Vote: Bring ID and expect other surprises
 

Assume the worst in all polling places. Anyone may challenge you. Bring multiple IDs - especially something with a picture. Probably will not require them, but... Especially important to have numerous IDs if still standing in line after official poll closing time. IDs that qualify include driver's licenses, voter registration card, multiple utiliity bills, SS card, credit cards, etc. You must have IDs if newly registered. Many of those IDs by themselves can be challenged by political party extremists. Even if a USPS letter was forward by you to another address, then a challenge may deny you voting without significant proof. They have been planning voting challenges that far in advance. You may have to provide multiple IDs if dirty tricks are exercised.

Anyone in line when polls are suppose to close will be permitted to vote. Anyone who leaves that line for any reason after official poll closing time (ie to take a piss) may not be allowed to vote. They will be that picky. Polls might be that contencious because this President has lied about so much from the 11 September and WMDs to being a compassionate conservative (better called a right wing religious extremist). Therefore everyone is angry. Lawyers will be aggressive. Expect hate everywhere because of this president his righteous supporters, and the last four years.

In the meantime, those in PA and upper NY State are advised to vote early. Rain in the afternoon and evening could have many potential voters standing in the rain for an hour. No saying how crowded polls will be since the number of voters is expected to be almost double the amount normally handled.

Only double the norm if turnout is somewhere at or slightly above 50% of registered voters. If turnout is better, well ... bring umbrellas, a good (but not expensive) book, and a beach chair. Plan for the worst - which also means bring multiple IDs. Challenging IDs using procedures previously not used will be another dirty trick by Democrats and Republicans to subvert patriots (independents) and the other party's members. Such challenges will be most common in polls with large numbers of new voters - where religious right extremists (who vote regularly) are therefore leasts likely to be challenged.

If poll problems are going to happen, they will happen in this election. We may be voting as to whether we go to nuclear war. Some people will do anything to protect the warrior president. Expect the worst when ideology is more important than other voters. Probably not, but it could get that adversarial. Expect the worst.

And for those who worry too much, spend three minutes at this web site for some soothing music:
http://www.jibjab.com/

I'll be totin' the 9 to the pollin' place. Ain't nobody gonna tell me I cain't vote!

In Pennsylvania we all have the same election officials we have had for the last 3 years, and I will expect exactly the same procedure I have had at every election since living here, in which I've voted in every election in which I was eligible.

I don't need ID because the election officials know me personally. But the procedure in PA doesn't require ID anyway.

If you vote in PA and are not subject to any additional requirements, you will know tw is just being paranoid. Paranoia will prevent people from voting which is why this particular tactic may backfire on the Ds. They were instructed to make a fuss pre-election. Bad idea. :headshake

Have a nice day.

Isn't carrying a firearm to a polling place illegal? Especially since many are located in schools? Forewarned is forearmed, or unarmed in this case. ;)

I got through this morning with no problems and no objections with just my voter card. Much ado over...little, perhaps?

VA isn't a swing state.

My suburban-Philly polling place was absolutely MOBBED this morning. Every time I've voted there before, the poll workers have outnumbered the people waiting by a solid margin; this morning, there must've been 150 people waiting when I got there.

I bailed, and will go back this afternoon no matter what the line is then.

It does if you're voting in a polling place for the first time.

I voted about 15 minutes ago...easy cheese. No one challenged my right to vote...everything was apparently fine...waited for about 15 minutes. My polling place (which is in my apartment complex) was just on TV...though they listed us as being in East Falls...ummm, no.

Voted in Joisey this morning at 7:15. Only one person in line in front of me in the N-Z section... I wasn't asked for ID, just to countersign my entry in the book of registered voters. Voted on the electronic machine -- pretty simple.
However, as we were leaving, the blue-hairs were yelling at each other about whether one could unplug an electronic voting machine without losing the votes already cast....

It ain't gonna be pretty, folks. :mad:

- Pie

TW, what medication that you are supposed to be taking did you stop taking?

I would think It's only illegal if its considered federal property for the purposes of the election, or if the location of the polling place is already restricted by state or federal law.

I haven't checked www.packing.org but I'm sure this has been discussed.

That means that your rent's gonna go up because you now live in a better neighborhood ...

