Wonkette
It’s no joke, people! Voting lines in New York are just NUTS. But if the Obama campaign supplies “Comfort Teams” like they’re doing in Georgia, you will all get water and hot chocolate soon, and maybe a hand job for your troubles. Two sort of detailed reports after the jump. Send your informations to tips@wonkette, if you have more exciting things to share!
- Fyi: in Park Slope (Brooklyn, NY) the poll line wraps around an entire city block!
- Just voted at ps 20 in NYC. I was the first one there at 5:35 and they were not ready until like 6:20! There was a problem with one of the machines, people were about to riot. The girl was showing this dude how to look up the districts right before I walked in! By the time they started there was a line around the block. If you care…
Sent from my sweet iPhone
- Greenpoint, brooklyn, I got to my polling station at 630AM and to my surprise there were more youngsters like myself then the early bird special risers. Unbelievable. The line wrapped around the block.
- There was a line around the corner of 51st and 2nd Ave, as we all marched slowly towards the Sutton Place Synagogue. All told, it probably took 45 minutes, as there are a mother load of districts and our lovely, antiquated machines. The lady writing the voting cards initially took my first name down as ‘Francis’, which it ain’t. All was corrected though. Go Hopey!
i’m off to vote at sutton place synagogue. maybe they’ll serve rugelach and weak coffee!
Hand jobs? Fuck, I need to move to Georgia.
Dang, I didn’t get no freaking hot chocolate or a hand job when I voted last week. I feel cheated out of my comfort.
I voted at Park East synagogue this morning. Got there at 6, left at 7:30. The line was getting retardedly long by the time I left, and people were starting to yell. I hope the oldsters riot.
Absentee Bitches!
In Charlottesville, VA they’re giving you water and granola bars in line. ‘Cause we’re liberal granola types here.
‘Comfort teams!’ Fucking brilliant. Alas, they weren’t there when I voted early, but still…
Sunset Park, Brooklyn: There was a line outside my polling place at 6AM.
i voted within 10 min. of waiting on line at the e 4th street polling station this morning. when i made it inside, i was the only person voting in the 20th congressional district line, so not everywhere in new york is a total clusterfuck, thankfully.
There’s a bunch of fun young Republicans holding up huge “Keep Virginia Red” signs at the intersection of Rt. 1 and 23rd St. S in Arlington. Also, “Honk for McCain” or something. Definitely no hand jobs there.
My dog and I already voted twice each. We’ll be going back after lunch.
Gotta love Florida!
Keram2: Absentee bitches are the worst kind.
i just voted in elmwood park nj, there were 15 people there. come to elmwood park nj if you dont want to wait on any lines to vote.
OH NO! Does that mean I will be stuck in one of those dreaded lines. Maybe I shouldn’t vote like Jim Newell - NY doesn’t matter anyway since they are already in the tank for Hopey.
There was a line around the corner of 51st and 2nd Ave, as we all marched slowly towards the Sutton Place Synagogue. All told, it probably took 45 minutes, as there are a mother load of districts and our lovely, antiquated machines. The lady writing the voting cards initially took my first name down as ‘Francis’, which it ain’t. All was corrected though.
Go Hopey!
In West Philly, I was at my station by 6:30 (polls open at 7), but was still 50th in line. By the time I left (about 7:20), there had to be hundreds of people waiting (the line wrapped around the block). Craaaazy. I went to CVS and bought crazy amounts of discounted Halloween candy last night, so I’m going to be my own one-man comfort operation this afternoon.
All it takes is for one of these “comfort teams” to slip up and say they’re with the Obama campaign, and all hell will break loose with charges of electioneering and talk-radio blowhards screaming voter fraud
The comfort teams are great in NC, that is why I voted early and often! The Southern girls give the best hand jobs!
RobPetrified: Excellent. I too have taken advantage of multi-voting here in FL. Thanks ACORN!!
I stood in line and saw a Walnuts supporter park her car and follow me in. Thankfully she had a bumper sticker on her car so I could peg her as the miserable creature she indeed looked like.
