Any observations?
UPDATE: We voted. We were the 302nd and 303rd voters at our polling place. There was no line.
UPDATE 2: An hour after we returned from voting, I said, out of the blue: "Do you think we voted for all the same candidates or do you think we cancelled each other out a little bit?"
Posts
161 comments:
Tank voted last week surrounded by Halloween decorations. Appropriate. Tank had to wait one minute to vote. Tank opposes early voting, but will take advantage of it if it is available.
I voted early, and this year my polling place had the round, larger "I VOTED EARLY!" stickers again. Unlike 2020, when I got only the smaller "I VOTED" smaller oval sticker.
The self-affirming validation of those stickers as a motivator to vote should not be dismissed lightly.
Walked to the poll at a neighborhood church. Line out the door, everyone was very relaxed, procedure was smooth. Conversation with a neighbor while waiting about hearing tales of kids roller skating over 100 years ago on the second floor of a big house in the hood he had restored, as well as weddings and funerals held in the same structure before the first war.
Didn't really time it, should have been about 15 - 20 minutes from start to finish. Beautiful day in North Florida, as it usually is prior to a storm. Watching the weather, ignoring the news.
Live in North Shore of Milwaukee. Drove by my polling place right at 7am: About 50-70 people in line which is about normal for our village. Didn't want to wait so I'll go at lunchtime.
i thought it was Wednesday?
Went in at 630 and the polls were basically empty, but it was early, and the only issue on the ballot was the vote for our congressional rep.
The signs of imminent civil war were few and far between even in the battleground district of Chester County, PA. Republican and Democratic volunteers offered coffee, donuts, cookies, and sample ballots as people passed on the way in to vote. They were about 50-75 feet apart, and it did not seem like hostilities were likely to break out. No police presence or any armed civilians threatening violence as far as I could see. Democracy may be safe for another day.
I dropped off my ballot yesterday. Drove thru the County Clerk's parking lot to the offical drop box there. I usually park and walk in - but I felt Ok about it. There was a steady stream of cars. Boulder-ites vote. The left are very loyal to their lefty causes and candidates. (no - I'm not one of them - I am part of the ideological minority)
Locally - there are two climate change tax hikes on the ballot. I voted against. We are taxed enough already. the pols waste most of our money.
I know where to current governor lives with his family. The street next to his residence has brand new pavement. (He lives in a penthouse in a mid-rise downtown Boulder building)
Most Boulder roads need new pavement.
Pretty good-sized line at the local polling place, in a suburban park.
I'm far away from the vote factory in Phoenix where the needed additional ballots are being cooked.
The Democrats are pushing the idea that it's normal to have the vote counting take days upon days.
In reality, they are just laying the groundwork for waiting to see how many votes they need to cheat their way to victory. Seen on Ace of Spades.
"If people go to bed Tuesday night with recovering stroke victim John Fetterman trailing Dr. Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race or Lee Zeldin crushing the installed Kathy Hochul for New York Governor, only to wake up to a Democrat “miracle come from behind victory,” there will be more questions Mr. [so-called quote-unquote "president"], not fewer."
Yes. Some of our local races, especially judges, are nonpartisan so the party affiliation is not listed on the ballot. I wish it were since the candidates take money from the parties. Seems like if they are affiliated with a party we should have that information at the time of voting since it gives us an idea is what kind of politics they are committed to and who may have influence over them.
Early voting is best. That way if you have something else you have to do that day, you get a mulligan. Plus you can wear your coveted blue check patch saying “I voted” more days.
I voted early, last week behind a police station. Oh the suppression.
Not yet. Will stop in on my walk home.
Thank God this is over though.
Hell's bells, Althouse. It's only just gone 7 AM here.
But yes, I voted. Drop box at town library, 2 days ago. My wife accidentally damaged her ballot, and so voted in person there, yesterday. 0 issues.
it's California, home of the one-party state, so... I try, but we'll see.
Beautiful weather and everyone in a cheery mood.
The Sinister Forces that threaten Democracy don't seem to have turned up today.
Steady turnout I'm told.
T
Deposited my ballot in the ballot box outside the courthouse Sunday night. I had to tape it closed, as it did not stick with water, and then wrote my initials in four places over the seal. Checked online this morning and the ballot was accepted.In Nebraska.
Yes. Was at the polling place at 7:20am this morning in Sarasota, FL. It's beautiful here today, so standing outside was not an issue. It was nice. The line had about 40 people ahead of me. It took me about 20 min to get into the room, check in, then vote. Everyone was very nice. Everything went very smoothly- as always. Everyone in line was very cordial, except for one putz who is one of those people who thinks everyone is interested in his phone conversations. When I left, the line waiting was getting longer, but the system was moving along fine.
As I've always found here in Florida, at least in Sarasota, it was smooth, simple, and friendly.
In GA I had ordered an absentee Ballot but it never showed up at my house. So I went to the polling place-they knew I had requested the absentee Ballot (because I had to enter an ID), and made me sign an affidavit to proceed. I vote thru a computer using a ballot card, then run a printout of my ballot thru a scanner to have a backup count. It felt very Secure. Our laws need to prevent fraud and also make the public feel that fraud would be prevented. I say it's successful at that.
I voted 4 hours after the polls opened. But that was about 2 weeks ago when early voting in Texas started. Lots of enthusiasm at the polls. Lots of desire to vote the bums out of the county.
Yes. Busier than I expected for 9am. My neighbor works the polls and she said it had been very busy from the start at 7.
I was not given any water while waiting in line to vote, and I almost died. Jim Eagle out.
Heavy turnout in rural Connecticut. National focus house race (Hayes v Logan), governor, senator. Early voting also on the ballot. Mood is cheerful, even though in our town (Sharon) the populations of Rs, Ds, and Is are virtually identical.
"Thank God this is over though."
You think so?
