How long did you wait to vote?

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I have voted since 1964 in small towns [pop.100,000] and rural areas. I've never waited more than 15 min. but I read about long lines and long waits. What have you experienced? How does one fit a 1-1/2 hour wait into a work day?

Our rules in Pennsylvania say that anyone in the polling location at 8 pm must be allowed to vote. That does not include people standing in line OUTSIDE the polling place at 8 pm and this caused an uproar at least once that I remember. Again, what are your experiences?

-- Pam (Pam @judge .of election), November 12, 2000

Answers

Pam,

About 15 minutes this time, half as long as in 1992 or 1996, but those were in evenings and this time I got there 8:30 in the morning, my earliest in a long time. I was #169, 90 minutes after polls opened.

>How does one fit a 1-1/2 hour wait into a work day?

Generally, those are the folks who vote after their work day.

>That does not include people standing in line OUTSIDE the polling place at 8 pm

How barbaric!

In Wisconsin, a poll worker goes to the end of the waiting line, no matter whether indoors or outside, at closing time, and shooes away latecomers but makes sure those in line before closing time get to vote.

-- No Spam Please (nos_pam_please@hotmail.com), November 12, 2000.


I voted at 7:45 AM. I parked, went inside, fumbled for my voter registration card and picture ID, took my ballot, filled it out, fed it into the machine, and was back in my truck cruisin down the road within 10 minutes tops.

Spam,

BARBARIC? But those are the rules!

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), November 12, 2000.


Spam,

BARBARIC? But those are the rules!

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), November 12, 2000. ======

and you are an idiot uncle deedud.... Is it the fault of the people the line is not moving fast enough to handle the demand? Is it the fault of the poeple who want to vote that the polling site didn't plan well enough and there are too few people, too few booths, to handle the crowd? Arizona does the same thing as Wisconsin, if you are in line when the poll closes, you will vote, no matter if it is two hours after the official closing time (as was the case at some polling places here in the Phoenix metro area) Let me guess, uncle dud, you are a repulsive...er...republican, right?

-- arizona kid (sonoran@desert.com), November 12, 2000.


I stood in line for two hours. The workers were NOT helpful at all. They initially directed me to the wrong line based on my last name, and since there were no signs anywhere indicating which line corresponded to which letters in the alphabet, I was stuck in the wrong line for 20 minutes.

As some of you know, I'm on chemotherapy for cancer treatment. Chemo makes you feel exhausted. After standing up for thirty minutes straight, I found myself feeling exhausted and woozy and had to sit down. The only place to sit down was on the floor. One of the volunteers tried to tell me that sitting down was the equivalent of getting out of line. I told him that I was undergoing chemotherapy and was so tired I literally couldn't stand anymore, but the volunteer wasn't very sympathetic. Fortunately, the people in line around me stood up for me and one got out of line to get me a chair. She was allowed to get her place back in line.

I had a difficult time once I actually got the ballot. Because I was so exhausted, I had difficulty reading the ballot. It took me about thirty minutes longer to vote than it would ordinarily. I felt like a man who had woken up just five minutes before; you probably know the feeling, as though someone had just woken you up and asked you to calculate the volume of your kitchen sink. This, of course, is not the fault of my local elections board.

All in all, I think I'll vote by absentee ballot next time.

BTW- when I finish this course of chemotherapy, I should be officially cancer-free.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), November 12, 2000.


arizona,

I said that to Spam because, on another thread where Spam and I have a slight disagreement, Spam is arguing that the LAW MUST BE FOLLOWED! (which I agree with, by the way)

Let me guess, uncle dud, you are a repulsive...er...republican, right?

No.

I let me guess, arizooner, you have shat...er...shit for brains, right?

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), November 12, 2000.



I voted at 7:00 am. One voting machine in the hall. Two people ahead of me. One kid from the local military academy voted in the kid's section while I was there. It was a similar experience in 1998.

1996 in rural NC, relatively same population as here in Virginia, I waited in line 2-1/2 hours +/-. But it was NC, where people talk slowly & think even more slowly.

Example: make sure you eat a full meal prior to going to a supermarket because the checkout line alone requires a 30 minute wait while the checker tells about her uncle who is also her nephew and fiance.

Stereotypes? What? Me?

-- Bingo1 (howe9@shentel.net), November 12, 2000.


We had 91% voter turn out. Need I say more.

Best wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), November 12, 2000.


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