She stood behind me in line. Thankfully, though I must claim no great foresight, I had a huge breakfast burrito yesterday.
Therefore, I was able to cropdust her at will until I went into the voting booth. Yes we can!
Parkville, Maryland
Got to vote on a Diebold machine with no paper trail. Yaaay, nice to have no fucking idea whether my vote will actually be registered the way I intended. The machine did mark one of my responses wrong, and correcting the error was no where as intuitive as it should have been.
There was a line outside the city hall at 6:45 in my tiny little truckstop in Wisconsin. I didn’t think we even had enough people in town to make a line.
Polls opened a 6am here in MO. I got there at 6:45 and just got out. Line wrapped around the block twice. HOPEY!!!
also: blasting from trunk-speakers a block away: U2 “and all the colors…bleeeed into one…”
Also, allow me to make one thing clear:
Starbucks is giving away free coffee for voting, but Chick Fil-A is not, I repeat, not giving away free anything. Sux.
In Fairfax, VA all I got was a scolding for being a commie by a grown man on a BMX bike.
morepunkthanyou: Actually, that would be the most-likely location for a circle jerk.
Waited 1.5 hours in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. I got there at 7am.
Can we just call it now?
Checking in from Bawlmer: line at our Mount Vernon polling place was quite long with surly senior citizens at 7:00 am and getting longer as we left. No “comforts” provided but I was hoping for some crabcakes or Natty Boh or something.
ForTheTurnstiles: lol Fairfax. I’d put 10 bux that he’s a gov’t contractor of some kind.
Markers ftw. 5 minutes to vote, in spite of huge lines. Massachusetts is awesome.
Businesses are plywooding up their storefronts just in case of the riots if Hopey doesn’t win.
When I voted last week, I tried to open my own personal comfort station and give myself a hand job, but they asked me to leave. Should I report this as voter harassment?
Voted early last week - no lines for me.
But I’m in Texas, so it won’t matter much anyway.
Serolf Divad: But what is Waffle House doing?
Amiable, happy line of Obama voters at my local poll in the nation of Brooklyn this morning–got there at 5:30 and already a line of 30 or so had formed. A car service driver shouted “Obama, Obama, Obama!” as he dropped off a passenger. We voted in a Baptist Church with a piano in the corner. I wish someone had played.
Yay Park Slope! Nice to see a shout out to my old ‘hood. Here in the rich white people Philly burbs, we had maybe a 15 minute wait, but I did see Young People in line for the first time. My co-workers who live in Philly proper are having hour plus waits.
If they put me in charge, the Obama Comfort Team would be handing out Alize and shrimp fried rice.
I know some states don’t allow early voting (for some stupid reason, I’m sure), but for the 38 or so states that do, why wouldn’t you take advantage of that 2-week span? You can’t find an hour in 2 weeks go to vote? Sheesh….
Botswana Meat Commission FC: WIN.
Dreamer: Get your ass to the polls and vote.
I’m going to have to settle for an Absentee Hand Job.
Aloysius: Ha!
Aloysius: Boner suppression.
The nice school on N 5th in Brooklyn was a complete clusterfuck of snaky lines and incompetent voters (five minutes in the booth? SERIOUSLY?). Took about an hour at 6:30 this morning, and things were definitely more chaotic when I left than when I showed up. On the plus side, you can vote there as many times as you want, and no one will notice.
Wilmington, Delaware:
Lines are very short because we’re already in the tank for Obama and Biden. Last poll had O up by something like 20+ points.
Not a single sign-holding team to be seen, unlike the primaries, when every street corner seemed to have either Hillary or Obama teams.
Joe the Gaffer is on the ballot twice ’cause he’s running for re-election to the Senate too, against a slightly younger and cuter Sarah Palin clone. The only other interesting downticket race is for Governor, where the young Dem candidate is expected to blow out the aging Rep candidate by something like 30 points. Sound familiar?
Absentee voted, so I watched Joe Biden vote (before and after he held his mom’s hand) which was adorable.
