I NEVER Want to Stand in a Fucking Line Like This Again!

[BronxBoy]

Report from Gwinnett County Georgia.

Went to vote yesterday. Got in line at 1:30. Cast my vote at 7:15. LOOOOONNNG Line

But it was cool though. Actually it was kinda exciting. It filled my heart to see so many brothers and sisters waiting to vote. My line partners were mixed; Black, Hispanic and White. No one talked politics. We talked and laughed about what folks joke about when you have to wait in a line for six hours. What landmark we would be glad to get to. Looking at the extension of the line since we got on it. Estimating the time it would take us to hit the front door. The thing that came across very strong was that people were excited to be there, no matter what side of the fence they may have been on. As we got closer to the door, my group joined in the laughing at another group who started singing some funny ass spiritual type song. Several Black women and a big ole White dude just having fun and passing time waiting to do their civic duty. Wish I had a video camera because they were having themselves a ball.

There have been a couple of threads here about the supposed lack of involvement of young people in this election. Well, while my report is very local in nature, there were a LOT of young folks in line. I was very happy to see a lot of minorities but was impressed that there were many White kids as well. There were a ton of folks with babies. Young couples and single parents. Babies would cry at the top of their lungs and no one blinked an eye or got annoyed while the parent settled them down. Several people worked the crowd pushing shopping carts filled with water, offering them free to anyone who needed a drink.

When my son and I finally hit the homestretch, an elderly Black couple came to the line and started taking pictures. Didn't hear the entire conversation that they had with the group in line near them but I heard snippets. Seems their daughter told them that the line to vote was six hours long and they just had to come and see it. I was too young to feel the experience of civil rights era. But just being in line with so many Black folks waiting to vote, especially in a county that is very conservative, was more than a little moving.

So all of you who feel a little anxious, take a deep breath. I think people are hearing the message of our party and are inspired. Let the chips fall where they may but I think people are waking up.

Now I gotta go have a drink

[ej510]

1. Starting now through november 4th you guys should make a big fuss about this.

[BronxBoy]

4. A fuss has been made....

Need to keep on making it

[ej510]

25. Force the media to make a big story out of this.

[rhett o rick]

46. HOW????????//

[BronxBoy]

52. I'm thinking about setting myself on fire......

PSYCHE!

[Raineyb]

55. Wouldn't work

A few years back a guy in I think Chicago set himself on fire to protest this war. They covered it as a traffic incident and it barely got any airplay at all. Bunch of dizzy twits complaining about the traffic.

Regards

[BronxBoy]

64. It's not funny

but I believe you

[Sparky 1]

75. How about...

My area, not just my county but neighboring counties (western Washington state), has switched over to voting by mail. How about calling your county commissioner's office and ask how something like that could come about. And/or get together with other Dems in your area and start pushing for it... town hall meetings... letters to the editor... whatever it takes. Are there any counties in your state that have switched to all mail ballots? Ask them how. I'd just start asking lots of questions and don't stop pushing till you get action.

[roguevalley]

53. the community of it, that is the America I want to live in.

[Kajsa]

2. Six hours?!? That's waaay too long to wait!

Thank you for hanging in there and casting your vote.

I wouldn't have been able to stand that long.
( back injuries)

I admire your tenacity!

:) :patriot:

[BronxBoy]

6. Lot of folks had chairs

And if there was someone in the line group who needed it more than the owner, it was kindly offered

Nice to see

[Overseas]

3. Thank you so much for standing in line so long to vote.

I hope the Obama Administration will set up an election reform commission to make sure these things don't happen next time.

[madmax]

5. Outrageous!!!!!!!!!

We need to change the way America votes from long lines and faulty machines. Different rules in different counties and state. We need a UNIFORM method to vote and count the votes.

But, it won't happen. After this election eveyone will forget until the NEXT TIME. <sigh>

[BronxBoy]

9. In our case Mad....

The bottleneck seemed to be staff not the machines. We probably had several thousand people in line but there were only 2 folks at the door checking your form and ID. There were actually empty voting booths sitting as they processed folks

[madmax]

36. These folks the 'work the door'

are they paid or volunteers? I'm sure they could have had more ppl working. Subtle form of voter suppression, me thinks. Anyway, thanks for your patience and commitment. :hug: Just think, you helped make history and change the world. :patriot:

[Two Sheds]

65. that's what happened to me in New Orleans...

there were a half dozen or more voting machines but only two women checking voters ID's for purposes of finding their names, ward, and precinct on the rolls. I waited for just under two hours which is nowhere near your ordeal.

