Lines Stretch for Blocks as New Yorkers Turn Out for Early Voting

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

Tens of thousands of New Yorkers flooded polling places and waited hours in long lines on Saturday, the first day of early voting, with many saying that they turned out because of concerns that their ballots might not be counted if they tried to vote by mail.

Lines stretched for blocks outside polling sites, including Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Armory in Washington Heights, as election officials contended with malfunctioning electronic poll machines and tried to calm anxious voters.

The hurdles for voters and poll workers on the first day of voting reflected the challenges of holding a contentious presidential election in the middle of a pandemic. But many people remained undeterred by the delays and the coronavirus, some waiting as long as five hours and some rushing to get in line before polls closed.

Anyone in line by 4 p.m. was supposed to be allowed to vote, but people were nervous that they would be turned away because of the turnout and slow-moving lines. At 4 p.m. on the dot, a poll worker at the Brooklyn Museum told voters that the line was going to be cut off and that no more people would be allowed to get in line.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/nyregion/new-york-early-voting.html

[MichMan]

1. Do not understand people waiting for hours on the first day to vote early

Just go another day/time. Election isn't for another 10 days

[Warpy]

2. People go when they can

It's a 24/7 economy in places that aren't Podunk and people have limited time off from work during voting hours. Voting places are near our homes, not our work, and we're only allowed a measly hour off work to vote, way under the commuting time one way, let alone both.

This country is making it harder and harder to do simple things, all in the name of security, of course. Voting should be one of the simplest things we do. Instead, we're forced to line up for hours in whatever free time we have away from the job. If it weren't for early voting, most of us couldn't vote, at all.

Think about that.

[MichMan]

4. Mail and Absentee voting is an option being used by millions to make it easier

If you don't trust the mail, than drop it off instead. Doesn't get much simpler than that. What is the problem with that?

[Warpy]

5. People who don't pay attention think that way

They have erected significant barriers to that, also, especially in red states where ballots delivered late by the sabotaged USPS won't be counted.

Wake up, the next vote that will be taken away will most likely be yours.

The last thing they want to allow us to do is vote.

[MichMan]

13. Silly me, I thought we we were in favor of expanding mail in voting

Didn't realize it is to be avoided whenever possible

[Warpy]

14. Tell it to Louis De Joy

Looks like what we have here is a clash between what should be true and what is true.

[brooklynite]

8. If you drop off an absentee ballot, no assurance it will be accepted; my ballot has...

[winstars]

3. IMHO. in NYC, people have been waiting 4 horrible years to wait in that damn line...

[Earthshine2]

10. LOL! Excellent comment. This is the visual image of voter enthusiasm.

And for some, they are worried that somehow, they won't get to vote.

[DesertRat]

7. I think that many are worried about the dismantling of the USPS

and are anxious to vote in person if/when they can.

[DesertRat]

6. I guess NYC isn't a ghost town afterall

Link to tweet

[brooklynite]

9. Some people celebrate the opportunity to vote...

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. THIS is evidence that we need not fear "Over Confidence"

Absolutely no one in New York State is worried that Joe Biden could somehow lose New York's electoral votes, but it is not leading to complacency. Instead, if anything, Trump's weakness is feeding into a feeding frenzy to once and for all totally humiliate Trump and all of the Republicans who enabled him.

[Joinfortmill]

12. Blue Tsunami rolling in.