To all the people who stood in line for four hours to vote early: suckers! Took me under one hour to vote this morning.

...and, of course, my vote dissapeared into some mysterious machine that has no power backup should the power fail. Or, perhaps my vote ended up on the mysterious digital card I was told to put into the cardboard box when I was done? I have no idea.

Bring back paper ballots.

It's no five hours, but it took me 35 minutes to vote today, and that's in a district that never has lines. Luckily, I had the choice between paper and electronic, so I chose paper.

Ironically, the first election I've seen that had a line out the door and past the electioneer-do-not-cross-line also had the lowest number of electioneers I've seen.

I walked in, signed next to my name on the voter registration, flashed my matching voter card, and was instructed to "take my pick" of booths. I did, it was easy, and I left. 10 minutes.

Of course, my husband (who isn't going to vote) thinks I wasted my vote because I voted for Badnarik. *shrug* I told him I feel like it's my duty to vote me conscience. He told me that my conscience doesn't run the country. I told him that regardless of who wins, this country won't be run on conscience.

I wasted my vote because I voted for Badnarik.

True.

I told him I feel like it's my duty to vote me conscience.

True.

He told me that my conscience doesn't run the country.

Also true.

regardless of who wins, this country won't be run on conscience.

*sigh* Very true.

Well, typical of me! I'm getting ready to go down and vote and can't find my driver's license. GRRRRRR! My Colorado sample ballot states that a recent utilities bill in my name will serve as ID, however. We'll see, I guess.

I showed up half an hour after the polls opened here in Arlington, VA. I got in line at 6:30 and walled out the door and was on my way at 7:40. The line stretched out of the elementary school gym, down the hall, out the door, along the sidewalk by the school parking lot, and out onto the sidewalk along the street.

I sat on a jury a couple years ago when a man was accused of bringing a firearm onto school property when it was actually in a gym bag, locked in his car's trunk. The police pulled him over for a traffic violation shortly after he left the school parking lot. They found the gun in the trunk after he consented to a car search and informed them of the gun. We didn't get to deliberate because during the trial, his stupid attorney realized that all evidence and his client's own testimony indicated that he was guilty. So he struck a deal with the DA. Good thing too, because the law was very clear. The defendant was very likeable, but he did violate the law by driving his car into the school parking lot while a gun was locked in the trunk.

Showing up at an elementary school polling place with a gun to protect your right to vote isn't a good idea. I hope NBN's polling place is in a firing range or or something.

Yeah, but how do you intend to get there ...

Breaking the law to exercise your civic responsibility.

tsk tsk.

Philadelphia is apparently helping out voters by putting some votes into the machines before the polls opened, just to get things started ...

Phila DA is already denying the charge.

I walked to my polling place. In fact, I parked next to it last night, so I could head to work immediately afterwards.

Took me about an hour and half, just got back. There was a line of blue-hairs about 50ft out the door here in Elverson. I was not challenged and didn't see any challenging type people, but I did have to show ID because it was my first time voting here.

Witchcraft, Santaria, Vodou, or Terrorism in NJ

Votes on Machines in Philly

What's going on in the rest of the world as we stand witness to the fall of Western Civilization? You might not be able to spank your kids in Britain anymore. You should probably get started with preemptory discipline now, beat the last minute rush ...

My polling place was right around the corner from me so I walked. I got there at 6:15a and was out at 7:20a. From the stories I've heard so far today, I was one of the lucky ones, spending just about an hour there.

piece of cake
 

I walked in, had two people in front of me at 8am this morning, flashed my id and registration card, got a smart card for the machine, casted my vote, and was out of there in under 10 min. though there was a high voter turn out it was moving quickly.

Just voted in battleground Ohio with NO problems and NO challengers! Yipee! Done!
:us:

From KYW-1060 (I'm posting the story verbatim b/c they tend to change their links):

Contrary to reports on the Internet and the "Drudge Report", Philadelphia is not impounding any voting machines and they have found no machines with votes already on them.

A spokesman for the City Republican Committee says those reports are totally false.

The machines that someone questioned have an indicator that shows how many times the unit has been used.

That indicator has nothing to do with votes, or with anything that would tend to taint election results.