[ChazII]

79. Arizona

has mail in ballots, early voting and the traditional vote on Tuesdays. Luckily, my county does have paper ballots.

[AbbeyRoad]

7. Thanks for the descriptive report

It sound like despite the ridiculous wait, people were having a good time. I wish there was a video of the singing.

[BronxBoy]

13. I widh I had it too

They were clowning something bad. Someone in our group said 'See whaT we have to look forward to when we get where they are; DELIRIUM"

LOL

[JJ]

8. Post belies your subject line

Sounds like you'd love to stand in a line like that again. Hell, the way you described it made me want to stand in a line like it. Here's to long lines to vote.

[BronxBoy]

10. Yes

It was kinda fun!

[knixphan]

11. power to all people!

[flpoljunkie]

12. You know the winds of change are blowing when people are standing in line 6 hours and more to vote

Wonderful post, Bronx boy! Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

[BronxBoy]

14. Thanks....

Something just seems different about this election cycle. I know a lot of folks are concerned about dirty tricks.

But something feels different

[louis-t]

15. 6 hour wait to vote is disgraceful.

I might have to wait 1 hour and we have no early voting here.

[BronxBoy]

16. It was bad.....

Very bad for those who had physical limitations. They did have an express line for folks 75 and older and with physical infirmities that prevented them from standing in line. Wasn't advertised well.

I think most folks took it as a badge of honor that they made the wait.

[louis-t]

20. Badge of courage is right.

They will talk of it for many years. I would gladly wait that long in line to be sure we could be rid of these neocon fools. Funny, 2 of my most repug friends (you know, the ones that send the viral repug hate mails to you to "educate" you) aren't even in town to vote. I know they didn't vote absentee and we don't have early voting here. Let's hope it's a trend.

[juno jones]

17. K&R

Thank you for your perserverence.

[murielm99]

18. Did you ever read the column Mike Royko wrote

the day Jackie Robinson died?

He describes the day in 1947 that Robinson came to Wrigley Field to play for the first time. The atmosphere was not as gleeful as the one you describe about standing in line, but it makes me think about the historic similarities.

[BronxBoy]

21. I went to his memorial service...

I went as a representative from our school. Bill White was in the pew in front of us. He looked like a giant.

[Glenda]

19. Did anyone turn around and leave?

or did everyone wait and vote?

[BronxBoy]

22. The only ones...

who turned around that I saw were those that got there after the 4:30 cut off. At 4:30, two policeman got at the end of he line and let folks know the line was closed. No biggie. It happened to me a couple of days before.

[Glenda]

26. oh good... so once people were in line they stayed

:woohoo:

[BronxBoy]

33. Yes...

As far as I saw.

And once you waited for awhile...then it became personal; YOU HAD TO FINISH

LOL

[Glenda]

35. I'm sorry I have to ask this...

what happens when people have to go to the bathroom? There's no way I could stay in line that long.

Do people hold someone's place in line?

[BronxBoy]

41. Yes

Became a team thing. Watch your spot and all that

Luckily we had plenty of facilities near the line. We heard horror stories of similar lines in residential areas with no bathrooms and no parking

[wildeyed]

23. I was canvassing to day in NC.

Many of the young people I talked to had already voted.

Waiting in line to vote early last week, I felt the same feeling. Everyone smiling, waiting with joy and expectation Our line wasn't nearly as long, but people seemed happy to be there.

[BronxBoy]

27. It was great!

Had the potential to fray nerves but everyone was cool. Luckily we had good weather.

[dkofos]

24. DAMN, that's what I call dedication. My voting experience took 20 minutes.

That included driving to an from the poll location.

[BronxBoy]

30. A person in our line group

finished up after we did and I waved to her in the parking lot. She asked which way I was heading and I told her and she said never mind. Coming to find out she didn't have a ride home.

Although she was in the opposite direction, we gave her a lift. Can you imagine having to scrounge a ride after waiting 6 hours to vote????

[kster]

28. Everyone is pretty mellow about this waiting in a line

I am OUTRAGED that people have to wait in these embarrassing long line, I look at them lines and I want to scream, it should not be this way in America.

Who is running this circus act that we call voting in America, this is a complete embarrassment to our Country.

:wtf: Rant off..

