots of young voters and people of color, which I’ve never seen before—Springfield is notoriously white, and the 60+ demographic are the predominant voters most years. Obama pulled a huge crowd here on Saturday, but I’m used to living in Roy Blunt’s world.  If MO goes blue, it’ll be because this area has turned around. Here’s to hope.

Sunderland, MA, in Franklin County.

Grolby and I rode our bikes down to the elementary school around 8 this morning.  There were maybe 8 people on line in front of us, and when we left there were about 15 people on line.  In and out, quick.  Wasn’t expecting lines, as there’s maybe 4,000 people in the whole town.  General cross section of the town was there—a few young folks, lots of parents bringing their kids to school, some old folks.  A lot of students from the local university live in this town, but I suspect a lot of them vote absentee from where ever they’re from originally. 

MA uses fill-in-the-bubble paper ballots that get read by optical scanner. 

Weather: cool, but not too cold; very foggy and damp, but not yet rain.

I got to my polling place in northwest Columbus, OH at 6:15 and there was already a line.  The doors opened at 6:30 and I waited about another hour.  The poll workers knew what they were doing for the most part and everything went smoothly.  I spoke to someone later who said that a man was removed for wearing a McCain/Palin t-shirt, but I didn’t see it myself.  The weather is nice—sunny and warm.  Most of my co-workers have only waited around an hour to 1.5 hours, but we all showed up at our locations before 6:30.

Light rain but decently warm when I drove by my Durham polling place (I voted early).  It was busier than I’ve seen it before, but it didn’t seem like the lines were too bad.  I live in a precinct with a huge early voting turnout though.

Long lines in Philly, a bit cloudy, I think we’re expecting rain later, sadly.  However, every block or so there were GOTV people who had umbrellas next to them and were directing anyone who hasn’t voted yet to the appropriate polling station.

My husband and I both voted early - he last week and me the week before - in McDowell County in Western NC.  No waits, no machine problems, poll workers were very nice and did a great job explaining the ballot (you have to vote for President even if you vote a straight ticket, etc.).  oVer the last three election cycles we have gone from the punch-out voting cards with chads in 2004, to fully electronic machines in 2006, and now we have a scantron-type thing where you bubble in your choice and feed it into a machine that reads and records you vote.

Only a handful of people there, but I suspect it’s because the county opened up two more voting site this times as opposed to the usual one in teh county administration building (for a whopping total of 3 sites).

Everyone in my office voted early, so now we are just sitting around biting our nails.  I was up at 4:00am and couldn’t go back to sleep thinking about that damned “godless” Elizabeth Dole ad…

Rainy in Seattle, but like most people in King County, I voted by mail.  My husband and I mailed our ballots last Thursday.

Caren—- WOOO! I thought the SAME thing! :D

Voted at 6:15am in Rochester, NY. A very RED area in a BLUE state. People were bitching a little. Had this funny little jolt to my insides before i voted. Weirdest feeling ever.

P.S. the Steelers won last night. Anyone know the significance of that? I’ll give you a cookie if you do :D

Here in central East Tennessee it’s bright and chilly. My wife and I voted last Thursday, spent 30 min. to 45 min. in line that day, and I can’t vouch for the turnout today.

GOTV has been nil, from my experience. Nobody’s knocking on our doors or calling us up for either party, despite the fact that I know the county has a Democratic Party headquarters.

We haven’t been watching a whole lot of TV lately, so I can’t tell you what political commercials are running locally.

Steeler win means Obama’s in!

Off to vote now. And then off to keep America safe for (true) democracy. Vote early, celebrate often everybody!

Washington, DC.  Lovely weather so far.  Polls opened at 7 AM and I arrived shortly before 8.  There was a line, but I was out in under an hour.  We have a choice of paper ballot or touch screen and I picked a paper ballot. What was crazy to me was the people who were waiting in line to use the touch screen.  Once you got to pick your ballot type, there was no line to use paper.  There was only one touch screen machine though, so that had a line.  I don’t know why anyone who could use paper would choose the touch screen, and from what I could tell (and of course I can’t see everything), none of the people in line seemed infirm.

DC doesn’t technically have early voting but they were allowing people to vote at the Board of Elections starting October 20th because there were so many snafus with the mailed absentee ballots.  I intended to go but could never reach a person on the phone to confirm what the hours were for early voting. 

One thing that happened that I didn’t particularly like was that there were multiple film crews in the library where I voted.  None of them had obvious signage or prominent badges indicating who they were and why they were there.  I suspect it was mostly to get a story on lines, but it was unnerving to have cameras right on me.  Is this normal?  I have never seen a camera crew inside my polling place.

