Early Voters: How long did you stand in line and what state do you live in?

[Quixote1818]

I live in New Mexico and didn't wait at all. Walked in and they gave me a ballot and I went back into a room and voted. It was a beautiful thing!

[Ptah]

1. Here in Tucson, AZ, I waited about 45 minutes.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

50. Voted Tuesday here (Broadway Eastside) -- 40 minutes.

It was a kick watching everyone as they tried to figure out who was Republican and who was a Democrat.

[dave29]

2. 25 minutes, Austin TX day 2 of early voting

:)

[GreenPoet64]

3. Oregon . . . my county votes by mail.

[PretzelWarrior]

6. you mean your STATE votes by mail. Washington only has

limited vote by mail. poor imitators. bahahhahahha.

[GreenPoet64]

12. Just moved here from California. You are right. And vote-by-mail is great! n/t

[marlakay]

67. I live in Chelan County vote by mail WA

two votes Obama and as many dems as was on form...alot of our ballot choices were repubs only...ugh.

[quakerboy]

66. Oregon- No line.

[ncgrits]

4. Same for me in NC. Walked right up, got my ballot, voted. eom

[PretzelWarrior]

5. ZERO minutes. Oregon. Vote by MAIL> yeah, we rock here in Oregon

[FightingIrish]

15. I love our system in Oregon

Watching those long lines of early voters just baffles me. Our son who is out of state in college has already mailed his ballot. A good friend of his took his mail-in ballot to the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. Of course they are all Obama votes.

[Justyce]

7. Texas, only waited a couple of minutes.

I timed it to where the 5:00 getting-off-work voters would be clearing out & went shortly before they closed for the day though.

[JJ]

8. Ohio, in a very red county, 10 minutes.

[DearAbby]

9. We had anticipated the long lines

when we were offered to vote by mail instead, we took them up. I have since learned we were not alone. 80% of our country are mail in ballots. Seems others like DearHubby and I, don't trust the voting machines, and prefer a paper ballot.

I wish they would get rid of these voting machines, possibly having all mail in ballots, as in Oregon. Seems to be a very efficient way to go.

[abbiehoff]

10. Ohio - also a very red county - about 50 minutes

[applexcore]

11. NC, no line at all. In a red county

[rdublue]

103. About 5 minutes last Friday in NC in a blue county, My husband waited 30 minutes today

[gblady]

13. Kitsap County, WA here....

vote by mail....
helping by making calls
to be sure peeps are mailin' 'em in!

[jefferson_dem]

14. On Wed., I waited 2.5 hours to vote in Cobb County, GA.

It's an affluent suburban red area but I noticed far more Obama bumper stickers than McCain bumber stickers in the parking lot. That was encouraging.

[Cattledog]

16. Atlanta, GA 1hr last Monday

Got there at 6:20a out at 7:30a

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. Arkansas-5-10 minutes

We have only two voting desks in a room (no booths, but the desks are far apart), and two people were there when we came. It was the first day of early voting, and the clerk said we were voters 66 & 67. If that sounds small, realize the total population of the county is under 9,000, with maybe 5,000 people of voting age. There was still over an hour before the polls closed.

[tbyg52]

18. None, former DeLay Land, TX

But that was because our elections are generally pretty well-run, even if we do have a former voting software salesman running them....

Early and absentee voters as of close of early voting 10/31/08
148,448 EARLY VOTERS
7,461 ABSENTEE BALLOTS RETURNED (just over 10,000 requested but not returned as of today)
http://www.co.fort-bend.tx.us/upload/images/elections_administration/evpa.PDF

[sammytko]

19. No wait in Atascosa County, Texas - south of San Antonio

There was a short wait for people who wanted to vote electronically.

I like the paper ballot. Very strong showing for our small county. I was told about 500 a day as of last Tuesday - the eighth day of early voting.

[MuseRider]

20. 25 minutes in Kansas.

There were many voting stations and that helped a lot. The poll workers I spoke with told me that it had been terribly busy since the first day they opened up and that they were stunned. This is a new thing, never happened before. They said that everyone wants to vote, feels like they have to vote and they are hoping that this election brings about a new feeling of civic duty to vote. One of them told me that they thought that the early voting turnout would rival the usual numbers voting on election day so she expected our numbers to be far better than they have been in a long while. Still, this being Kansas and looking at the polls I would guess a good number of the voters were voting for McCain/Palin but you never really know. We will stay red here I am certain. Still, getting people in to vote is a good thing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. No waiting. I am in Kansas

My 2 kids also walked right in and didn't have to wait.