Thanks for waiting

K&R :-)

[BronxBoy]

31. I think people were pissed

but there seemed to be this unspoken system that the anger should be directed at the system. I think the group vibe was doing what we needed to get through this

[Laelth]

71. Let's hope they remember that Republicans are in charge here.

Republicans are in charge of both the executive branch and the Secretary of State's office in Georgia. There's nothing subtle at all about this voter suppression. Republicans are making it miserable (by not having enough staff and under-funding the Secretary of State's office) because they do not want everyone to vote, especially in the large, urban counties.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[formercia]

29. The silent majority speaks.

Silent no more.

[RamblingRose]

32. I live in Gwinnett and it took me 3 hours to vote on Wednesday. What poll location did you vote at?

I voted at the Singleton Activity Center in Norcross. I imagine the majority of the people there were voting for Obama. The boy in line next to me was voting for the first time. I don't think I could have stood in line for 3 hours with a bunch of McCain supporters, which is the majority of Gwinnett County. Chick-fil-A was going up and down the line selling coffee for $1 and chicken biscuits for $2. Almost all of the waiting was outside and it was about 46 degrees. The poll workers said the line was over 6 hours on Monday. After I voted I found the following website which showed the wait times at all of the poll locations in Gwinnett County. None of the locations ever went below a 3 hour wait.

http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/cgi-bin/gwincty/egov/ep/gcbrowse.do?channelId=-49640&pageTypeId=536880236&BV_UseBVCookie=no

[BronxBoy]

37. Lawrenceville

My wife voted Thursday and it took her 2 1/2 hours.

No one talked politics.

Made the wait tolerable

[eleny]

34. How do you take potty breaks in a line that long?!

[BronxBoy]

40. You don't....

Why do you think I didn't take any of the free water! :rofl:

The way it worked was that your group would watch your spot if you had to go. Luckily plenty of places for the public around

No one in our group had to go though. We were hardcore!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL

[eleny]

47. I'm such a weenie

You guys really were hard core!

[BronxBoy]

49. We would've watched your spot!

Weenie! :D

The worst thing was a guy had a BBQ truck set up. I am so glad I ate a big lunch before getting into line. I would have went crazy

[beac]

38. Bravo, Bronx Boy for staying in line! And thank you, THANK YOU for sharing your inspiring story.

Yup, I definitely feel HOPE! :bounce:

[BronxBoy]

42. It's feeling good!!!! n/t

[PolNewf]

39. Keep up the good work, you just might flip Georgia

60% of 2004 total turnout (1,994,990/3,317,336) has voted as of this morning. http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/earlyvotingstats08.htm

Of that 60% the black vote stands at 35%, white vote at 60%. In 2004 exit polls it was 25% black and 70% white. The black vote is strongly out performing, blacks account for 30% population.

Doing a bit of math on the current votes and assuming blacks split 95-5 Obama, Whites split 76-23 McCain (using Kerry for ref), and Hispanic\Latino\Asian\Native American split 60-40 Obama it is a razor thin Obama 50%(997,361), McCain 49%(985,259). Thats a 12,000 vote margin from nearly 2 million votes.

[BronxBoy]

43. Whether we flip or not

remains to be seen. I'd be happy if Martin beats Chambliss

[davsand]

44. Mirrors what I have observed locally.

I'm sorry you waited so long to vote, and bless you for standing firm!


Locally, I have observed a lot of what you are talking about with the crowds and how patient they have been about the early voting process. I have seen it every day for the last couple of weeks (I work down the hall from where they have early voting.) People were incredibly mellow, and were pretty congenial--yucking it up in the lines and stuff.

I think maybe part of it was that voting early is a CHOICE--so they were a lot more accepting of the wait due to space limitations. If they had been forced to wait that long on election day, I think it would have been extremely ugly. In fact, I am scared shitless that we will see a LOT of anger at the polls on Tuesday if we have the huge turnout (and I think we will.)

FWIW, I think we may be seeing a once in a lifetime election and I am praying we are ready for it.



Laura

[BronxBoy]

48. I was glad

the weather was good. Would have been a major issue if it was bad.

[struggle4progress]

45. That's disgraceful. It took me 5 minutes to vote early here in NC

[Overseas]

50. K&R for the voter suppression file.

Making people stand in line for hours is a kind of poll tax, as others have pointed out.

It requires people to give up hours of work (thus income) just to vote.