45 minutes in suburban Philly (West Chester). An EXTREMELY long wait by previous standards; usually, the poll-workers outnumber the voters at any given time.

Just saw this at Boing Boing:

Some machines in Santa Clara are eating votes today. Burp.
Cell phone picture of the voting screen of death:
http://www.boingboing.net/images/th_votesaveerrror.jpg

This bothers me. I think that I voted today. But I have no idea if the WINvote machine counted it.

Went to my polling place at noon, had my traditional reunion with high school buddy who is a poll watcher this year, catching up on what's been going on in our respective lives (if anybody needs a good criminal attorney, I have her card), and was out by 1215 hrs. No irregularities noted.

Does it mean virtually anybody can just walk in and cast a vote? I think I'm living in a wrong state :)

Your signature has to match what's in the book. More or less. Which is actually a challenge for me.

10 years ago when I registered in my precinct, I had a normal person's signature. All the letters in my name were somewhat neatly formed and identifiable.

Because of my professional need NOT to have a recognizable signature (by practice, commitment warrants are signed sloppily so that patients can't get your name off them and stalk you, I now have a messy, loopy, scrawl in which the initial letters are identifiable, but you'd be hard-pressed to even guess at the rest.

I have actually considered resubmitting a registration form, just to have the signature updated. It's not that big of an issue, and I keep missing the registration deadlines. If I ever move or cross the threshhold of inhibition over changing party affiliation, I'll deal with it.

I wonder exactly what the backup voting procedure is. Do they actually give a paper ballot to people who try to vote and get their votes eaten? Or if the power goes out, do they have paper ballots to allow voting to continue? Or has anyone on whatever committee actually thought of that?

I can't imagine that the machines would have anything other than non-volatile memory, but sometimes my imagination falls short of reality.

Fifteen minutes, including standing in line, along with a heavy slate of judicial retention votes, a MO constitutional amendment and a major local sales tax issue. There were no obvious agitators/excess monitors, and there was no additional (indeed, *any*) security, despite the fact that my polling place is located in the local high school lobby, and students were entering the building while I was there. In fact, my 18 year old stepson voted for the first time today, and we went together. I was kind of touched, actually.

Well, I think we're talking technicalities, here. I AM a legally licensed driver in Colorado's DMV big brother computer banks. Anyhow, whether I got there legally or not, I did go down and vote. They were being very easy going about ID - the woman in front of me used her Sam's Club card plus her business card. However, because I'd sent in my change of address at the last minute, I didn't show up on the loal precinct voter registration list. They told me the Clerk and Recorder's office had been swamped, and was behind updating the voter's registration lists! :eek: They didn't stop me from voting, however. They gave me a provisional, PAPER ballot which I filled out and gave back to them and I guess my vote will be certified. The cool thing is that I got my very own vote tracking number and a phone number that I can call to find out if my vote got counted or not. I taped the numbers to my computer screen so I won't loose them, and you can be sure I'll be checking, especially if the Colorado election is tight.

I also voted "yes" on the state's proposed amendment to split electoral college votes by percentages given each candidate. It's a great first step toward electoral college reform, and I hope that it passes in Colorado and other states pick up on the idea, as well.

Minnesota urban poll report: Van Cleve Park Building- just a bit over an hour wait, but the line had doubled by 11 am. Four years ago I was out in 15 minutes. Several young new registrants- You can register on the day. Over all, the youth of this college neighborhood seemed to be out in great numbers. The usual over 60 year old poll workers neighbors were joined by a big crew of young volunteers- I liked seeing that too.
No irregularities. Legal guy standing by for questions. He weighed in when it was suggested the line wind through a different hallway of the park building- that was given the kibash because of a nearby outside doorway that could not be seen by the officials. It was just cool to be there. Regularly in the 60%s, I bet MN hits a new turnout record.

[/quote]I also voted "yes" on the state's proposed amendment to split electoral college votes by percentages given each candidate. It's a great first step toward electoral college reform, and I hope that it passes in Colorado and other states pick up on the idea, as well.[/quote]

I voted yes on this issue as well. I think it really sucks that a candidate can win the popular vote, but still lose the race. This amendment would help with that, I believe.