It’s a balmy, warm, sunny November day in Manchester, CT. I got to the polls a little after 8am. On my way into the building, someone was handing out cards telling me to Vote No on Question 1 (which I was already planning to do - Question 1 is to have a Constitutional Convention, and the Catholic Church is behind it, because they want to take away gay marriage.) Inside the senior center, there was a short line. There were at least twice as many stands in the room, where we go to fill out our ballot, and I double and triple checked mine before I entered it into the optical scan machine.

They had Assistant Registrars there to help people who were not on the list (I saw one gentleman not on the list get added by the AR). Also, the optical scan machine spit out an overvote, so they gave the man who overvoted another ballot so he could vote correctly.

I was home by 8:30. In my town, there are multiple polling places, which helps keep the lines shorter.

My parents went to vote in Hebron, CT at 6am, and they were in line for an hour. They saw 3 near accidents as people were pulling into the school parking lot, and noted that the police officer who was ostensibly there to direct traffic was sitting in his car.

FLorissant Missouri (suburb of St. Louis)
Pleasant weather, pleasant people in line.
Got there at 5:45, voted at 8:30

Fabulous weather here in Boston. Warm and sunny. I got to the polls around 8am and there was by far the biggest line I’ve ever seen, stretching down the block. But it moved quickly and I was through in maybe 30-45 minutes. Our voting spot is always super-organized. If there’s one thing Jamaica Plain can do, it’s organize shit.

I was at the phone banks last night and they had more volunteers than they knew what to do with, literally. And my little neighborhood has over 100 volunteers going up to New Hampshire to canvas and drive people to the polls. Go JP!! I was super-nervous in the last few days, but today I’m feeling good. We’re gonna win this thing.

Gainesville Florida at the Harn Museum.  No wait at all at 8:30 this morning.

I voted in the Eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh PA.  The line was longer than usual, but not by too much.  It moved slowly because our poll workers are incredibly slow - there would be two or three open voting machines, and nobody to use them because the poll workers took forever to look up voters.  I waited about 15- 20 minutes; from 9:00 or so to 9:20.

The weather is pleasant.

They’re just getting started here in CA. The house two doors up from me was our polling place (it’s always very easy and you pretty much know everyone voting there, so it’s nice), but my wife and I have voted by mail the last two years because she travels a lot for work and isn’t always in town to vote. So, I don’t get a free Starbucks because I don’t have an “I voted” sticker. :(

Vote No on Prop H8!

Beautiful sunny weather here in New Haven, CT.  I arrived at 7:15—line out the door.  Waited 2 hours to vote, but once I got in, it moved quickly.  I heard from people who were in line that there were folks lined up before 6AM.  Everyone seemed in good spirits.  It was pretty cool.

Alexandria, VA - In line at 6:15am, voted and out an hour and a half later. Never seen so many people or such a line.  No problems that I could see, just a sheer volume of people trying to vote before work, or trying to beat the “rush” - hah!  Weather is overcast and cool, but not raining (possibly drizzle this afternoon?) 
Blue Virginia!

In Georgia it is pleasant and sunny.  My polling place was busy but not crowded - the whole time I was there there were always people at the machines but I didn’t see the line get longer than 7 or 8.  I went at around 10 am, though, so after people with regular jobs probably have already been there.

I just returned from voting in Arlington, VA.  There was a line but the process only took about ten to 15 minutes start to finish.  They had both electronic machines and paper ballots.  I was glad I had the option to choose paper, and I did.  W00t!

Voted at 08:30 - Evanston, IL. Beautiful day: clear and 60. I waited about 20 mins to vote and everything was very smooth; we still use primarily optical ballots instead of touch screens. There were a number of recent citizens voting for their first time—we have a large Hatian community in our neighborhood.

I voted this morning and waited about an hour and a half in line. Then when I’m right at the point of signing in, some guy ahead of me asked the pollworker about why they had both paper and electronic voting. She rolled her eyes and said, “Oh, a few people griped about the electronic machines and made a big fuss about it, so we HAVE to have them. It’s a waste of time, if you ask me.” I promptly gave my name and driver’s license and sweetly said, “I’ll take a paper ballot, please.”

When I voted in the Primaries, I used their electronic machine. My paper record jammed and the printer just printed over and over, so the whole paper was black. I couldn’t check to make sure my vote tallied. I was pissed, and called over a pollworker and asked if my vote had indeed been counted. He assured me that it had, and then I told him he either needed to fix the machine or shut it down. Of course, he did neither.