"This game's not over until we win." - Russ Feingold
I'm dreading this…
I took advantage of early voting on Halloween. Was a breeze, just a few seniors with mobility issues like myself. Quick and easy............
Voted early in NYC on Sunday. No line, very quick. Four referenda, each of which will cost billions if they pass. Filled out my ballot and fed it into the machine. Screen says everything was correctly tallied. Wish it had reviewed my choices so I could know they were tallied the right way.
LOL Lem..
Yes - I forgot to say - I was suppressed!
I just did. Observations:
No wait. The poll workers were professional and cordial. I can pretty well guess their political sympathies, given the district and their demographics, and they probably wouldn’t find it hard to guess mine on a brief interaction. They were great.
I was pleased to vote for an incumbent on the basis that he has done a good job, making tough calls that turned out right, and our state has done well with him as chief executive.
There are those who say voting third-party is throwing your vote away. Be that as it may, it felt good to do so in one very high-profile race in which I’ve become absolutely disgusted with the incumbent and his challenger. I still had the choice to say, Both those guys suck.
Long lines in my GOP leaning, suburban precinct. Not presidential election lines, but much heavier than traditional mid-cycle elections.
I mailed my ballot in weeks ago in our fraud by mail system. I'd like to go back to poll voting - Monday and Tuesday with absentee ballots for military, travelers and invalids.
We have about 10 judicial races, with all but one being uncontested. I've started writing in "REJECT" for all uncontested races.
Yes, I voted today. There were just a couple people ahead of me so I waited only 30 seconds. I'm in a deeply partisan district so "my vote doesn't matter." But I vote anyway.
Cheyenne, WY here. 8AM voting and the busiest I've seen in years. Had to wait in line for one of the electronic machines - first time ever. Lots of uncontested seats (WY is mostly deep red so that's no surprise). The poll workers are always so cheerful and helpful but I only vote in the morning. Maybe they get surly later in the day,,,
I stood on a street corner in Lincoln this AM for two hours. I got 58 waves or honks. My guy will win by 58.
A line! We never have lines. And in Maryland, where none of the races are close. Weird.
Voted by mail last week here in SF Bay suburb — confusingly worded propositions on gambling — 26 & 27 — made me angry as they are purposely written to obscure who benefits and how they will affect the State’s budget. One of them is billed as a way to end homelessness, what a crock. “Top-2” voting rules mean some contests have only Democrats listed, and many new “apolitical” judges are on the ballot without opposition, so rubber-stamp jurists will be filling the State Courts to do the bidding of our Governor. One-party rule is a slow-motion disaster for California. Watch and weep America….
Ohio. One person in front of me in line. In and out in 5 minutes. Unisyn electronic voting machine. Prints out a list of your choices and a machine readable code which I am told (without evidence) represents those same choices. Supposed to be auditable according to their website. Harden Unix OS and Java. So we got that going for us…..
Kids voting by absentee as they are currently at college. They seemed to think that went well….
forest said...Checked online this morning and the ballot was accepted. In Nebraska.
Did you cast your vote in Nebraska?
Elections here were a couple weeks ago. I had COVID. There's a procedure for voting with COVID but I didn't bother--a lot of hassle and I didn't feel that strongly about my vote for a guy who won by over 30 points anyway.
My sister went to vote early in Chicago and the crowds were so big she tried twice and gave up. She will vote today. Probably a waste of time in Chicago, the town that taught Democrats to cheat but still heart warming.
We voted early by paper ballot in Tucson
Voted a couple of weeks ago when Early Voting period began, over at the city training facility polling place. Maybe 20 - 25 people were in line, maybe about 35 by the time I left. In Texas electronic machines are in use, of the touch-screen type. Once you've gone through the electronic ballot, it prints out your results there, on a special paper form (which you can review), and you carry the paper ballot over to the reader and feed it in yourself, then receiving a confirmation message.
The lines have been steady during the Early Voting period, I am told.
I went last week in Wauwatosa at the City Hall. It was busy, but mostly because the volunteer poll workers were very slow at processing people through the line. Not complaining. They're all old to very-old retired people. It's not like they're running the country.
Off to vote now. Southwest side of Milwaukee. I'll get back to you.
I voted early, one week ago. The office where wife and I voted was packed at 4:30, people voting on their way home from work I presume.
We both voted straight Republican, since Democrats are uniformly evil and stupid. However note that no statewide offices were on the ballot in Virginia this year, nor did our county have any referenda to vote on.
It's raining cats, dogs, and what may be hamsters.
Heading there soon and will report back.
I voted today at 9:00 in Cottage Grove. Walked right in no line but a line was forming as I left. Cottage Grove is introducing electronic ballots along with paper. They started with the primaries. There are 3 machines. You choose which one you prefer to use after showing I.D. and signing in. While I was there it looked like more people were choosing paper. Hard to say if that was because people preferred paper or they just didn't want to wait for a machine to free up.
"Have you voted yet? Any observations?"
I did vote and I witnessed some democraticals openly wailing and lamenting the coming judgement as they were reading talking points from far left Media Matters, like the ones gadfly routinely posts at Althouseblog, from scrolls with broken seals.
I heard the voice of the 4th democratical standing there, I think he might have been high, saying there was a pale horse being ridden by all republican candidates simultaneously, whom this democratical claimed represented "death" and that Hades itself, sort of a "mobile" Detroit or Chicago or any typically blue city, was following close behind these horseback "death" republicans.
The democratical said that if the republicans seized, garnered, snatched, "stole" or otherwise literally "raped" power over the United States, then all would be killed by sword, use of incorrect pronouns, famine, lack of diversity, plague, lack of CRT grooming in schools and by the wild beasts of the earth.
I told this Howard-like democratical that as long as the vegans weren't running the show there'd be far fewer "beasts of the earth" around to cause trouble.
The democratical wept louder and cursed Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Volkswagon for not making a replacement engine for his 1972 Type II microbus.