I voted this morning and had no problems. Of course, I live in a town with about 8000 or so people, in the middle of the mountains. Paper ballots were used, as they have been in the past. It's interesting to hear about the new electronic voting machines, though.

When I got to the town hall to vote this morning at 8:30 the line was out the door all the way to the parking lot. I stood there for maybe a minute when a guy came out and informed the waiting crowd that there were two lines, the A-O's were to the left of the line everybody was in. I was the only one to move into the left line, walked right up to the front, showed my licence, voted and was back in my car at 8:35! There were no voting gestapo or added security anywhere to be seen but then I didn't expect any either here in Smalltownville, CT.

i was in line at 5:30 AM behind no less than 50 people. when i left at 6:20 AM there was a line of about 150-200 waiting. yikes. no problems whatsoever.

i did have someone from "my union" office call to tell me about all the dirty tricks the republicans were pulling and attempting to give me some BS about my polling place.

they were stumped when i asked which union they were from, because i've belonged to a grand total of Zero unions in arizona.

I was the 8th voter through this morning. I knew all the poll workers so we chatted a bit. No crowd, never is. Pete went this afternoon and was #151.

Voted early this morning ... took about an hour here on the east coast of FL....more working class people than I imagined...thought it would be all the blue hairs but I guess they all voted early.

So far it looks like FL might not be the laughing stock of the country on this election as it is not too close yet (again, so far).....

404, where in CT are you? We just moved from Manchester...

FD

Small world FD, I was born and raised in Manchester. I live in Woodstock now, my parents are taking off to Florida tomorrow for their winter home (read: trailer) in Winter Haven. They were just waiting to vote here before they left.

I was number #773 at my polling place this afternoon. I waited 1.5 hours, and had a nice chat with Reps and Dems regarding the Electoral College. We may have disagreed on whom to vote for, but we were all in agreement that the Electoral College does need to have some work done on it. (I'm also for the splitting of EC votes in relation to the percentate of popular vote for each candidate)

I was suprised however, that in my precinct, we used paper ballots. Prior to today, I'd only voted with mechanical booths. The things you find out when you move :)

Hummm....looks like Bush got the nod. I don't see anything different around here. TW, see any mushroom clouds on the horizon where you are? :confused:

Wow...that is a coincidence. Actually liked it there a lot. We had a very nice private yard just behind Highland Market off I-384 near the Bolton line. Too crowded down here in FL.

TW, what is the fun of having nuclear weapons if we can't elect a president who will actually use them? (that is meant as a joke for those who might try to take it seriously).

Wonderful that we have a democratic system...where half the people in the country can be totally PISSED off as a result of any election. :mad:

FD

I had no line at 12:00 when I voted. I was the only voter there. Of course, when the Registrar told me my polling place was to be Rich (unpronounceable)'s Garage, he wasn't kidding. It was not an automotive repair facility, as you might imagine...it was the garage of a private residence. Took me twenty minutes to locate way out in the woods with NO sign on the main road. I finally noticed the "Welcome to Forest Hills" sign behind some bushes and followed the election signs. Sheesh.

I also drove FOUR HOURS to get there, spend an hour in town rooting through a junkyard for some needed parts, and then drove 3.5 hours back to arrive for class at PRECISELY 6:30 pm, when roll was being taken. One more minute and I'd have broken my perfect attendance record. That was close!

Anyway, now it's the day after, the world has not ended that I've noticed. And no one that was threatening to rescind their citizenship has done so, despite my urging. Life really DOES go on.

I just wish the election hadn't been so close. I would have preferred a more lopsided result. But I don't see any of my feared lawsuits or major challenges materializing, so maybe I'm being an Old Maid about that. Sometimes I worry too much. I hope.

Brian

Me too...I was worried that some of Osama's buds would take this opportunity to interfere with our elections since a fundamental part of what is being done in Iraq and Afghanistan are the holding of free elections.

Would have only taken a couple of small attacks on just a couple out of the thousands of polling places to completely stop the whole election. We would have been voting again in 6 months behind a wall of national guard troops.

Only think I can think of why they didn't is that they hate Bush enough to want him out and they had a pretty good chance of that happening and no way to determine the outcome until today...too late.