Yet another Republican way to depress Democratic vote counts. But voting machine allocations are decided on the state level, by sometimes partisan Secretaries of State who distribute too few machines to Democratic leaning areas. Sometimes a new Democratic SOS doesn't know their predecessors did that and if they continue the prior allocations, they'll get the prior GOP long lines in Dem areas while lines go quickly in Republican areas.

Glad to hear the positive news you shared about young people and the great group in your line.

[BronxBoy]

51. Never hought about it that way

Thanks

Was trying to accentuate the positive but you point bears some thinking about

[demokatgurrl]

56. And telling people the line is CLOSED? Is that even

LEGAL? I thought once you were in line, they had to keep the place open until you voted.

[BronxBoy]

60. You had

to be in line by the time the poll officially closed. In our case 4:30 PM. If you were in line before then, you got to vote

[eppur_se_muova]

54. Good thing we have those machines to make everything FASTER and MORE EFFICIENT ... nt

[CatWoman]

57. I hear ya, Hon!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7688338

[BronxBoy]

91. Hey Cat.......

Had lunch with the Mayor of your little town a few months ago. Nice sister

[Eyes_wide_ open]

58. I applaud your fortitude

And your attitude toward the situation too *applaud*

Had a similar experience myself yesterday here in SC, tho' it was not as long (3 and a half hours here) AND our wait was all inside and chairs were provided for the most part.

But people were friendly, both the poll workers and the voters, and there was a camaraderie you don't see often enough these days. No one was talking politics here either, but I definitely had the impression it was a pro Obama crowd, I'd say 2/3 to 3/4 were minorities, and just the overall 'niceness' and the fact that people seemed to realize the importance of this particular election ... I didn't see anyone leaving either, despite the wait. There was one couple that was going to leave, but when they got to the door they saw that most of the people that HAD been waiting on the other side had bee processed through and they came back.

It is a shame that the lines and wait are so long, but it wasn't a bad experience at all. The thing is that you know that many people just cannot or will not wait in those kinds of lines. Let's hope for this election they are mostly McCain supporters, and after the election let's be vigilant to see that it doesn't happen again.

Thanks for waiting, because of people like you we WILL win this thing

[smkyle1]

59. your post put a smile on my face

thank you BronxBoy. I'm from the Bronx too but now living in Los Angeles.

Here's a story I wrote about one of my experiences growing up in the Bronx.

http://www.laprogressive.com/2008/08/14/lessons-learned-along-the-way/

[BronxBoy]

62. What part of the Boogie Down???? n/t

[smkyle1]

73. What does n/t mean?

I was born in the Bronx and lived in Edenwald Projects for the first 12 years of my life. We moved to Queens when it was time for me to go to Jr. Hi. I

[al bupp]

78. n/t in the subject heading means "no text" the accompanying message, n/t

[smkyle1]

81. thank you n/t

[BronxBoy]

87. Edenwald!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spent many a day there with my cousins

[kwenu]

61. Thanks for the effort. Make sure your secretary of state and county officials get an earful !

[BklnDem75]

63. Please tell me that's just your username...

I just recently moved to the Bronx and I do not want to be on a long line Tuesday morning. :(

[BronxBoy]

67. Username My Friend

In the lovely state of Georgia now.

Who the hell moves to the Bronx???????? :rofl:

ARE YOU FROM BROOKLYN???????????? Get your ass back on the D train!

:rofl:

[BklnDem75]

68. Funny enough...

My Bronx train is the last/first stop on the D line. Alas, I take the Metro North to get to and from work. 20 minutes to Grand Central? Yes please!

[CADEMOCRAT7]

66. Your post brought tears of joy to my eyes, thank you.

This is such a precious moment in time...

[BrklynLiberal]

69. Loved your story. It sounds like it was a great day...Thanks for sharing.

No early voting here in NYC, so I figure there will be some very long lines...I do not know if it will be better to go early or late.

[Laelth]

70. Heartwarming post.

One point I must take issue with, however. While it's true that the Republicans have (more or less) dominated our national politics for the past 28 years, I do not believe the United States is a conservative country, not by a long shot. I invite you to read this interesting essay:

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Number23]

72. Bronxboy, I had no idea you were in my home state of Georgia

But I should have known. Last time I was home, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting somebody from NY. :)

Thanks for the update. The thought of so many older black folks waiting in line to vote is so comforting to me it's like I just put on a warm sweater.