Eric Von Haessler (guy on the radio) made a great point earlier today: The more people/voters say the mistrust elections, the longer elections are being dragged out. Whereas the private sector is going in the opposite direction, aiming for near instant service, the politicians want more time to count votes. It doesn't make any sense.
Walked to my polling place at 8:00. Pretty crowded for that early. A lot more poll watchers than usual. They really checked ID-twice. Two women came in and weren't registered to vote. They thought they could register there at the polling place. They were told to go to the county offices and register and then come back. They weren't happy. I'm guessing Dems.
Pretty sure hell will freeze over before my polling place is anything other than 100% orderly.
I voted last month and with Wisconsin’s My Vote, we can track the ballot. It all went smoothly, got the ballot quickly and filled it out, sent it back and was shown as received within the week.
I live in rural Commiefornia and have voted absentee for 20 + years. That said, planning on spending "election day" binge watching Joe Kenda: Homicide Hunter.
Interesting how many states still use drop boxes, especially in red states.
so Why IS IT; that the more democrat leadership in a county, the LONGER it takes, to count the votes?
Other Countries can count their votes in a DAY
Republican areas can count their votes in a DAY
abc-news-says-vote-count-could-take-weeks
n a throwback to 2020, ABC News reports that a “red mirage” could make it look like Republicans are winning big on the night, but that a full vote count could take “weeks.”
fetterman-ballot-counting-in-pennsylvania-could-take-several-days
"I vote thru a computer using a ballot card, then run a printout of my ballot thru a scanner to have a backup count. It felt very Secure."
If you voted through a computer, then you will never know whether your vote was counted.
Georgia here, too. Early-voted last Tuesday. Walked in, walked out. Took about ten minutes. Had to wait longer to get a table for breakfast afterwards.
I did out of habit, but where I live it's wall-to-wall communists so it really doesn't matter...
By mail a few days ago. I live in Wa State so my vote is usually pointless.
Low turnout it seems, I was 74th in my precinct. Zero wait.
There were two referendum questions in Milwaukee County.
1.Should the Wisconsin Legislature prohibit the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semi-automatic “military-style” firearms whose prohibition is allowed under the Wisconsin and United States Constitutions?
2. Do you favor allowing adults 21 years of age and older to engage in the personal use of marijuana, while also regulating commercial marijuana-related activities, and imposing a tax on the sale of marijuana?
Over the weekend I heard that only 14% of LA County ballots had been returned so far.
I voted about a month ago. Today it is pouring rain here in LA, and that will almost certainly suppress the "live" turnout.
Wife fantasized that waving our "I VOTED" stickers in front of our TV would cut off the endless flow of repetitive, nasty political ads. Oh, would that it were so!
Big school district referendum in my tiny Illinois village so even though there are no competitive races in my part of Illinois -- the people who surround me seem content with one party rule in spite of the obvious drawbacks in terms of taxes and crime -- the townspeople are turning out in good numbers. Even though I am a senior, I voted for the school funding since the schools support the house prices.
Voted by mail here in Sacramento several weeks ago (postage prepaid!). Got a notification from the registrar's office when my ballot was received and logged in.
I've been voting by mail in California for decades. I know some of my friends on the right think this is a recipe for vote fraud, but I don't see it that way. Each county runs its own voting apparatus, so organizing anything systematically would be highly difficult and dangerous. Not saying it can't happen, but I've never gotten a whiff of anything untoward in all my voting years.
California's biggest problem is that it counts votes postmarked on election day rather than received by election day, so that drags out the process unnecessarily.
Central PA. Arrived at 7:00am and was 36th to vote. Longest midterm line I ever encountered, but no where near the crowd for the 2008 or 2016 presidential elections.
"In GA I had ordered an absentee Ballot but it never showed up at my house."
Don't worry about that missing absentee ballot, it wasn't wasted.
Voted last week with my husband in early voting. One of his ham radio buddies was one of the ID checkers and they had a nice chat about their upcoming "Hamsgiving" dinner. I did notice that my little receipt with the access code said 'no party affiliation' when I am a registered Republican, but it didn't matter and I didn't feel like pursuing it. It was in the newest local high school; I thought of Althouse and her 'voting in churches is a little sketchy' as we had to vote on a school bond. Mr. Pants had a light workday so we had a couple of hours free, and we rewarded ourselves for doing our civic duty by going home for a midday nap and then went out to lunch.
I voted straight Republican and voted no on every bond dime they want from me, except for the library. I gave them that one.
My younger kids attend private school at a large church which is a polling location today. SO MANY SIGNS. I'll be glad when they're gone. Eyesores.
Voted by mail almost 2 weeks ago, in California.Woo Hoo!!!
Vicki from Pasadena
Just voted in NC. In and out in about ten minutes, no line. One interesting thing was the School Board election. You were instructed to vote for "up to 4" candidates of the 5 listed. 4 Republicans and One Democrat on the list. I don't ever remember seeing that before.
Here in Sioux Falls, SD, I voted about 9:30 am. Only about 5 people in line to get the ballot, but a steady stream of people coming and going. Process was smooth. I was #166. (2.5 hours into the voting 12 hours.) One of the workers said there was good turnout so far. It seemed to me more like a presidential election rather than mid-term. More tables set up than normal for people to mark their ballots.
Inga- The Drop box I used was at the County Clerk and Recorder's parking lot. The Parking lot where voting takes place inside the building. The signs to the drop box were clear and people were out with flags pointing the way to the single box location... (again - In the parking lot of the County Clerk's headquarters in Boulder)
NOT some facebook BS Drop Box, on a random corner, one of many, lost deep inside a big city.
Voted in Derry Twp., Pa. At 11 a.m., the poll workers said that 15 percent of the township (about 170 people) had already voted.