[nannycee]

22. 1 hour - Harris County, TX, My friend waited 2 hours yesterday here. n/t

[BronxBoy]

23. 6 hours

Last night in Georgia

[Tarheel_Dem]

24. NC (Guilford County)....in & out in about 40 mins. Lots of young folks. (nt)

[groundloop]

25. No wait in a red county in Georgia

We're in a red county in Georgia. Went in the first week of early voting (what was that - 3 weeks ago? Seems like forever). Zero wait, walked right in. Drove by that location yesterday and looked like maybe a 20 minute wait. I guess that's one of the few benefits of living in a red county.

[democrattotheend]

51. Figures. Polling places in red counties are adequately staffed while people in Atlanta wait all day

Isn't Georgia one of the states that gets monitored by DOJ? How the hell is this kind of disparity allowed to happen?

[Feron]

26. Louisiana; 1 hour in St. Tammany n/t

[nickinSTL]

27. no wait.

I live in a small town in Madison County, IL, and voted on the first day of early voting. Voted in the village hall - we were told we were the 36th and 37th to vote that day. Which seems like it's probably pretty good turnout for a town with a total population of around 600.

[knowledgeispwr]

28. 2 hours - Winston-Salem, NC

In general, I've heard about 1-2 wait times from various locations around Forsyth County (where Winston-Salem is located).

[PermanentRevolution]

29. 2 hrs. - Florida

[Mariana]

30. 5 minutes last Saturday in Texas

[supernova]

31. NC Orange County - about 35 minutes

I voted at Morehead Planetarium at UNC on the first Monday we could do so. It was about 2 hours before closing. It took me about 10 minutes to fill out my ballot and get it scanned. When I left there were still as many people in line as when I had gotten there.

[all.of.me]

32. Taos County, NM - 10 minutes in and out. nt

[davsand]

33. No wait at all. My biggest delay was shooting the breeze with everyone in the office..

To be fair, I work down the hall from the office that runs the elections for this County. They all know me--they work with my office EVERY DAY, they come in to raid my candy dish, and we have personal relationships--they are my pals. When I flashed my photo ID it was a thing of amusement and a legal requirement rather than a necessity. It took longer to hear about the progress of the Deputy's Wife's pregnancy and to see the pics of Bonnie's 6 month old baby than it did to sign in and actually vote.

To be fair to those guys, however, they have been snowed with early voters for the last couple of weeks. Illinois has "early voting" for about a two week period, and then allows absentee voting up to election day as long as the physical ballot is turned in BEFORE election day. This particular office has had extremely long lines of people wanting to vote early--and they have done VERY well with it.

I kinda flinch when I see stories about voters being mistreated or election tampering because I DO have a relationship with the the folks who take care of elections locally. I have a tough time thinking about them doing ANY of the stuff I hear about happening in other places. I honestly CANNOT think that any serious concentrated effort to fix an election could be pulled off and be kept a secret knowing those guys--ya know?

Oddly enough I say all this knowing full well that the elected official that runs that office is a Republican guy most disliked by the local Dem party. I'll grant you, his personal politics suck, but he's not a criminal and much as I disagree with him politically, I cannot find fault with him, his staff, or how he runs his office. (Makes it tough to mount too much of a partisan campaign when he's up on re-election, if you want the truth...)

Anyhow, my early voting experience was great!



Laura

[vademocrat]

34. 2 hours - Richmond, VA

[dkofos]

35. My entire voting experience took less than 20 minutes. That includes travel time to

and from the polling place at the local Community college in Plano, Tx.

Walked right in, no line, checked in, voted.
It was 3 in the afternoon on a Tuesday.

I would have felt much better if they had given me a paper ballot
instead of a card to insert in the DRE, but oh well.

I sure hope my vote is counted correctly.

[salin]

36. Indianapolis - 1.5 hours.

Folks were chatting away - no impatience at the length of the line. It was something else. All week there were stories of 2 hours or longer lines. I predict a huge vote turnout in Indiana.

[City Lights]

37. IL - I voted on 10-22. No line. However, my dad tried to vote last week and

the line was over an hour long. He gave up and will try again on election day. (I tried to get him to go with me when I voted, but he didn't want to go then. :grr: )

[undeterred]

38. 90 minutes last Tuesday in Madison Wisconsin

The line is getting longer every day! Its very BLUE here.