Long lines here in Chicago. I got to my polling place at 5:55 and there were two lines coming from opposite directions, each of which spanned a full city block. School children shouted “vote for Barack” as we stood in line. Things moved relatively smoothly once I got inside and I got out of there in under an hour. I expect more long lines tonight at the rally.
My polling place (I already voted last week, but can see it from my window) in liberal Richmond, VA has brisk traffic but not much of a wait. A small line has been there for about a half-hour, but there’s still not much of a wait. Probably 20-30 minutes.
You know, it’s very hard to snark today.
Upper West Side a half hour wait. Lots of time to read mayoral proclamations on the wall of the senior center. Do you know we are 19 days into Hispanic Heritage Month?
FREE SHIT TODAY
Starbucks - Free short coffee
Krispy Kreme - Free star-shaped donut
Ben & Jerrys - Free ice cream scoop
Local hour-long line outside a public school full of old people - Free sense of self-importance
Voted in New York rural/suburban district. Busy, but only a ten minute wait. It still will have been enough time for two hand jobs for me. Unfortunately the poll workers were all over 80.
Just 30 minutes in Rosslyn (Arlington, VA for you non-beltway types). Kind of awesome, but kind of terrifying too (where the fuck are all the Arlingtonians? We need you!)
Early voted last week in a suburb of Raleigh (yeah, that suburb). Disproportionate number of black voters given historical turnout for that group (ooh, bloc voting–rich white plutocrats never bloc vote!). Crowd was upbeat, and line was 2x as fast as the poll workers said it would be (lowering expectations, I guess). Lots more Obama stickers on cars, buttons on people, T-shirts, etc. than there were for McCain. NC election officials made it crystal clear that exercising the first amendment isn’t electioneering. Metro Raleigh is in the tank, y’all.
Meanwhile, in Buncombe County, I wonder if the Second Amendment is being exercised…..
answerbird: But they have ‘experience’. Give it a whirl…
Beaucoup voters in Alabama. Whites-only line full of bitters clothed in combat fatigues and self loathing. I snuck into the coloreds-only line, and we read Ishmael Reed and ate poulet frit and quietly muttered heh-heh-heh and tried not to let our smiley smiles lighten the hearts of Republicans.
Indication that the McCainists have lost all hope: we were gone this weekend and they didn’t even bother to steal our signs.
I’m ordering my turban today — and a fez for Sundays!
We voted early in Alexandria, VA, (2 weeks ago) which looks like the wise thing, since the lines we saw this a.m. are very long, and we have several employees still stuck waiting. One has been in line since 7 a.m., so almost three hours. This is good, since Alexandria went 67% Kerry in 2004. Reports from Norfolk also are of very long lines. Not sure I like that as much, since that is a major military area.
Vewol Mevemont: 30% of Arlington voters voted early!
mattbolt: Doughhhh-nuuuuut I wonder if that’s a national giveaway.
Methinks I must vote repeatedly just for the extra doughnuts. Yep, I’ll be the five people who voted for Ron Paul for the Convoluvsion. Paultards unite! We’re fer sher gonna win dis time.
One more thing. My fellow liberal Virgnians: GET THE FUCK OFF THE INTERWEBS AND VOTE! Thank you.
I voted for Barry at around 7AM at Trinity Lutheran Church in Rego Park NY, where we are one of two battleground districts in Queens which could give control of the State Senate to the Democrats. There was virtually no line whatsoever, like 2 guys in front of me, though I did have to wait a bit as the elderly gentleman found my name on the voter roll. But I was basically in and out. The only campaign volunteer was this one young guy telling people to vote Joe Addabbo for State Senate and I was like “Hell yes Joe Addabbo!”
Reeeaally hope we get rid of that slimeball Serf Maltese.
At 6:05 AM, the parking lot of the Lutheran church in Pocahontas, MO (pop. 127) was full — about 10 people in line, which I think is a record. My wife and I will likely be the only votes for Hopey in the bunch. Still, we’re having beautiful weather here in Missouri, and I hear that the kids are turning out in force in the nearby college town.