Don't worry about that missing absentee ballot, it wasn't wasted
No absentee ballot left behind 😉
I left at 8:58 am, drove to the polling place (a new local library) and was home by 9:14 am. No line. Fairly quiet.
Went to the polling place at a Methodist church just under a mile from the house. There was a line, but it moved smoothly. (Which is atypical considering the average Arizonan's inability to understand the concept of how a line for something is supposed to work.) I was pleasantly surprised to see no one campaigning outside the 75 ft limit.
My only complaint would be that the "booths" were in the sanctuary, which had indirect lighting that made the ballots a bit difficult to read. I'm proud to say that I voted to shitcan every judge in the state. But I do that every year. I get tired of having to vote to retain them when they don't have to work for it. I don't want any more politicians campaigning, but for my money the judges should at least have to put on a talent show or perform feats of strength to keep the job!
I’m not a fan of Voting Season.
Illinois, Cook county. They got my name wrong and then the screen said "votes already tabulated" when I inserted the card. Took 10 minutes to "straighten" that out.
SNAFU
Today's SF Chronicle Big Type Front Page Headline: OFFICIALS WARY.
The story: 'A Chinese-American official clerk recalls being called a communist at a Board of Supervisors meeting as 150 calls came pouring in about the Jan 6 stolen election.'
When did this event take place? May, 2021 in San Luis Obispo. BUT IT'S SF NEWS TODAY!
Page 4: Nancy Pelosi states the hammer attack is playing heavily on her decision 'whether to stay in her leadership position.' Also, she explicitly blames Republicans for their disinformation causing the attack.
Marty said...
been voting by mail in California for decades. I know some of my friends on the right think this is a recipe for vote fraud, but I don't see it that way.
What is it? That they call democrats in Cali? Oh, that's right: A Super Majority.
Funny how that works.
Don't Oregon and Washington state have mail in (or online) voting too? Are there a LOT of republicans elected?
Funny how that works.
Don't worry about that missing absentee ballot, it wasn't wasted.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refurbish, a Democrat/dictatorial consensus make.
Since I'm gonna be travelling, went at 7:02 am. Basically no line.
In Baltimore there are always a bunch of initiatives like, Borrow $30 million to fix the roads. Weird; how is anyone supposed to understand these? The other choice is not to fix the roads? Or, fix the roads but not line some politician's cousin's pockets w an extra $30 million?
I voted by absentee ballot last week, here in Tucson. Given all the confusing propositions on the ballot, it gave me plenty of time to sort through all the bullshit.
Of course, I voted straight Republican, although I have been a registered Independent fr over 50 years.
My wife likely voted straight Democrat, but we mostly avoid talking about politics.
I voted early (2d day) here in North Texas. Lots of folks at the early voting site, but everything went smoothly. We're voting to help make sure that Beto can join Stacey Abrams on next season's "Dancing with the Stars" since they'll have plenty of time on their hands.
Inga: "Interesting how many states still use drop boxes, especially in red states."
Yes indeed. Very good Inga! Now, see if you can take this the next few steps.....
For instance, why is it that in 2020 Mark Zuckerburg was able to directly give between $350 and $400M to state and local govt organizations for election security (LOL) via his CTCL (Center for Tech and Civic Life) organization, which targeted lots and lots of red states, with Georgia being the biggest recipient with $40M. That funded lots and lots of drop boxes in 5 specific counties only....can you guess which ones?
Why would GA do that you might ask. Isn't that a red state? Well, it helps when the Gov and Sec of State of that state are chock full of rabid NeverTrumpers and the Sec of State has democraticals all over his staff.
And Arizona was another "winner" here, with the McCain Machine Ducey-ites still running the Gov and Sec of State show all the way down to local elections oversight.
All just a coincidence. Just a coincidence.
Now, the next thing you might argue is: hey, that's a good thing! People get to vote easier and what's wrong with that?
Well, you'd have to ask Kemp and Raffensberger in GA for instance. If it was such a great thing, why is it that as soon as the 2020 elections were over with Trump "defeated" (wink wink) and the dems winning the 2 senate seats, a law was passed in GA to no longer allow Zuckerburg to dump his bucks for those purposes in those states? Which is why Zuckerburg was not able to give for the 2022 races.
Hmmmm, Zuckerburg was only allowed to do this in 2020...when Trump was running and the dems needed the Senate...but not later, when other republicans, such as Kemp and Raffensberger, could get screwed.
All just a coincidence. So many coincidences.
I early voted last week in South Carolina. The line was about 45 minutes long- 40 or 50 people I reckon. First observation- man, are my fellow constituents old. I mean rest home, walker, can't stand in line 40 minutes old. The poll workers wheeling the voting machine out to cars with handicap placards were hot and sweaty from all the running around. Second observation- seemingly the only Democrats around were the poll workers. They made sure to chat up people in line with loud voices- not about politics mind you. No no no, that would be bad. Only non political things like climate change and police racism and the tax the county wants for a green space fund. One volunteer working the door liked to make fun of voters on their way in and out. I wanted to punch him in the face. There was a sign in front of the registration desk warning that voting more than once is a FELONY! Also: may I have your ID?
I'm not in Boston anymore...
Cheating is in top gear in Arizona.
I will repeat my call for the death penalty as punishment for election fraud, no matter how minor.
Voter 485 at First Baptist Church on Franklin Ave (Madison) @ 11:00. Though there might have been two counting machines, so that might not be the total at that location.
No lines.
South Central PA just voted and was 106. No line, never is. Only one person out front in chair staring at her phone, D buttons on, I had to say good morning for her to notice I was walking by. My 21 year old at college sent picture of flag sticker saying “I didn’t vote”.
Marty: "I've been voting by mail in California for decades. I know some of my friends on the right think this is a recipe for vote fraud, but I don't see it that way."
