I Voted 2018! Voter Check In, Election Watch and Poll Conditions

[Whatever4]

Ballot shortage in Arlington, Texas
An Arlington, Texas, voting location didn't have enough paper ballots for an entire precinct.
Khadija Farah told CNN that 20 minutes after she arrived at her polling place at T.A. Howard Middle School in Tarrant County, the line to vote stretched out the door. Farah says that the electronic voting machine was not working, and she was told by a poll worker that they did not have any ballots for her precinct.
"Once that info was shared, most of the people in line decided to leave," she says.
Sam Taylor, communications director for the Texas Secretary of State's office, told CNN that the location immediately made emergency ballots available so that voters could continue to cast their ballots.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/06/politics ... 1541540576

[Sugar Magnolia]

I voted about 1:00 pm before heading to my doctor appointment. Voting went much better than the doc. Only a couple of people in line in front of me but I probably passed half a dozen people on the way in as they were leaving. We vote in the gym at the middle school and have to walk half a freaking mile to get to the polling place. I was #194 to vote today, but that made me happy since our usual TOTAL voters at that precinct is around 80 people. 30 years of voting there and I have only once had to stand in line (for President Obama), but the poll worker said they had a line out the door this morning when the polls opened. "Out the door" means all the way across the stage, into the hall, around a corner and then down the hall to the door. She said they are expecting another big wave when people get off work so my husband is taking off early hoping to miss the line.

[Kendra]

Stacey Abrams in Fairburn, Georgia: "We've had some trouble in some polling places. But I need folks to know that you need to stay in line. Do not let trouble push you out of line. As long as you're in line at 7pm when the polls close, you can cast your vote."

[ObjectiveDoubter]

A good sign: my son and my niece, who have never voted, voted.

I have a feeling that milennials will be out in force this election. They're reaching the age where they start having elected officials. And they might have something to say to an older generation that's made their lives difficult, while simultaneously accusing them of being the problem.

The Millennial who works for me and is brilliant except for anything that requires common sense, has been testing my faith in the future generations. A few weeks ago, I compared someone who was having issues multitasking, to Gerald Ford, and asks the Millennial, "Who's that?" For real. I said, "The president!" (with all the annoyed inflection I could muster). He looked at me and said with an absolutely straight face, "The president of Acme Studios?"* Magna cum laude grad, UC Irvine.

So last night on the way out of work kind of on-the-fly, I asked, "You gonna vote in the morning?" He answered,"Nah, I'll probably do it at lunch." Only problem is he lives 30 gridlocked traffic-jammed miles from work. I said, "How are you gonna do that, it's so far?" He said, "Isn't there somewhere I can do it around here?" For real. My boss was there. I thought he was going to break a rib, laughing.

This morning Millennial Idiot Savant told me that he when he went home last night, he found an absentee ballot sitting on his desk at home, it had come in the mail sometime in the last month; he remembered that in 2016, his sister had made him registered as a permanent absentee ballot voter. (Naturally, it was a woman who saved the day.) He filled it out after going to a great website for California voters: www.CalMatters.org. He dropped it off at the poll nearest our location, at lunch.

Never has it been so hard for me to be a good influence on anyone. I feel accomplished.

*placeholder for the real name of the most marvelous otherwise anonymous studio I work for.

[Chilidog]

Did he remember to use stamps?

[stoppingby]

i105.jpg

I actually came here to post that, but you ninja'd me! I laughed out loud when I saw that on Facebook. I had my game face on walking into the polling station. (Of course, it only lasted thirty seconds, 'cause half of the line were my neighbors, and it became, hi Sandy, how is Bob doing?" type of stuff. Hard to keep snarling while discussing Bob's hip replacement.)

[Somerset]

Did he remember to use stamps?

He doesn't need to. The envelope is postage paid if drops it in the mail. And dropping it off at a polling place wouldn't require postage

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Hubby and I voted at 3:30. No wait, but constant in and out of voters. Our neighbor’s son was voting for the first time. Saw an 18 year old in school uniform who had voted. Pollworkers said he had just turned 18. They said it was busier than previous midterms.

[Turtle]

[Sugar Magnolia]

Adam Ganucheau Tweet: Text just now from a political operative: Gauging internal turnout tracking, he suggests 900,000 votes may be counted today in Mississippi.
That’d be highest ever Mississippi midterm turnout by a long shot and a ~42% increase from 2014 vote total (632,000). #MSSen

Doing a little happy squirm in my seat.

[PatGund]

Washington State is mail-only ballots. Mine was dropped off last week, and it's showing as received and waiting to be counted

[DejaMoo]

Washington State is mail-only ballots. Mine was dropped off last week, and it's showing as received and waiting to be counted

PAT!!!!



Long time no see!

[TheNewSaint]

At my voting place now. I've never seen a line at this polling place (not even in a presidential election year), but now there are about 30 people in it. It's not a Republican-looking group...

[DejaMoo]

Ari Berman@AriBerman

4.5 hour lines in GA

1,200 ballots tossed in KS

Tribal IDs rejected in ND

This is voter suppression we're seeing in 2018

[TheNewSaint]

Follow-up to the above: before I vote, I have to sign my name on a page, which has about 15 names on it. Usually there's 2 or 3 other voters who have signed in. Tonight, that thing was FULL. Definitely 10 out of 15, and the line continued after I left.

Oh, and I didn't get the traditional "I voted" sticker.

They ran out.

[kate520]

We’re up to 550 voters coming through our little polling place! Only an hour fifteen left before we close up. Whew. Steady flow all day, I think we’ve had 2 5-minute lulls since 7 am. Based on overheard conversations, the majority voted blue.

Our polling place is at a senior apartment complex. One little old lady resident came to me and whispered “Can I talk to you?”
We stepped away from the crowd and she confessed, in a whisper, that she was Republican and wondered if she was allowed to vote here. “Of course!” we said. “Come back tomorrow.” JK
One of the changes that I like/don’t like is that party affiliation is no longer listed on the rolls. I miss peeking at my neighbors’ entries, but it’s really none of my or anyone elses’ business.

I’m not heartened so far with the news coming in.

ETA: Never mind, I’m caught up on the outside world now.