Headed out to the school at Chester and Albemarle in Brooklyn to vote right now.. I’m so lame I vote in primaries, and I’ve never waited longer than 5 minutes to vote there. I hope it’s a total clusterfuck this time. Yeah, New York is in the tank for Barry big time, but I wanted him to win by 30 million votes so this little ACORN narrative the right’s been spinning is as irrelevant as their cocksucking ideology come Wednesday morning. Oh, and this polling place is by my old apartment so it’s a 6 mile bike ride. No excuses. Go vote, bitches.
nurple: You are so in the tank for elitism.
The Republican National Committee has launched a ‘new’ web commercial, you know those things they never buy ad space to show but hope the talking heads talk about it for two or three days. It’s called ‘Three Stooges’ and starts off with Barack, Reid and Pelosi’s heads. http://www.gop.com/news/NewsRead.aspx?Guid=0a51a3f3-5f9c-4257-9030-24eb01bdea69&sid=rnc&t=obama&r=stooges Shows two things, they have no class and have conceeded the election. Nothing like starting the next culture war before your warrior even dies.
Up here in Rochester the line was 2 people and I was in and out in under 10 minutes…
Doglessliberal: Oh, that’s good. But my wild-eyed, all caps, wingnuterific get-out-the-vote message still stands.
Early voted..and got everyone I know to do same, we are just pointing and laffing at the CROWDS here in Fla!
In and out in 15 minutes here in small town central Mass. Little old blue haired ladies running the whole thing. Can’t have democracy without ‘em.
Vewol Mevemont: and I endorse that message.
Why so many New Yorkers on Wonkette today? I’m proud of all of you for not sleeping in, even though Barry’s going to win NY by a mile. He could win nothing else tonight and he’d still be 20 points ahead here.
Pittsfield, MA: WARD 7a was a breeze at 7:10 a.m… 10 minutes to get in and out. everyone was thinking pretty clear-headed and moving right along, despite the fact that we were all voting to decriminalize reefer and everything…yeeeahhh…anyway, the elderly lady who took my ballot (yay for paper and markers)had a tissue box complete with crochet cover AND a bowl of hard candies on her table…HAPPILY IN THE TANK IN WESTERN MASS!!! HOORAY!!!
binarian: Yes. They are very awesome. I am now at my desk at work listening to the great Charles Mingus.
Here in Brownsville, Brooklyn the line is out the door and onto the street. I’ve never seen turnout in this area like this in my 8 years here. At the risk of stating the obvious–Hopey is going to crush the popular vote.
I’m on a comfort crew and although we didn’t hear about the handjobs, we’ll do whatever it takes. Yes we can!
Ok, so now I’m worried about too many voters fucking up those 72 year old Diebold machines. Then we won’t know anything until tomorrow night. Then we’ll have hanging chads all over again. This fourth cup of coffee isn’t helping.
Ah, the dubious luxury of living among the confederate-flag-loving, raccoon-hanging in Bitterburg, NY. Total voting time: less than ten minutes. No line, no fuss, no muss.
just heard from a friend in King of Prussia, PA that there are no lines. But KoP is totally In The Tank, being so close to Philly.
I told him to slash the tires of his republican family’s car.
magic titty: You win. I can’t snark the Mingus. Ah-um. I hate you for preventing the snark.
Henrico county, west end of Richmond….No lines at 9am, but they said there had been lines of people waiting when the first voted. Oh, and if you are in Richmond, maybe we can work out a donuts for handjobs exchange? Go Hopey!
Voted early (and often) two weeks ago here in Albuquerque. Line was two hours long. Poll worker told me to button up my shirt so the Obama logo on my t-shirt wouldn’t show (local law, restricting 1st Amendment rights within pistol range of a polling place). Got interviewed by vacuous and delectable local telly person. Said something inane, then asked her for a hand-job. She didn’t know what that was, so I showed her.
My girlfriend just voted in Bushwick and reported no line–basically, a large portion of the population around here is, um…, not citizens.
mattbolt: We’ll be fine if we stay fifty feet from the entrance.