‘Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.” That quote isn’t from President Trump, who criticized mail-in voting this week after Wisconsin Democrats tried and failed to change an election at the last minute into an exclusively mail-in affair. It’s the conclusion of the bipartisan 2005 report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker III."
OECD countries excluding the US, 78% of them either do not allow mail-in ballots "for people living in the country" or require a photo ID to get a mail-in ballot.
85% of EU countries either bar mail-in ballots for people not living abroad or require a photo ID for such a ballot.
France does not allow mail-voting except for citizens living abroad and banned general mail voting in 1975 after a number of fraud cases.
You can google all these.
In 2020 you could walk around apartment complexes in CA and NV and find boxes of mail-in ballots just sitting by mailboxes and lying about. Anyone could pick them up, fill them out and send them in.
What about signature requirements and addresses and stuff?! Nope. No addresses, no signatures, no dates, whatever. Those states accept any ballot turned in without any verification at all.
Hey, I know! Why don't you just leave the lights on to your home, the doors wide open, walk away for a week and then come back. When you get back don't actually check on the condition of the home or if anything is missing, because you aren't allowed to "look", and then simply report "all is normal"!.
Because that's precisely what 2020 was.
North Texas, showed up at a few minutes after 7 am. Long line, took about 45 minutes. Not used to lines around here.
I voted on a Dominion touch-screen machine in a SW Ohio county. I didn't like it. Even though you can view a 'printout' to verify that your screen-touches touched correctly, once you hit Submit, or Cast Ballot, who knows where it went. I was a poll worker in an adjacent county up 'til a couple cycles ago, and we used paper ballots and scanners, which I felt was much more trustworthy.
"Don't worry about that missing absentee ballot, it wasn't wasted."
In fact, it's probably being used to generate about 25 more copies.
I know some of my friends on the right think this is a recipe for vote fraud, but I don't see it that way. Each county runs its own voting apparatus, so organizing anything systematically would be highly difficult and dangerous.
With this issue, population dense voting precincts or counties, can drive an entire state. No systemic action needed. Philly, Miami, Maricopa, Vegas/Reno. The counties surrounding DC, can drive, Maryland and Virginia. So a few 10's of thousands of votes bulk delivered to ballot drop boxes are a big deal.
I am the only voice I have heard, calling for a tally of votes cast, within 30 minutes of polls closing. Then all know exactly how many votes will be counted.
Longest lines I have ever seen at any election mid day in a red state.
I voted in person early last week in Sussex, WI. Photo ID verified. Signature verified (which the WEC said "don't worry about" in 2020). Verbally stated address. Ballot and envelope given to me. Told NOT to seal the envelope until I returned to the clerk. Completed my ballot. Ballot went into the envelope and sealed in front of me. Then I signed the envelope in front of the clerk.
It all took 5 minutes to thoroughly obey and implement all required in-person early voting procedure in Sussex, WI. That is why there is so much resentment regarding the fraud and breaking of Wisconsin voting laws in places like Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, and Green Bay.
In Sussex, Even our drunk drivers do the speed limit. Barney Fife with one bullet in his pocket could sheriff our town, and we are only 25 minutes west of Milwaukee's lake front.
Glad to see you voted this time Professor. I still don't understand why you skipped 2020.
If the same absentee crap happens in WI again it will be my last time.
Dropped my ballot off at the polling place a week ago, the earliest possible moment. We will see how long it takes to count.
The Wolf household filled out our ballots this morning, happily marking the other guy and wondering if a lot of people will do that to Newsome this time. Oddly, we have not heard from either gubernatorial candidate about this race, although Newsome helpfully made a commercial or two urging us to vote his way on several statewide propositions. That helped tremendously because we weren't sure about one and his endorsement guaranteed our NO vote on it. The other (prop 1) is a very deceptively worded change to our state constitution that mysteriously states a no vote won't really have any impact the "reproductive rights" are already safely protected by other CA laws. So a YES changes the Constitution in ways alluded to but not written into this proposition, but a NO allegedly has no impact?
In reality this would make us a sanctuary state and tax us to pay for travel and expenses of any woman in the USA who wants to have their abortion here. CA residents would get an extra 30 days after birth to decide whether the baby is viable or not. None of this is in the "analysis" by the SOS, oddly. We marked the HELL NO oval.
Then we took the short drive down to the elementary school voter site to drop them off. It is and was raining cats and dogs. My hat blew off. The BUSES ONLY sign in the lane next to me blew across the lot. But our ballots made it safely and securely into the drop box monitored by the good folks at Terrace Hills Elementary. Odd note: the woman in front of me asked about the mysteriously worded Prop 1 and the lady monitoring the box actually read her the state laws in question which horrified the lady who said she was glad she marked NO too. It will take approximately six weeks to learn the outcomes here in the stoopidest state in the union.
Maricopa County voting machine failures are unbelievable. This is one of those times, like with the camera in Epstein’s cell, that the hidden powers are forced to show some cards.
Equal and complementary.
Not to worry though, just because one of the Senate candidates in AZ, as overseer of the election is responsible for the failures, I am sure that you can trust that her seat will have been fairly won.
I voted on day one of SC early voting, which was two weeks ago yesterday.
Jake said...
I went last week in Wauwatosa at the City Hall. It was busy, but mostly because the volunteer poll workers were very slow at processing people through the line. Not complaining. They're all old to very-old retired people. It's not like they're running the country.
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LOL. I used to vote in person, until a few years ago I went to our precinct polling location when it opened and there was already a long line waiting to get in. I waited and waited to get inside the door, glancing at my watch as I needed to get to work, when once inside it was quickly evident what the problem was.
The old ladies checking the rolls to get you signed in were clearly enfeebled, taking forever to look up a person's name in the book. I finally got up to the table, showed my ID, and waited as she slooooowly turned each page to get to the right one. She finally got to the right page, and I easily read my name upside down from where I was standing. I pointed out my name to the woman on the page and it still took her a minute to realize that, yes, that was indeed my name. It was beyond the pale. These women weren't that much older than me but they clearly weren't up to the job. It was like the Tim Conway old man character.
