Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Attn: Americans!

Don't forget to vote today!!
--Wanda

There's been a great turnout here (Indianapolis area) this year; almost every polling place has had no less than an hour wait from 6 am onwards. I went over to my designated polling site at about 10 am and waited 50 minutes-- but it went by pretty fast. The elderly lady in front of me in line said this is the first year in all her years of voting in this county that she's ever had to wait more than about 15 minutes.

~Toc

I was waiting in line before they even opened. Got there about 6:35am. Was out of there by 7:15. The whole town votes in one place the convention center so that was pretty quick.

I always have to laugh though about the people standing out side handing out flyers for their candidates to get your vote. I sure hope that by the time you go to vote you've made up your mind who you are going to vote for.

I voted! Minnesota may have the highest turnout of all 50 states. We usually have great voter turnout anyway. After all, this is a state in which we can have blizzards on election day, and people pride themselves on getting to where they need to be in bad weather. We had reasonably nice weather most of the day except for a few showers in the morning, thankfully.

I voted -- and I got challenged at the polls (even though I have voted at the same polling place in every election since my 18th birthday in December of 1998). I even had to cast 2 ballots because of a "hanging chads" thing . My first one was VOID.

- Laura

We had the fill-in-the-circles ballots, so no chad worries.

I also found out that my stepmom's mom is an election judge volunteer in Mankato.

I've been hearing news reports all afternoon about voter turnout being much, much higher than normal, which is great news for democracy. Turnout in most Western democracies has been on an alarming downward slide for the last decade or so, even falling below 50% in some national elections. Whatever the reasons for higher turnout, and I know that there are many, and regardless of the outcome, this is very encouraging and I hope it will last!


Wendy (currently disenfranchised as she has no vote in Canada until she becomes a citizen, and doesn't believe in voting in UK elections without paying tax there )

I voted about 9:30 this morning to miss the working folks. All was smooth and it took about half an hour. We voted in the convention center and had the fill in the circle ballots. I had my sample ballot marked and with me, otherwise I couldn't have remembered it all. We had 16 state propostions plus one local one to vote yes or no on. Then we had the California senator, the district Representative to Congress and the State Assembly to vote for. Then 3 for City Council, School Board, Airport Board and Water District.

Artemis
My family is from Mankato too!!!

Minnesota?

I'm a student in Boston but I voted absentee in Ohio. The news keeps flipping to Columbus and outlining the craziness that's happening there, and part of me is glad not to have to deal with it, but part of me thinks it'd be exciting to have participated in all of that. My dad said he had eight messages on his answering machine from celebrities and politicians, including Bush and Clinton, and my grandma said Alfre Woodard called her! There are lawsuits all over the state contesting voter registrations and challenging people at the polls (Laura, what did you get challenged for?!). What a mess! Someone at the Ohio board of elections got their act together, even if the rest of them are running around like headless chickens...)

They said I wasn't who I said I was! They asked me my birthday, and I said, December 2, 1980. They said, "No, that's not what's listed." And I said, "Um . . ." They said, "You were born on July 21, 1983 and you already voted absentee." And I said, "That's MY Sister." There are 4 people with my last name listed at our precinct -- Jennifer (the sister), Laura, Mary (my mom), and David (my dad). I had to produce an ID -- I showed 2 forms -- and they said my signature didn't match up. I kind of screamed at the challenger and luckily someone there knew me, so it was all resolved. All in all, it took over 2 hrs for me to vote -- including standing in line and the ballot fiasco.

- Laura

Emily: Yep, Mankato, Minnesota. My father was born there. My mother was born in Winona, Minnesota and I was born at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Artemis
We've lived here so long everyone knew us, so there was no question who we are. Oh, I got a personal call from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Prop. 72. Hey, the guy knows how to use the media.

High five for higher turnouts. I waited in line for just 30 minutes this morning, and that was the first time I've ever waited in line to vote. My little area in town isn't really big on voting, so I'm glad they were coming out of the woodworks today. I felt really young. It's mostly stay-at-home moms and retirement communities in my neighborhood, and the stay-at-homes definitely had finished voting before I got there.

JD

I voted absentee, so no lines for me. And it worked out with great timing that my mom was here before the election, going home just before the election, and so she was able to turn it in for me -- I was just a little bit nervous about trusting that important of a document to international mail. Could be paranoia, I don't know.

Kaylle -- what do you mean $4 instead of $14? For mailing costs? Or do you actually get charged to vote? Isn't that illegal?

Bethy

PS Wendy, I agree that high voter turnout is a *great* thing, regardless of the outcome. Hopefully we can turn the high turnouts into a trend...

I voted for the first time yesterday. Got up a lil after 5am, got to the polling place at 5:50, doors opened at 6:30, and I was done by 6:50am. When I got there, there were about 30 people ahead of me or so. By the time I was done, there were probably about 100 or more behind me. The line snaked out of the church, and along a wall and a half. I was impressed.

/me skids to a halt - you pay to vote over there???????

Yvonne

Laura, it is amazing sometimes what you go through when you go to vote. I have a very unusual last name. In fact anyone with it in the US is related to me. When my mother died it took me several elections telling them when I went to vote that she had pasted away before they finally took her off the rolls. Same with my father. No wonder they don't know what percentage of registered voters really voted.

I feel sorry for those that had so many things to vote on. Where I live they always hold local elections (city council/mayor) seperately. We did that in October.

Anyway I'm just glad the elections are over. Hopefully they will decide who won and we can stop listening to all the name calling soon.

I walked over to the polling place about noon. There wasn't any line, and no one challenged me. It was gratifyingly non-eventful.

Nan

I got challenged by a Republican challenger because I am (and my whole family is) a registered Democrat in a traditionally Democratic area of Ohio, plus I am young. They were going after young people who might have been voting in their first election and African Americans. I knew it had been in the news, but I hadn't actually expected to be challenged.

News Story

- Laura

Pats on the back to everyone who voted! This IS a great thing for democracy. I guess all the promotional things that went on (especially those geared towards young people...they really went all out!) worked really, really well! And even though I'm alln the way on the other side of the border, everyone I know is on the edge of their chairs.

Can't wait to see how it all turns out!
Mirage