Capitol Hill checking in — Arrived 6:53, doors opened promptly at 7:00, done and out by 7:19. There were only about 50-some-odd people in line when I got there. Most residents probably had the time during the day to go downtown for early-voting or are Hill staffers who cast their votes in their home state.
jenniferesque: Mass. is decriminalizing pot? The Mass-NH border will be a nirvana of cheap booze and legal reefer soon. Yay!
Tommy Says Soooo: Thank you sir. It is indeed the Ah Um. “Fables of Faubus” is currently playing…which sort of makes sense, doesn’t it??
Voted in Nassau County, Long Island for the first time. Five minute wait with grumpy-looking McCain voters and a few cheerful-looking brown people. But I am Hopeful because the second grade vote at Floral Park Elementary went Obama, and you know second graders vote the way their parents vote, so if this Republican bastion is in the tank then it’s hello President Obama!
Falls Church, VA had only a 10 minute wait at 7 AM. We had optical scan ballots for the first time, which seemed to speed things up as they had room to set up more of those cardboard privacy shields than they previously had for the touch screens.
Co-workers spoke of hour-long waits in Chantilly and Springfield.
Is it too late for a mass diversion of resources, where the comfort team ladies with the, um, most talented hands, are hurriedly sent on flights to battleground states? No point getting a sore elbow just so New York can go from 500% to 501% in the tank.
And what do you call getting a hand job from Mrs. Calloway in her Jaguar?
Sean O: when I lived around there, K of P was super Republican, as were a lot of Philly suburbs, so maybe no lines is a good thing.
jagorev: Not really; just making < 1 oz a misdemeanor, but essentially the same result.
ohiogal: Get thee to Michigan. I’ll wait.
If Romney had been nominated, you would have had discomfort teams, where two Mormon boys in nice suits try to smell your panties.
Burlington County, NJ; wanted to go later with the kids…but I just couldn’t wait. No line, from pulling into the parking lot to pulling out- 5 minutes tops. Last presidential election a crazy dropped white powder everywhere at my polling place…no action like that today. All is peaceful in SuburbiaLand.
Doglessliberal: The Old Guard is dying out. Lots of Philly suburbs are going Democratic slowly but surely.
jagorev: Haha.
OBAMA/BIDEN was also listed under the Working Families party on the nyc ballot…can someone verify if this is correct? SEEMS FISHY but not too sure. like i could see them null and voiding all those ballots.
Doglessliberal: I’m just not sure that military folks are, on the whole, going to vote as reliably republican as they have in years past. Who wants to keep getting shot for year long stretches over and over again?
Got up at 5AM this morning to be one of the first online at polling site. District 41 polling site and found out my district was changed to 40. The poll worker there proceeded to take out a Board of Election book with address listings corresponding to Election districts and physical location of polling sites. The address that he gave me was on the other side of the borough and since i live a block and a half from there i went back home got online and punched up the address on the board of election site. Got the address (which was about three blocks from me) and then called board of elections directly to confirm - they did and i went and voted FINALLY!!
Lines were outrageously long by the time i left the CORRECT polling site. Passed two locations on my way and the lines were around a block long.
irisheyes: oh yay!
jagorev: yep, small amounts of pot will now be decriminalized!!! AND I WORK NEXT TO A BEN & JERRY’S!!! life is good.
JoethePlumber: Also Clinton Hill–Got there at about 7:45 and waited for an hour. They were handing out cookies and bread pudding. No hot chocolate, though. But, there were folks driving by honking their horns and yelling, “Go Obama!” Good times. Kind of like when the Mets won in ‘86.
off-white working class: It’s cool. I voted for Bloomberg on some random minor party line last time (might have been Working Families), since I would rather not pull the lever on the Repub line. It still counts.
I voted in suburban New York 7:30AM–no line–in and out in 5 minutes–only 2 people ahead of me!I feel like I’m not part of this historic election unless I have to wait in line patiently for hours!
Voted this morning at 7 AM in St Paul, Minnesota. The lines were not bad at all at that hour and I cried like a little girl when I voted. I can’t stop until this thing is OVER.
DangerousLiberal: Everything is fine here in Buncombe County so far. Asheville is of course SOOO in the tank for Hopey! The only bad thing I have heard of was a neighbors yard sign got torched! No gun play yet…
This a.m. some a-holes knocked down our 10 foot by 4 foot Hopey billboard that sits alongside our house.