It was thereafter I started voting by mail. I wish they would eliminate it, but I'll use it while it exists.
We were others 178 and 179 in Ruralville today just before noon. A much heavier turnout than usual for that time of day. Midterms 4 years ago we were in the 120s voting late afternoon
Sorry for the repeated posts earlier. I kept getting the "Whoops! Something went wrong" message from Blogger, but apparently they all went through. I hope Blogger isn't in charge of electronic voting machines...
"I am the only voice I have heard, calling for a tally of votes cast, within 30 minutes of polls closing. Then all know exactly how many votes will be counted."
You are not alone- this is one the things I have advocated for repeatedly. This didn't use to be a problem because the counts were essentially finished within 6 hours of the polls closing, but since 2016's election, the counts are taking days and days of counting, and the numbers being reported of the % of ballots needing to still be counted is a bullshit number that constantly changed in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and Michigan. Counties like Philadelphia County in PA would report the same % of total vote still to be counted even after dumping 50K votes the day after the election. For all appearances, the county was just marking up fake ballots the entire time after election day, and didn't want to give a firm number of what was left to count because they weren't 100% sure of how many fraud ballots they needed to create.
Reporting from a north-side suburb of Houston still in Harris County. I drove over to the local elem school at 10 am - was back home at 10:40 am. There were about 20-25 people in front of me when I got there and about the same after me when I finished up. No way to vote straight ticket that I saw, so I had to punch (R) about 90 times. I never liked having partisan judges but this year it helped! In any event, I sent my message on how I feel the country is going....
I voted early, a couple of Saturdays ago. Here in Lee County, Florida, there were only 12 locations open county-wide for both early voting and for voting today, due to Hurricane Ian. Early voting was extended through yesterday, with slightly different hours than today's 7 to 7 hours statewide. There was no line in the late afternoon when I early voted.
Voted in my red city, red county, red state and the turnout was very high. They had two sheriff's deputies at the polling place, which I don't remember in the past. Maybe BLM is in town for a mostly peaceful riot...
Drago wrote, "What about signature requirements and addresses and stuff?! Nope. No addresses, no signatures, no dates, whatever. Those states accept any ballot turned in without any verification at all."
Don't know where you get your information, but this is not how it works here in California. One of the reasons it takes forever to count our votes is that each absentee ballot received on or after election day has to have its address and signature hand-verified, and the verification process is open to poll watchers from any political party that want to observe.
In all my decades of voting absentee in California, there has not been (to my recollection) a suit launched by any element of the Republican Party challenging this process.
I say this as a registered, Trump-voting, Republican.
Some interesting All Is Well! comments here, from names I don't recognize. Interesting.
I was voter number 165 at 10am. Polling place had steady amount of people, but not busy. Very nice poll workers. I find electronic ballots overly complicated. I wish we could go back to paper.
Voted at 11:15 in Appleton, a sort line but it only took about 10 minutes. Happy that Appleton uses optical scan paper ballots. I loved n.n. line " It's raining cats, dogs, and what may be hamsters." so I'm stealing it. Fortunately for those standing in line outside the doors, the weather here is beautiful. Now to take a nap in preparation for a long night of mostly ignoring the election coverage but finishing up a couple of good books (The Director's Cut by Christopher DiGrazia and A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad.).
Voted in Tempe AZ at 11 am. Surprised to see so many voters. No lines but 4 or 5 people voting and several getting ballots. This is what made me angry. Democratic operative standing just outside the perimeter for electioneering asking if he could hand me a Democratic voting guide. Ok that’s not bad. But he was talking to an employee who worked inside the building where voting was taking place. The employee said he couldn’t take the guide because he had to look impartial. The Dem told him just to put it in his back pocket so it could be seen. Ha ha. How clever. Just typical jerk behavior on the part of Democrats.
also, I was surprised to see on the posted rules about who was eligible to vote that you can't vote in Wisconsin if you placed a bet on the election.
I was an angry voter today. Angry because Biden and the leaders of his party are the most outrageous liars and scoundrels I've ever seen in my life. Worse than Clinton, believe it or not. Clinton sometimes told the truth when it suited him.
I am angry because the political and social climate in this country has become utterly toxic and I blame the Dems for the most part. Trump didn't help things, but he was a symptom and reaction to the sleaze and toxicity the Dems have been spewing for years. Biden slander from years ago: Republicans wanna put y'all back in chains! And he's gotten worse since then.
So all I wanted to do was vote against every Democrat I could find.
Voted shortly before noon in a northshore Milwaukee suburb. No line. Choice of two methods: touchscreen or paper ballot/scanner. I figured I'd try the touchscreen, but when it starting taking to long to get in the chair I switched back to paper. There were advisory referenda on outlawing 'military style semi-automatic weapons' and pot legalization. No, I don't want semi-automatic rifles banned, no matter how black and scary-looking they are. No, I don't want more pot heads roaming around my state.
Ballot into the counting machine. I was number 454 according to the readout. I think that's probably about average for that time of day in a mid-term.
I will be very curious to see the turnout level and the results. I think lots of people are angry. The Dems hope everybody's angry about Roe v Wade and January 6th. The GOP hopes people are angry about crime, inflation, ineptitude, mendacity, COVID excesses and crazy leftwing social experiments run amok.
We'll see how the balance of anger falls.
I stood in line for 5 minutes at the church, got my card amd waited patiently to start filling it.
I realized something was wrong when no one called Bingo.
Maricopa County AZ vote Tabulators down. Sec of State Katie Hobbs and current Dem Governor candidate on the ballot is kicking ass...
Tell me that's not conflict of interest. A Sec of State in charge of an election for Governor where she is on the ballot.
