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  Jackie Carlin
  GB Staff
• Last Online: May 15 2012
Discussion Started on Nov 04 2008 at 12:30:22 pm
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I did it! With my 9-month-old daughter strapped into her stroller, we headed to our local precinct to cast our vote. My husband went early this morning when the polls opened, and he had to wait about an hour to vote.  The big hold-up? A finicky ballot-reading machine (gotta love Florida elections!). So, I came armed with treats and toys for the baby and prepared to wait. But, much to my joy, no line! I hit that sweet spot between the before-work crowd and lunch-hour crowd.

So, after filling out the four pages of ballot questions (what do Soil and Water commissioners do anyway?), I ran my ballots through the machine (no problems!) and received my I Voted! sticker.  They even stuck one on Elizabeth's shirt, too!

It was easy as apple pie! After our trip to the polls, we made a trip to the grocery store and it was fun seeing all the I Voted! stickers on my fellow shoppers.

Go get out there and vote! Here's hoping your trip to the polls was as smooth as mine!

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• 
  Simply Deb
• Last Online: Jan 25 2012
Discussion Started on Nov 04 2008 at 04:37:28 pm
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I don't remember when the law changed, but back in the OLD DAYS (late 1970s), I was not able to bring my son into the voting booth with me.  He was probably about the same age as your daughter, and I remember him wearing a light blue snowsuit.  Not sure if it was a municipal election or a referendum or what, but the machine tender had to hold him until I came out from behind the curtains.  DING!

Things are really different now.  I'm not so sure how private those privacy booths are, and most polling places don't readily provide the manila security folder that you bring to the optical scanner.  In fact, I've yet to see one of those folders at my polling place.

I was looking online at some local photos.  Parents were watching their teens mark their ballots and put them into the scanner.  Even the poll worker who stands beside the scanner was looking down as a voter was placing their ballot into the machine.  In fact, when the news was showing Mr. Obama at the privacy booth with his family this morning, he actually looked over the divider where his wife was marking her ballot.  Maybe he was making sure she voted for HIM  =)
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• 
  Simply Deb
• Last Online: Jan 25 2012
Discussion Started on Nov 04 2008 at 04:59:14 pm
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My husband and son voted at 11:30 this morning in our Community Center. There were no lines and no waiting. They got in and out of the polling place in about 3 minutes.

I cast my vote at 3:00 PM. There were no lines and no waiting, and there were lots of privacy booths available. When my ballot was entered into the optical scanner, the counter showed that there had been 1810 people who had cast their votes in my town by 3:00 PM.  There are approximately 3400 registered voters on the list.

The skies have been gray all day with mild temperatures (for New Englanders) in the low 60s.  So far there hasn't been any rain. Hopefully it will stay that way until after the polls close this evening. 


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• 
  doohic
  GB Staff
• Last Online: May 24 2012
Discussion Started on Nov 04 2008 at 05:55:45 pm
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I voted this past Friday and it took 1 hour and 45 minutes. Im starting to think I should have waited ;)
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• 
  phantomsec4
• Last Online: May 27 2010
Discussion Started on Nov 05 2008 at 02:22:11 pm
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I went to my polling place at 3:10 p.m. and walked right in and voted. My husband and I had tried to vote early over the weekend because we wanted to go together. We gave up after seeing the long lines at three different venues.  Television stations were camped out everywhere and voters in line anxiously waited to see if they would be interviewed for their 15 seconds of fame. Pretty pathetic in my opinion.
The media hype about anticipated long lines on Election Day were just that it seems; at least in our area.  Then again, the media hyped everything about this election so I was really not surprised at the ease of my voting experience.  The people at the polling station said they had not experienced long lines at all.
My biggest comment though, is that it took this election to get so many people to the polls - Americans should have enough pride to show up in these numbers for EVERY election!  Good government starts locally...stay involved in making decisions in your cities and towns and school boards.
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• 
  hastykayaker
• Last Online: May 22 2011
Discussion Started on Jun 27 2009 at 04:36:13 pm
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After experiencing our first eight months of this "History Making Election"....is it fair to ask, How Do Like the CHANGE So Far?    As for me, I voted for the American.
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• 
  tina
• Last Online: Aug 02 2009
Discussion Started on Jul 13 2009 at 08:42:27 am
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no wait in line for us. The atmosphere was happy.
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• 
  Vannie
• Last Online: Oct 08 2011
Discussion Started on Jul 25 2009 at 08:21:10 am
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Like Tina, I did not have to wait. The lines were short and moved quickly. It may have been that I voted just after 9a, when most 9 to 5 people had voted and left for work.
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• 
  mtks
• Last Online: Nov 15 2009
Discussion Started on Nov 13 2009 at 06:52:00 pm
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Just joined the group, so I'm a year late.   My husband and I voted ahead of time because (proxy) we knew that the lines would be full.  We live in the country, but only a mile from our town hall. Our vote counted as our township went for McCain, well actually our county also. But the state electrol votes went for Obama and we can't understand why, as more than half the state (Wisconsin) voted Republican.  Go figure.
 
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