Just for that I’m not going to do a Bradley effect.
CorkPopper: It’s important to do that. In NY the party that gets the most votes get the top line in the next election. Vote for all the Working Class Families guys!
In [West] Philly - thanks for the water Obama campaign! [Waited two hours.]
Professor McAwesome: Youo are right, of course, but I am trying not to jinx this by being negative and assuming the worst.
Lines everywhere here in NYC - but we don’t have early voting or electronic machines - so that sort of adds to it being a total shitshow. They like make things as annoying (and antiquated) as possible here.
G. Friday: We had an optical scan option in Charlottesville, VA too. The lines for it were a lot shorter than for the electronic, no trail machines. It was a total win-win for me, voting by paper ballot: shorter line AND I leave a paper trail! Sweet!
Serolf Divad: Yeah, same here in Baltimore … I accidentally hit the button for the Paultard who managed to get the GOP nomination for the House of Reps. in our ultra-liberal congressional district and thought for a moment of panic that I was stuck that way. In case this happens to one of you: you need to tap the person you voted for incorrectly, which clears it, before you can vote for the person you really want. Not intuitive at all.
Lines at my polling place in my lefty-crunchy precinct were disappointingly short at 8:45ish. COME ON HIPPIES DON’T FUCK THIS UP.
off-white working class: Don’t worry, it’s on the up and up. New York State is one of the few (maybe the only?) states that has what they call “fusion.” Basically one candidate can be nominated by multiple parties, and all of their votes on different ballot lines are added up to get their total. A lot of times small parties like Working Families will put high-profile national candidates on their balot line so that they get more votes and keep ballot access. But a vote for Hopey will count no matter which party you vote for.
When I was growing up in Buffalo, our four-term mayor, hilarious drunk Jimmy Griffin, was for at least one election on the Democratic and Republican ballot lines, and the and Conservatives and Right to Life to boot. (Yes, there are all different parties in New York.)
Just voted in Central Phoenix, arriving shortly before polls opened at 6:00. Probably 200-300 people in line ahead of me; took two hours from start to finish. The line was about the same when I left at 8:00. No campaign touts, comfort teams, or handjobs, unfortunately. When will the Obama administration give me my handjob?
Eeek! Just started raining in liberal central Virginia. Stay in line, Hopey/Warner/Perriello people! We need your vote!
A shout out to the West Coast: (1) Get off yer asses and go vote, y’all, it’s 7:30; and (2) what’s the scene there? How’s Hopey doing in Simi Valley? Orange County? Spokane (ok, never mind, that’s just Salt Lake City North)? Idaho (heh heh)?
Sean O: Yes! Everyone come vote in Massachusetts! Five minutes, you’re in and you’re out.
And yes, the turnout is huge. I can’t say enough about the efficiency of Irish machine politics…
HuddledMass: Election day is about the only time I like a good 5 minute in and out.
jagorev: I live on the Mass/NH border and don’t drink or smoke. But, by this time tomorrow, you and your gay spouse could buy tax-free liquor in Salem,NH, stop by Lawrence, MA for pot on the way home, and if you get hurt, the universal health care will take care of it.
Have I mentioned I love Massachusetts? I love Massachusetts.
Just heard from a friend in Queens that Barry’s web site led him way astray as to polling location. The real polling location, according to the nyc.gov site, is way on the other side of Astoria. WHY IS BARRY TRYING TO SUPPRESS HIS OWN VOTERS?!?!
off-white working class: The Working Families Party was running ads asking people to vote Obama/Biden on their line instead of under Dem, “to send a clear message . . . ” about something or other. I think it’s legit, i.e., doesn’t matter which line you vote on.
Manhattan, above 200th St. — virtually no line, and I was signed in within five minutes. I went a little later than most (around 9 a.m.), so maybe the earlybirds had already been processed. OTOH, there are actually two polling places in my immediate neighborhood, so I think we’re better served than a lot of areas. I feel very cheated b/c no stickers were dispensed, which limits my ability to score free Krispy Kreme later today.