Western PA, south of Pittsburgh. No lines. Weirdly, no one politicking for either side outside of the building.
I voted well over a week ago, Friday, October 28, in one of our early voting sites in Bay County Florida. A picture ID was required and all voters had to be registered by October 11.
From Ace:
Polling stations throughout Maricopa County, Arizona, are down, and unable to record votes. Maricopa is a Democrat county but it's mostly Republicans who vote day-of the election, so this affects the Republican vote.
You know who's in charge of voting in Arizona, right? That's right, Abortion Mouse, the woman running for governess, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. And it just turns out that the voting machines are down in a high-population county! Oh pooh!
Now, people are dropping off their ballots in boxes and supposedly these will be scanned later but who knows what Abortion Mouse will actually do with them.
Here we go.
Butt will Gadfly be able to plug the pipes of vote counting facilities across multiple states?
In this capacity, he is not to be underestimated.
And oh..
Heather Heyer!
Heather Heyer!!!
Spouse and I voted about 130 here in eastern CT. I was maybe #700 on the machine display. Whole thing was 15 minutes with steady stream of cheerful people. ID and street address were checked (and ruled through with red ink), blank ballot was supplied in a “privacy” folder, voter goes to next open booth to fill in paper ballot with black felt pen, then puts ballot in reader/counter machine, and off you go.
Now we wait and see.
I was #800 in my PA precinct.
Is this true?
Key findings
Almost half (23) of the states do not require voters to provide proof of identification to vote in person with a regular ballot on polling day.
Twenty-five states require voters to show documents proving their identity in order to vote. Among these states, most (18) require a photo ID, while the rest (7) also accept proof without a photo. Only Delaware accepts the equivalent of the Voter Information Card (VIC) as a proof of identity.
Of all the 51 states (including D.C.) only three require documents proving both identity and address (Arizona, North Dakota, and Ohio). In all three cases, it is possible for the voter to present a piece of ID without photo as proof of identification. None of these states accepts the equivalent of the VIC as a proof of ID; and its use is explicitly prohibited in Ohio.
Cause if it is Americans are insane.
Well...I know that my wife and I voted alike in this one. There were not many choices and even a mostly lifelong Dem like her knows DeSantis has been great. She'd vote for him for Prez. But...we're going out to dinner with a couple of friends who reside on the farther left of things. Not a doubt in my mind our table will be two couples that have canceled out each others votes. I feel so disenfranchised. Even before the calamari.
Busy as I’ve seen it in my central CT town, which is essentially 50/50. Sunny day, and also on the ballot was a local referendum to authorize $298 Million in bonds to tear down and rebuild all of the elementary schools. So the locals are motivated.
The ballot also included a provision asking whether the State Constitution should be amended to allow early voting. I voted NO.
Had to show picture ID, as has been the case for all of the 37 years I have lived in this deep blue (and apparently racist) state.
My fervent wish is that Dick Blumenthal goes down, but I also wish that I had that Powerball number …
I voted by mail two weeks ago in Ventura County, California. Very easy and convenient to do. All CALIFORNIA voters get mail ballots. Very convenient
Gregory ogden
on your second point: me to Mrs. on her way to vote (couple of hours later)
mezz: "go kill my vote"
Mrs.: "only a couple"
Voted by paper ballot Sunday morning at county seat, also motherload country. No line
Wife and I were in and out in less than 15 minutes. A steady stream of folks but no lines--certainly nothing like some times in the past, though that could be a matter of time of day as much as overall interest.
Showed D.L., confirmed address, printed and signed my name, and got long paper ballot to insert in the "ExpressVote" (or the like) machine. Chose on the touchscreen, and got the ballot back, marked with my choices (I confirmed a few) to put in the tallying machine.
Everyone friendly and helpful, as always. I didn't see or ask about total numbers but I expect they will be high if not record-breaking.
That said, I don't trust electronic voting, but THAT said there is plenty of opportunity to fudge the old-fashioned way.
Other than the skies opening and vultures flying overhead in swastika formation it was a pretty normal election day.
I voted ten days ago? two weeks? don't recall; very soon after the ballot arrived in the mail. I miss being able to walk to the polling place in the beautiful November weather (it is damp, grey, windy) but do always enjoy voting for myself and friends and acquaintances for those offices of which only the incumbent is on the ballot. I believe I voted against every Legislature-sponsored proposition on the ballot this time, including the one that would have removed the word 'slavery' from the Constitution. Had to think about that one, too, since I know black people my age and older whose youthful experiences of Oregon were marked by outright acts of racist violence. But am sure it will be eliminated, whatever happens otherwise. The governorship and three House seats is the limit of my expectations today (or this week...).
I like these observations from all over - even from some of the resident dullards and communists!
I voted early this afternoon in deep red Alabama. The line flowed quickly.
For the first time in my 70 years I voted a straight party line. I've seen NO prominent D speak out against issues I find completely insane. I find the lies of major players (the border is secure) absolute deal breakers.
Plus Senator Shelby (R) is finally off the ballot. And I'd never vote for that guy period.
North Georgia. Polls empty at 9:30 a.m. -- only 73 people had voted before me. I was surprised, though we do have one of the longest early voting periods in the country, far longer than most blue states because we're so into suppressing the vote, you know.
Went home, checked the early voter numbers and was somewhat relieved. I know citizen activists who are still refusing to vote because of voter fraud and other manipulated and warped stands on "principles" -- as grifters Steve Bannon and Jenny Beth Martin instructed them to do daily for months -- which in the last election threw the Senate to the Democrats.
I used to like Steve. I don't care that he's facing jail now. To heck with the fools who listened to him and flushed their wallets down the toilet so they wouldn't get "stolen." The same goes for improbable third-party voters too precious to enter the real arena. Why vote at all? Just order an absentee ballot and flush that. Most politicians are just thumbs pressing the buttons they are told to press. Don't get overly invested in what's attached to the thumb.