[BronxBoy]

90. Yes

GA is not as bad as some people make it out to be. Sure, you do have the nutjob areas but we had those up North too.

[tblue37]

74. But we need to stay awake after this election and insist that our representatives

do something to make sure that our elections are fair and transparent. No one should have to stand in line for hours just to exercise their right to vote.

I fear that after the election, people will move the issue of fair and transparent elections to the back burner again, and we will be facing this same garbage 2 years from now and again 4 years from now.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4349300

[OHDEM]

76. Thanks for hanging in there!

It's sad that this is the best we can do. In Ohio, we can mail-in and that's what my husband and I did. I took my kids the last 2 times I voted and they were good, but would NEVER last for hours in line.

We can do better!

[4_Legs_Good]

77. I'm sorry, but this is incredibly stupid! A SIX hour line to EARLY vote????

I don't get what is going on here. I've heard stories like this for weeks now.

I thought early voting was supposed to make things EASIER.

SIX HOURS!?!?!? That's absolute insanity. If it takes 6 hours to early vote, what the heck are people going to have to go through on election day?

Anyway, I LOVE your description and all the enthusiasm! That is really exciting! It's just the six hour wait that is nuts.

Great work, and thanks for sticking it out!!!

David

[BronxBoy]

89. It was crazy...

As someone pointed out in this thread, many people may not be able to take off work for 6 hours to go vote. Hell, that's pretty much an entire work day.

I do know that I am fortunate in that my employer encourages folks to do their civic duty even though it may mean time away from work.

[Essene]

80. CAN WE CLOSE ALL THE THREADS LIKE THIS UNTIL END OF ELECTION PLEASE??????

seriously.

we do NOT need whine threads about how horrible VOTING was. my god...

[smkyle1]

82. BronxBoy had a great experience n/t

[smkyle1]

83. people should use this info and take extra water bottles for others n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

84. You missed the point of the OP!

It was not to whine, but to address something that stands as a turning point in the history of THIS time, much like the civil rights marches did in the 60's. It was harmonious. In fact, reading this, and seeing that the voters of PA are going to only be able to vote on Nov 4th, I was encouraged to think it could BE the experience of similar to the 60's which I remember and which the OP had experienced!

We've had a long enough period of time since the last major election to have made better provisions for American voters than this. How absolutely abysmal of the HAVA and all those at the county level not to have anticipated. Anyone who underestimated the number of people who were registered for the first time should be served notice.

This is living history.

EVERYONE STAY THIS COURSE, REGARDLESS OF HOW THEY TRY TO STEAL IT, CAGE IT, OR MISINFORM THE WAY TO CHANGE!

[Dem2theMax]

85. It helps to actually read the post, and not just read the title of the thread. nt.

[BronxBoy]

88. Are you Sarah Palin's Cousin???

:eyes:


Cuz like she has a real problem with comprehension too!

[donco6]

95. The only whining was in the title - if that.

Otherwise it was a very uplifting post.

[AZBlue]

86. It's 6 hours here in Arizona too.

[lonestarnot]

92. It should not be like this! They have made democracy a thing that will drive one to drink!

:toast: :beer:

[file83]

93. It's a conspiracy of the beer companies! Wait, Cindy McCain is heir to beer fortunes...

:tinfoilhat:

[iamthebandfanman]

94. i worry these lines will effect the outcome.

nobody should have to wait more than 15-20 minutes to vote.

oh, we can spend money on complete bullshit projects...
but god forbid we provide enough money so we can practice democracy.

[dana_b]

96. I'm happy to hear about the number of young people there

hopefully this holds up around the country

[Happyhippychick]

97. Thank you for waiting it out! And how the hell did you get from the Bronx to Georgia???

I'm the proud daughter of a dad from the Bronx, he had his optometry practice there until right before his death (little Italy section).

[cyndensco]

98. The only time I waited 6 hours in line was to drop/add in college.

I remember dreading having to go, but enjoying the camaraderie once getting there. We were all in the same boat and misery loves company.

I am sure my experiences voting here on Tuesday will be far different than yours. The process is usually run flawlessly so it should be rather quick. The voters in my red district, though, leave me no desire to strike up a conversation.

How were you able to spend so much time in a voting line without bringing up politics? I know it is probably safe and smart to avoid the topic, but I doubt I could, especially if I was in line with a diverse group of people.

In any event, I loved the recount of your experience. Go Obama!