So that’s why I wanted a paper ballot. That pollworker can kiss my ass.

Cloudy and cool in Fairfax, Virginia (where we also had the odious Rev. Wright ads last night).  Voted just after 10:00am and was in and out with no wait (there were maybe 15-20 people waiting in the second half of the alphabet line, I just got lucky).

The nicest part was that the poll workers led a round of applause when they checked in a new voter.  He was a young Asian American guy and was clearly embarrassed at the attention but proud.  Everyone was clapping, poll workers and voters alike, as he pumped his fist in the air.  Man, sometimes—what a country!

I’ve seen the Rev. Wright ad about 50 times in the past three days.  Yeah, so I watch a lot of TV; sue me.  But even WORSE is the ad claiming the 9/11 terrorists attacked “Wall Street,” leading to a collapse of our financial market.  It depicts Arab-looking men in vans, driving around and making bombs.

Here in New Hampshire, things were sunny and lines were almost non-existent.  I vote where Dartmouth votes, though, so just wait until everyone isn’t either asleep or in class (or both) - I expect lines to be much longer.

Mt. Pleasant, SC, 8am. Weather is negligible; a little colder than normal. Polling place: A local “mall” style Church. Line well out the door. The wait for one precinct was probably 1.5 hrs at least. Keep in mind this is an overwhelmingly “conservative” area (which is why our polling place is a scary cult-like hub of Christian fundie nonsense I would never set foot in otherwise).

There is no doubt that SC is going for McCain. It is possible that the high turn-out is to ensure quasi-criminal whackjob Congressman Henry Brown is re-elected over center-right Democrat (and lesbian) Linda Ketner. Fingers crossed for Ketner (though it’s a long shot). Or everyone’s just on edge.

Our precinct for some reason had no line. We were pulled out of the big line for the other precinct and whisked to the front after waiting for 45 min. Poll worker told me my machine was “temperamental” and kept re-booting. I wondered aloud whether it would record my vote. Pressed the screen for Obama and Ketner. Felt very good. A dent in McCain’s probable margin of victory here. I hope.

Chicago, IL (Gorgeous day)  Voted at 7:15 this morning, after a 1 person wait.  The poll workers said there were a small line earlier and when I left there was a line growing, so I timed it perfectly.

The paper ballot had broken arrows next to each candidate.  You had to connect the ones for who you were voting.  The man in front of me did not make his lines dark enough and had to vote over.  His English was not great.  We have a sizable Puerto Rican, Mexican and Polish immigrants in my neighborhood, so it would have been nice if there were some bi- or trilingual poll workers.

Then I went home and played hooky for another hour before heading in to work.

Voted in CT with the boys.  No real wait, took maybe ten minutes tops.  Other lines seemed a touch slower, but it was a breeze.

Took so little time to vote I came home to report before leaving for my swim. Not a bad line at 10. Took about an hour all told. But it would have been much less if my name hadn’t been in the dread R-Z book. If I’d been A-E I’d have been out in about a 1/2 hour.

Philadelphia weather is pleasant. Partly cloudy and low 60s. Supposed to possibly rain (or maybe just drizzle) late.

Big Obama neighborhood. New judge of elections who really reorganized the polling place so it was more efficient than I’ve ever seen it.

I want to be Hiro and go to about 10 pm, please.

Long Island, NY.  Voted at 6am.  10 minute wait.  When I left for work at 7:30, the line wasn’t out the door or anything.  They had things running pretty smoothly.  Nice to see a parent with their 18 year old kid voting for the first time.  Put a smile on my face.  Next election that’ll be me and my daughter!

Oh, and National Republican Trust ads here in NY also.  Surprising.

Grand Rapids, MI—Normally a Red haven in a moderately Blue state.  The weather was sunny and in the high 50’s this morning, which made waiting outside in line not so bad.

My precinct (of two at this location) was working pretty smoothly, although it is definitely the longest line I’ve been in to vote.

The other precinct at my place was having some trouble with slow voting.  A gentleman in that line told me that he had been there since 6:20 AM, and, after waiting over two hours, he was finally getting his chance.  Was the line because that precinct is predominantly African-American, where mine is closer to 50-50?  I don’t want to get into conspiracies, but the two sides were not equally efficient…

Unfortunately, I’m not trained as a poll worker, so the precinct captain could not accept any help that I could offer…

Even here in DC where Obama’s win is a given,  it took an hour and change to get through the line.

And those Rev. Wright ads have been running nonstop here (for northern Virginia voters). There’s another horrible and deceptive ad running,  taking Joe Biden’s quotes about Obama being tested and what Hillary Clinton said about McCain and Obama out of context.