[chatnoir]

39. About 10-15 mins in & out in CA

Edited to add state - doh

[emdee]

40. Tennessee -

Went on the first day of early voting, Oct 15, around noon. They had opened at 9am. I was number 270. I waited about 15 to 20 minutes before going to the voting machine. Once in that room, a machine was immediately available. The whole process took about 25 minutes.

I took my mother the next week and her wait time was even less. We've had record turnouts.

Blue county --- red state.
emdee

[Eyes_wide_ open]

41. 3 1/2 hrs, yesterday in SC

[emdee]

49. That's a long time. Do you think it will be a longer wait on Tues or shorter? nt

nt

[Eyes_wide_ open]

63. it rather hard to guess

One of the reasons I went early was that I thought it would be quicker. I've never had a problem with long lines here, but knowing that turnout is going to be much higher than usual I wanted to get it done. That, and just in case there was any problems I wanted to have time to correct them if need be.

My SIL is waiting until Tuesday, so I'm sure I'll find out then which was the better way to go.

[Sheltiemama]

42. Tennessee, too.

I walked right in. My polling place was busy but very well staffed and organized.

[emdee]

48. Our Early Voting center is also very well staffed...

In the front section where you show your Voting Registration Card, there are at least four to five women - one looks at the card, one prints out a form to sign, and one has you to sign (the other one or two are doing background functions).

In the voting room, there were probably six or seven voting machines (oh, please let them be secure and honest). They aren't the touch-screen but the type that you dial in a number which brings up your voting screen. Then you use the dial to choose and select and press buttons to cast the final vote. Anyway, back there, there is almost a woman per machine, it seemed, ready to help.

On election day, however, I would have voted in my town if I had not gone to the early voting center. I have no doubt that there will be a long line there and fewer machines and fewer helpers. My husband is waiting until Tues to vote - I'll check back in if he has longer wait times.

emdee

[rexy]

43. About an hour in Austin at the University of Texas

Voted on Oct. 22. I went straight after one of my classes. I was thoroughly surprised by the number of students there. I hadn't planned on it taking that long. I figured 15 minutes tops. I was kicking myself for not taking a snack. Hahaha.

[betharina]

44. indiana (lake county) and it took 3 1/2 hours on saturday morning. nt

[Allyoop]

45. No line

Boone, NC early Monday the 27th. No line, just several people voting at the same time. We do paper ballots (fill in the ovals) and feed them into an ES&S counter. No problems, no delays. I don't have a count, but early voting has been steady. We have about 1100 registered voters in my precinct and 400 had already voted by Monday.

Of course, our BOE leader is a Democrat because the Governor is a Dem. Just hope Bev Perdue is our nest Gov. I don't trust local Republicans. Of course, for about 12 years I haven't trusted any Republican.

[cmf]

46. Zero - WA is mostly vote by mail

Most counties, including mine don't have polling sites, you just get your ballot and you either mail it in or drop it off on election day. Even before my county went totally vote by mail, I was signed up for "permanent absentee" voting, which has been an option as long as I've lived here. It's nice because it really increases participation - they are predicting an 83% "turnout" this year. If you have to work, or it's storming out, or even if it's just because you're a lazy ass, there's no excuse not to vote here.

[Mickeyc1004]

47. Bremerton, WA and I mailed by ballot in on Oct 25th

Kitsap county has a Mail-In Ballot System like most counties in Washington State.

Just moved here a year ago, and it takes some getting use to after living in Georgia for so many years. I miss the feeling of casting my vote in person just a tiny bit.

However, voting by mail is super easy and convenient here in Washington state and Washington sends a voting guide out with information about all the candidates and all the propositions.

[AbbeyRoad]

52. 0 minutes in Illinois.

but I don't live in a major metropolitan area, and I did it week before last

[MJkcj]

53. Maryland. no line but had to come back because wind storm knocked out power

Ok. MD doesn't have early voting but you can absentee vote in person...I decide on the last day of absentee voting that i am going to vote early because at first i was all "oh I will just vote on election day" but then i decide I'd rather go into Virginia (being a crucial swing state and all) to help with the GOTV effort there....so I find out where to go and I go there and ... the pewer is out so they can't process my absentee ballot request and give me my ballot. but they say they are going ot stay open late due to the power outage and that i can either come back or mail it.... well no way am I mailing it...I have to do this in person. so I come back two hours later. no line. voted in about 5 minutes. met lots of happy people doing te same. felt really good.

[Patsy Stone]

54. Miami Beach, Florida

The first Monday morning of early voting, I got lucky and I was next. But the place was packed, and 15 people were waiting when I left 20 minutes later.