OuterBoroughPrincess: Send a clear message to Obama and Biden by voting for them.
That’s change we can believe in.
Where were the fucking “comfort teams” when I stood in line for FIVE AND A HALF YEARS last Thursday in Georgia. I had to give myself a handjob.
Sean O: Oh, now you’re really making me miss that state (I went to College there for four years). It is freaking awesome as long as you stay the hell away from Boston.
Voting in Adams Morgan in DC took about an hour. I’ve voted in this district before and have never seen the line this long — it was out the door, down two blocks and around a corner.
Sean O: and hey jagorev, if you stop to buy pot in MA, swing through the beautiful berkshires…you can pay for that shit in BERKSHARES…we even have our own barter-based currency, man…
PS28 and no line for my district (97) - although about 50 in line for election district 25.
I feel bad for not buying stuff from the school bake sale, though.
I voted in Henrico County, VA…District 7, home of Eric “Balls Deep” Cantor and a bunch of old Republicans. I went around 9:30, and waited 30 mins; I was the youngest voter by about 30 years, but things went okay, one machine was down, probably because some fucking old man spilled Ensure or some anti-old person shake on the touch pad. Never seen this many old people since the terrible Pharmacy fire of ‘99. Christ I need a shower.
OuterBoroughPrincess: It’s totally legit–if the WFP gets enough votes on its line, it gets to keep its party status, that’s all. Besides, since Hopey is gonna win by a zillion votes, it wouldn’t matter if the WFP were running Gumby and Pokey. The WFP is a fun bunch who kinda stick it to the Dems now and again, but in a good way–not like that wizened old fuck from CT.
California represent! There were 21 people at my polling place in our little burg of Felton. That’s the big city equivalent of twice around the block and three deep.
I may have even run over a Yes on 8 yard sign on the way home…to avoid a deer in the road. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Sean O: YES!! And all within a 30 mile or so radius!! And if we’re REAL lucky they’ll reduce the income tax to next to nothing….and kill the dog track….and reduce the tolls on the MassPike….yeah ok now I’m off into fantasy land….wake up now….
San Diego: I got there at drizzly 6:30 to be 32nd in the line. All young people, many African American voters. The line was about double that size when the doors opened at 7:00. It felt exciting… more so than any other election that I voted in.
I voted this morning and it was awesome. I feel like I just got laid.
OuterBoroughPrincess:
Hey! I got no cookie. I demand a do over.
The whole neighborhood seems to be in a state of complete glee.
Sara - the hand job strategy is GENIUS!! I think you’ve hit on a way to increase voter turn out.
I voted in Providence, RI this morning. After putting my ballot into the voting machine, the poll worker gave me a high-five and a “You go, girl!” I’m guessing that they know that everyone in my district is voting for Obama.
Hey, Linens ‘n Shit is giving away Muslin sheets if you voted Walnuts, with the eyeholes already punched! Sounds like a message of Hope to me.
Southfield, Michigan–suburb of Detroit, largely African-American and Jewish (I am neither). My wife voted on her way to work–long lines of good natured Democrats. Lines moved quickly–Michigan has had optical scan ballots for a few elections and things have been smooth. I work second shift so I just voted, typically smaller mid-morning crowd at the school. The usual indefatigable old ladies and a few old men running things smoothly.
Southfield is insanely in the tank of Obama.
Inner city Columbus, OH–line was short, took maybe 15 minutes to vote.
No signs of any McCain campaign, Obama people everywhere.
They had my address wrong and were trying to make me vote provisional, but I got the precinct captain involved and voted regular. I think Ohio goes to Obama by 3 points.
the line over hear in silverlake, los angeles, was shorter than I thought but according to the poll guy there, the longest he had ever seen so early in the morning. of course my vote was a bit pointless. this is the part of town where you see obama/superman posters pasted up on utility boxes.
Picturemerollin: Well done. Provisional ballots are worth less than nothing.
2nd person in line in BFE Long Island (husband was first). There was a table full of donuts and coffee, but apparently it “wasn’t ready yet” and none of the volunteers seemed to know where it had come from.