Athens, GA,  It’s a beautiful day, I voted around 10:30am.  I went to the wrong polling place…not a wait at all.  I had to drive a few blocks to go to the correct polling place where there was also no wait.  Not to mention the fact that the volunteers were exceptionally pleasant and apologized to ME for MY coming to the wrong place.  (It was really my fault since I just assumed I would go to the closest one.) 

At the first polling place, while they were having a little trouble finding me, I said to them that I had registered at the DMV a few years ago.  When I said that I watched the volunteers look at each other and one said;  “The DMV has been giving us fits.”  I thought that was interesting and just when I was about to ask what they meant they told me to go to the other school.  I wonder how and why the DMV could screw that up for people.

Wow, nice to see so many people from my hometown (Arlington, VA aka. “communist country”).
My girlfriend and I were up at 10 to 7 and in line to vote at 10 after, despite the fact that we lost power overnight and my alarm clock was turned off!  It’s like Christmas, I was so eager to vote I got up early by instinct. 
Weather’s sunny but a little cool in San Francisco, should be a glorious day once it warms up a little.  We waited about 45 minutes in what was by far the longest and most diverse line I have ever waited to vote in.  My neighborhood is a mix of public housing and old Victorians (we live by Alamo Square park) and there’s usually a nice feeling of neighborly togetherness, but this line was like a party.  Everyone was chatting and laughing together, talking about the historic nature of the day.  I doubt my polling place will register a single vote for McCain.
Like I was just telling my co-workers, I never thought I would see the day when I could vote for a black man for President, to PRESERVE THE RIGHT of gays to marry, and to legalize prostitution all in one day!
I love this city.

The Countess and I sallied forth from our keep in Cape Ann at 10:00am in 64 degree weather and walked for 20 minutes to our polling station on Main Street. Our town has about 7,800 residents, so there was no line/no wait. We use paper ballots, and mark a big X in the box next to whom we wish to vote for.

Besides the folks running for various offices we had three propositions. Number 1, abolishing the state income tax, number 2, decriminalizing one ounce or less of pot and number 3 banning dog racing.

I voted at 6:45 am in Oak Park, IL.  For the first time in my memory, there was a line outside the park building.  It moved quickly, though: 10 minutes until I got my ballot plus another 10-15 minutes waiting for a booth to open up.  The poor folks who chose electronic voting had to wait longer since there were only two touch-screen machines for our precinct.

Everyone seemed in a good mood, but then our village is notoriously liberal and integrated (which is why I live here).  The sun was shining, and we may set a record high temperature for the day!

I voted in Pennsauken, NJ at 7 AM with my man. It was his first time voting, ever. We passed someone coming out as we went in but we were the only ones in there.

Mrs. RG and I voted right at the 7 AM opening here in South Philly. Lines weren’t too bad (total wait maybe ten minutes). I did see some longer lines at the 5 or 6 places I passed after driving my wife to work.
Things were more confused than anything. We have 4 different precincts in our polling place and there were no signs to direct anyone.
Sadly, there were only McCain signs up at the polling place (I live in deep South Philly, one of the only areas of the city with really any Republicans).
When I returned a bit later after doing some GOTV for the Obama campaign to get some signs up, I was heartened to see a heavy union presence promoting Obama.
Seriously, GOTV here in Philly is impressive; much better than 2004. Targeted, organized, precise. Quite a thing to behold.
I just hope it works.

Polls opened at 7. Got there 20 minutes to 10. Voter number 715! WOW! Parking lot was full and about 20 people in waiting to vote and the voting tables were SRO…

Interesting…

This polling place is in a very small fire station with a very small parking lot. I’m sure tonight the lines will be monsterous and there isn’t a side or back exit to the parking lot. I smell trouble… I’m signed up for CREDO voting action text messages and so far nothing, so far…

New Rochelle, NY. Very short line. My best mate is voting today, too—last time we spoke about it, he hadn’t been planning to because he’s generally cynical about politics and said his vote wouldn’t make a difference in New York anyway, but he’s since decided to, and not as the lesser of two evils, but as a positive choice. I’m so proud of him.

I’m underage by a few months, but I went to vote with my mum. The polling place is at my old middle school, and when we came in, I saw the lady security guard who was basically everyone’s mother when we went there. (quote her: “When you walk in that door, you are my children.”) I explained to her that I was here to pull the lever (I love NY voting machines!) with my mum, and she said “Go and make history.” I teared up instantly. This day makes me so sentimental.