[geekgrrl]

55. 1.5 hours yesterday in Madison, WI. It was an Obama crowd! nt

[GreenInNC]

56. me-1.5 hours, wife-3 hours NC

[Awsi Dooger]

57. Nevada, not one second wait

Walked right up to the polling place at a shopping mall. Handed them my sample ballot, which serves as an ID, and I was voting within a minute. Nothing but older people alongside. I didn't see anyone below 40.

[LisaLynne]

58. Indiana - about 45 mins. nt

[crazylikafox]

59. Maryland. About 20 min.

[greendog]

60. NW Montana. 10 minutes.

[MtUpWithWngsAsEgles]

61. TN

45 minutes

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

62. North Carolina (Guilford County) 1 hour worth the time

[Erin Elizabeth]

64. Dallas County, Texas

We waited about 10 minutes, maybe less. We voted at 7 am last Saturday morning, the first and only Saturday of early voting. We were afraid it would be long, so we got there about 10 till 7 and were about the 30th in line. The front people had gotten there at about 6:15 just to make sure they got in line first.

Once the doors opened we got in and out pretty quickly, but I understand there was a line to vote all day long that day! Yay! (Not yay for the line but yay for all the early voters.)

[NoodleyAppendage]

65. 45 minutes first thing this morning in North Chatham Co., NC. n/t

J

[oldhippie]

68. About 30 seconds in rural Texas.

nt

[Lorien]

69. 10-15 minutes. Orlando, FL.

for those in town who still haven't voted early: the board of elections on Kaley has the shortest lines.

[Critters2]

70. 20 minutes. Illinois. nt

[abumbyanyothername]

71. Walked to the Mailbox

in CA. You can verify that your mailed in ballot was received on the LAVOTE.net website if you live in LA County.

[Robeson]

72. 45 minutes in Nashville, TN.

[Pithy]

74. 3 hours in Norman, OK

3 hours in the middle of red state Oklahoma. You could tell how people were voting by their facial expressions - the Obama supporters looked radiant, jubilant and excited. The McCain supporters looked depressed, pinch-faced and grumpy. I live in Freeperville, but luckily in a fairly progressive county right in the center. I've lived here since the mid-80s and have NEVER seen such high early voter turnout. The line wound three blocks away from the polling center and everyone was prepared to stay as long as was necessary. I took my oldest son, age 13, with me and we had great conversations with those around us, ALL of who were voting for Obama. I could have waited until Tuesday and avoided the long line, but I wanted to get my vote in as soon as possible. My heart was broken over Gore - stomped on beyond idea of recovery after Kerry. Obama's campaign has been masterful and it's such a relief to know we will finally have a President of intellect and reason in the Oval Office. I'm so excited for the future of this country after four years of being outraged. Yes we can!

[deerheadgal]

73. Oregon--No line, just a mailbox

I voted a week ago and the biggest effort was finding a #2 pencil to color in the oval next to Obama-Biden and locating a stamp. Yay vote by mail!!!

[Iris]

75. GA - 5 hours

in a predominately black district

I didn't walk right in and back out but it was still a beautiful thing.

[Freddie Stubbs]

76. Zero minites in Florida: I voted by absentee ballot

Lots of early voting locations in South Florida have had waits of over four hours. I can't understand why anyone would do that when they could just do it by mail.

[cynatnite]

77. About half an hour. n/t

[Blondiegrrl]

78. WV ... I voted last week. Didn't have to wait at all.

Today was the last day of early voting, however, and the line was out the door and around the block.

[Pirate Smile]

79. Iowa - no wait, at the end of September.

[Catsbrains]

80. Las Vegas, Nevada.....took two minutes!!!!!

[morillon]

81. 45 minutes to an hour on Oct. 13 in Georgia

We're in a smaller county west of the really huge counties of Metro Atlanta. We went after work on a Monday, and our wait wasn't bad at all.

[yodoobo]

82. 1.5 hours Raleigh NC

[krawhitham]

83. 20 minutes, yesterday, ohio

[Autumn]

84. Colorado Springs Co

Chapel Hills Mall, waited in line for an hour and twenty minutes, three votes for Obama,My Husband, middle daughter and myself.My other two daughters and my Republican son in law will vote for Obama Tuesday morning.

[Dawgs]

85. 3 hours in the cold, wind, and rain (last Friday in Georgia)

[Nailzberg]

86. Zero minutes > CA vote by mail

[kennetha]

87. I was required to vote by mail here in CA

because our precinct has too few people to justify staffing a polling place. First time that's ever happened. But I think I'll become a permanent vote by mail voter. It's much more relaxing.