Still, the sane outweigh the malleable, so I expect the outcome to be good. And my new district lines enabled me to vote for a stellar combat surgeon turned emergency room doctor: obviously not all thumbs. Hopefully the skill set translates to politics.
Oh yeah. Got water and a snack - not from partizans, but by a gaggle of sweet ladies offering water, tea and lemonade. Plus cookies, cupcakes and chip-snacks as we left.
No intimidation there, except for the ghostly voice of my Doctor saying, "Leave the sweets alone!"
What a different place the world would be if only one of the sexes could vote!
I had the honor of voting against Bennie Thompson today. Useless in a majority minority district, but I felt like I owed it to him. No line.
Interesting twist on identity theft this time in WI was a PAC sending out mailers in the voice of turd party Guv candidate.
I looked for but did not find "Democracy on the ballot" though I was assured by both Obama and Biden that it would be there today. Lying fuckers. I really wanted to vote against democracy to see if democracy could self destruct like that. I figured it wouldn't have worked anyway.
Interesting how my deep-blue state still uses drop boxes.
Just came back from voting. My voting precinct was moved this year to a small, picturesque, Lutheran Church. No waiting in line, but there were about 15 people inside filling out their ballots. My state recently passed a law against straight party line voting, which I really like. Now you have to mark every single candidate running for office, whether it's the president, governor, or dog catcher (note: dog catchers aren't really elected here). This hurts the Democrats because they put so much money in their national candidates, like Obama, but their voters don't really know any of the other candidates down the ballot, but with straight party voting, all of those down the ballot candidates get an automatic vote.
Not me, but good article.
https://mattbivens.substack.com/p/why-i-wont-vote-tomorrow
Here in NW Florida there were lines as long as presidential voting years. Everyone cheerful and patient. No problems. Our early voting numbers were up so much this time I thought it would decrease in-person numbers. Glad to see it didn't.
Hubby and I were #49 and #50 having gone in before 8:00 am. (More than usual.) We live in a small, rural Wisconsin township. Voting is at the town hall. Just one guy ahead of us. Photo ID. Sign book. Said hello to (redacted) behind the table; I know her from church. Paper ballots. Marked and put into the scanner. Done. Out the door. 7-10 minutes max. Most people will be voting after work.
Missouri voters must now present a government-issued photo ID when voting and the barcode on it is scanned. A voter registration card issued by the county clerk used to be accepted but no longer. Nearly all of the races except Congress (Senate and Rep) were unopposed, which seemed strange. We vote with pen and the ballot is scanned as we leave. On the initiative petition to legalize marijuana, LohMan and LohWoman canceled each other out.
East TN, wife and I voted early afternoon. It probably took us half an hour, lots of voters. This is Trump Country - so days about every other bumper sticker and yard sign. I treat Election Day like a national holiday (hey, I'm retired), that is, I schedule my other activities around it, don't try to shoehorn it in to the myriad other things with which I busy myself. Guess that sounds like conservative virtue signaling.
Forget I said anything.
Voted in person. but California allows mailed ballots postmarked today 7 days to arrive for counting.
voted and gave blood
twofer!
I've got the "I voted" sticker and the cotton swab over my right arm.
I look like an American hero.
I cracked the whole place up with my ID joke. "Last time I was in here, they wanted to see my ID. And there was something wrong with it, I can't remember. I think the ink faded. And I told them, I'm a Republican, I don't know why I said that --"
That's when the whole room cracked up.
"--and she was looking at my ID, and she said she was a Republican, and I said, that's great. And eventually they let me vote. So that was good."
Would you believe I’m still hearing political ads this late voting day?
Unbelievable.
I voted to just take the slavery language out of the state constitution, and also the prohibition on clergy serving in the legislature. I thought that one had gone long ago.
I voted at 1:20 pm on the North Shore in Milwaukee. No line. 578 votes so far. I opposed legalizing marijuana and wrote in Elon Musk for one of the uncontested seats.
We voted early here in Texas. I know we cancelled each other out on one of the local county issues, just as I know all the rest of the votes were the same. I'm surprised it hasn't happened more often, but only on local issues. I'm on Facebook, he isn't. I see more of the back and forth on local issues.
Overheard in line behind me at the polling place:
"You're not voting for president, you dipshit!"
So that was encouraging.
In all my decades of voting absentee in California, there has not been (to my recollection) a suit launched by any element of the Republican Party challenging this process.
I say this as a registered, Trump-voting, Republican.
My husband was born and raised in southern CA and he is adamant that outside the cities, the state remains Republican... though less so than when he was a kid. It's too bad the big cities are so overwhelming.
Voted early this morning. Outside the polling place there were campaign signs all over the place in violation of the law. 100% Democrat candidates - not one Republican. On the way out, they had all been torn down and covered with dirt. Democrats don't respect the law or the voters.
Voted c. 4:30 in the Fenway this afternoon. Then headed to the bar down the street, which, curiously, was almost empty for the next three hours. Per usual, there were maybe two other voters present when I voted. In Mass., we use paper ballots that are then scanned, so there is a solid backup, should one ever be needed (which is never).
Also per usual, half the local candidates were unopposed Democrats. On principle, I don't vote for anyone running unopposed. Otherwise voted almost straight Republcan, in full knowledge that none of those candidates had a chance. Only exception was one race where I voted Libertarian because there was no Republican candidate.
Four ballet questions. I was somewhat indifferent and voted yes for one having to do with liquor licensing, which I didn't fully understand. Otherwise, a hard no on amending the state constitution to impose a "millionaire's tax," imposing a mandate on the use of dental insurance premiums (from the advertising, clearly meant to increase the incomes of dentists and the like), and giving driver's licenses to illegals. Except possible for the liquor license one, the others will almost surely pass.
But this is where I choose to live.
--gpm
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