Also, a distinct lack of “I voted” stickers, which pissed me off. I want my free sex toys!
Godot: Hell, yes. Joe Addabbo! Great guy and good persond I know him well. I gotta vote on E4th though so somebody out there in Queens pull the lever for me.
NYC 20th St / 6th Ave, Haskell Library for the Blind. Longest line I’ve ever seen in 20 years of voting at this location. One hour for the whole process.
Of course I had to Go for the O, as were presumably every one of my other tank-dwelling neighbors. We are using the oldest voting machines in the nation, the ones with the big levers and curtains. It’s like pulling a bomb release when you use it.
I think the only Republicon in the room was the sprightly old woman checking us against the voting roll [geez, I hope to get old and never be called "sprightly."] Asked her “Who’s bringing *you* coffee?” and unleashed a carload of good-natured kvetching from her about how it’s been crazy from 6 AM on, can’t get up to use the bathroom, can’t get water, etc. The woman behind me promised to bring her back some water, I of course made her promise to bring back *two* waters in the spirit of bipartisanship.
Posted my complaint in wrong thread! 2 hours in Crown Heights (8am-10am). Lots of Hope, dudes passing out free coffee flavored energy drinks and taking my picture advertising Democracy. I’m lucky to have a job that didn’t care that I was late.
earthadellic: Oh this is weird. I live in Elmwood Park (but go to school in DC). I’m sure my mother and sister will be glad to hear this.
God bless you, New York, and your Elderly Rusty Iron Levers of Freedom!!
I voted in Brooklyn, around noon, and didn’t have to wait at all.
SUCKERS!!!!
I voted at the Columbia University polling station at 7am - about 5 people in line. I knew most of the student body wouldn’t be able to drag their asses out that early.
At 12:30pm, the Columbia marching band played in front of the polling station. I don’t know if they were trying to encourage or discourage voting. (Note: Columbia University is off today - except Columbia Law School.)
I live in the U Street/Cardozo area (DC), and the line at the elementary school down the street was unreal. I got a bit choked up when I say a very handsome African-American family walking down the street by the famed Ben’s Chili Bowl with huge smiles on their face (and I VOTED! stickers). Huzzah!
In Columbia Heights, the line at my boss’s polling location was two and half hours long and stretched nearly a mile.
My friend stood in line for three and half hours to vote early in Arlington, VA on Saturday.
Our nation’s capital and the fake America part of Virginia is in the tank for Hopey!
PineyWoodster: in Austin?
Okay, back from E4th st NYC and it was buzzing but only a few minutes to vote. Usually it’s empty at this hour in the last 35 years I’ve been voting there. Now would be a good time to vote because around 3:30 it will start to get long lines again. The nicest thing I saw at my polling place was a legion of young people helping at the polls for a change.That made me cry along with pushing some local votes over to the Working Families Party. I went with Obama/Biden on the Democrat line because they really did do the 50 State thing finally and I am proud today to be a Democrat.memzilla:
The lady checking for republican voters might not be a republican in that district. That was my job last time I worked the polls (2001)although I’m a registered Democrat. If they can’t get an old Republican woman to work from 5:30AM to 9:30PM then an old someone is simply assigned.
Doglessliberal
‘..major military area.’????????
You’re in Alexandria, P.R.O.N.V. You may have noticed that large, grey, squat building
that you can see from your BR window. It’s called the Pentagon.
Here in L.A. the total time was 1 hour and 19 minutes.
That includes line standing, checking in, crying in the voting booth because I was so overcome with voting for Hopey and against Prop 8.
morepunkthanyou: Commie red bastards in Virginia
Orange County, California, has money and, sadly, there are no lines, no food, no hand jobs. people just jump out of their Hummers, vote, jump back in and go to the hedge fund job to make a pile of money. But in my precinct in Encinitas, it only took 15 minutes at 7:15 this morning.
I voted this afternoon around 3:30 in Fishtown, Philadelphia, PA. No line at all but the poll workers said that turnout was definitely up. Holla.