[busybl]

88. we vote by mail in Washington State

nice

[RepublicanElephant]

89. i'm officially changing georgia's sos from karen handel to KATHERINE handel.

i mean, she doesn't even try to hide it.

[groundloop]

92. Georgia's SOS

is a joke. Someone I know went to vote yesterday, stood in line, then found out that her name had been purged. There was no explanation, they hadn't moved or anything. She's so frustrated she just left without voting and won't be able to take any more time off work to get it cleared up before Tuesday.

The biggest screw up by our wonderful secretary-of-state is that this person is a republican, so one less vote for McCain. I don't think she'll ever vote for Handel again though, or Sonny Perdue for that matter.

[thevoiceofreason]

90. Houston: Me - 30 min, My son - 2.5 hours (first day vs. last day)

[ChazII]

91. Dropped my mail in ballot off

at city hall. The wait in line was a about 30 minutes and that was just to register. Once inside city hall it was about a 3 hour wait. I took my dad for early voting. We live in Scottsdale, AZ.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

93. Texas - voted in Valley Ranch (Irving)

Went about 4 pm on the first day of early voting (10/20). Total time in and out about 20 minutes.

[Jane Eyre]

94. I got lucky, no wait

I voted the second day of early voting here in Charlotte. It was starting to rain, and there was no line at all.

Today, people waited in line as long as four hours, maybe more. Wow!

[TransitJohn]

95. Laramie, WY, about 3 minutes.

n/t

[seabeyond]

96. 2,3,4 minutes and god ole cowboy entertaining us all the while and being especially nice

to my young son.

every one was nice and helpful and the process was fast.

on edit: amarillo texas

[Diana Prince]

97. Waited 45 min. to get to the machines

and then had to sit and wait another 15 min. for a machine to open up. This was on Mon. in CO. My husband and I took our 2 girls, 11 & 2 1/2 and they were very well behaved. I thought we would have trouble with the little one standing in line so long.

[Rob H.]

98. 40 minutes in TN

Actually it took about an hour total because the early voting location is a 10-minute drive away. I wish we could vote by mail like some other states do--the only way to do it in the county where I live is by absentee ballot and you have to have a damned good reason to get one along with proof you won't be able to show up in person at your nearest polling station. My parents, who live in Montana, just had to ask for an absentee ballot and they were given one, no questions asked.

[DefenseLawyer]

99. About 2 hours in Indiana

My wife stood in line 3 hours today.

[trashcanistanista]

100. 30 seconds - CA

Walked into the County Elections Division to drop off my absentee ballot last Friday. I had to wait ten seconds for the clerk to eyball my ballot to make sure I signed it and 20 seconds after I dropped it in the slot to when I got my "I Voted" sticker.

[sf_331]

101. Texas .. No Wait

[CreekDog]

102. No lines...sat at my dining room table (permanent absentee voter --any voter can sign up)

best thing ever. my county's website let's me verify the ballot was received. if you fear the mail, you can drop it in a ballot box at 2 places in the county. i voted 3 weeks ago and that's one ballot Obama didn't have to follow up on.

the west coast has this voting thing down cold.

:hi:

[goodboy]

104. Wheeling WV, today. Waited 5 minutes. (nt)

[MarthaMyDear]

105. Texas...only stood in line about an hour...last Saturday afternoon!

Not bad at all, really...a little warm out, though, haha!

[randr]

106. Vored early monday in a predominately republican rural county here in Colorado

Steady flow of people had 12 machines to vote on. No lines.
In and out in 15 minutes.

[dascientist]

107. Gibsonville, NC, 2 hours

[yardwork]

108. I voted on the second day of early voting in very blue Orange County, North Carolina with no wait.

Early voting in North Carolina started more than two weeks ago, and I walked into the early voting site on the second day. No wait, but there was a line for people registering to vote, and a long line outside the Obama tent, I think to buy campaign signs, etc.

I understand from others voting early that they had to wait in line perhaps twenty minutes or so on other days.

We have paper ballots with ovals next to the candidate's names. We fill in the ovals with a pen and put our ballots in optical scan machines. If you haven't filled out your ballot properly, the machine spits it back out. I heard that people witnessed this happening to people, who were given new ballots to fill out while the defective ones were destroyed in front of them.

Optical scan machines can still be messed with, since the scanning and count are electronic, but we've had very few problems with them. Other counties in NC have touch screen machines that have lost ballots, lost votes, etc.

We have a Democratic Secretary of State.