News Is Voter Turnout High in Your Area Today?

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The discussion centers around voter turnout experiences during an election, highlighting varying wait times and participation levels across different states. One participant noted waiting an hour to vote in South Carolina, where turnout was described as sparse, particularly since there were no major contests. Another shared their experience voting in Washington State, where they opted for mail-in voting and encountered minimal turnout at their dining table. Concerns were raised about voter suppression efforts in Florida, with a participant recalling their historical involvement in civil rights activism. Overall, the conversation reflects a mix of personal voting experiences, concerns about turnout, and broader issues of voter suppression impacting engagement in the electoral process.
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I won't be able to vote until late afternoon, so I'm curious what the turnout looks like so far.
 
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I waited about an hour, which is the longest I've waited by far, but I've also never voted in the morning before. So I'm not sure if that's useful.
 
So far, we haven't turned anyone out, but the polls haven't closed yet.
 
I took off early for lunch so I could vote en route. When I got to the polling place, the lunch-hour rush hadn't started yet, so there were about twenty people waiting in line to sign in, about typical compared with my memory of previous years. The whole process took me about a half hour. South Carolina isn't a "battleground state" for the presidential race, and there are no statewide contests this year either. except for one ballot measure (referendum). After the Presidential ballot, the next items were for state legislators, county sheriff, county councilman, coroner, etc.
 
We vote by mail here in Washington State.

So the turnout was pretty sparse, just me and my boyfriend at the dining room table last week. There was a brief panic as we couldn't find a pen of the appropriate color, but a blue pen was eventually located.
 
I decided not to vote this election cycle, but I'm sure the Mrs. will want to so I'll drive her down and wait in the car with the babies. Turnout is usually decent here; it's a fairly political town, probably one with the most democratic presence in a red state (college town).
 
Pythagorean said:
. the babies... .

Plural? Do tell!
 
1721: The BBC's Ben Bevington says: "Every last vote counts in Virginia. Obama volunteers Patricia Brown and Eddie Witcher are knocking on doors near the BBC's election night location in Richmond. They remain confident but admit turnout doesn't seem as high as in 2008. "Some who voted last time just aren't interested this election," says Eddie.
Turn out not high or people not answering Obama volunteers?
 
Andre said:
Plural? Do tell!

3 year old and a 15 month old; both girls. Vera and Darwin.
 
  • #10
Pythagorean said:
3 year old and a 15 month old; both girls. Vera and Darwin.

Great. :smile:
 
  • #11
I essentially had the place to myself.
 
  • #12
I voted early this morning and had about a 5 minute wait. There were probably about 50 people there.
 
  • #13
Voted at noon, almost no wait. But in New Mexico we have had six weeks of early voting and the early voting has been heavy.
 
  • #14
Lots of people in my neck of the woods, but then, I voted on the first day of early voting. I don't really think this matters much - all these discussions about Romney's lawn signs and polling lines and such doesn't really help us get a clear picture of the overall situation. I know you never said it did, but still...
 
  • #15
Now that I've voted-just now at around 6:45, turnout didn't seem that high, just a steady trickle of people. It was basically in and out for me.
 
  • #16
Florida is in my neck of the woods and I am very concerned about the obvious attempts by the Republicans to suppress voter turnout there. I marched with MLK Jr in 1965 to support the opportunity of minorities to vote in Alabama in 1965, and I never thought i would see the sort of overt suppression that Republicans have reintroduced this year. I believe this election exhibits the last gasp of racists and anti democratic forces to attempt to influence politics by voter suppression. I urge young people to work against this sort of thing.
 
  • #17
mathwonk said:
Florida is in my neck of the woods and I am very concerned about the obvious attempts by the Republicans to suppress voter turnout there. I marched with MLK Jr in 1965 to support the opportunity of minorities to vote in Alabama in 1965, and I never thought i would see the sort of overt suppression that Republicans have reintroduced this year. I believe this election exhibits the last gasp of racists and anti democratic forces to attempt to influence politics by voter suppression. I urge young people to work against this sort of thing.

I agree with you completely. It's a widespread national effort imo.
 
  • #18
lisab said:
We vote by mail here in Washington State.

So the turnout was pretty sparse, just me and my boyfriend at the dining room table last week. There was a brief panic as we couldn't find a pen of the appropriate color, but a blue pen was eventually located.

I would have thought you used a green pen.
 
  • #20
I got off work just a bit early to beat the rush. When I went in, there were six volunteers checking voter roles, with each assigned names starting with specific letters. There were five voters in line (including me) to get their names checked and get their ballots. Naturally, four of us were in the same line.

Either the three people ahead of me were incredibly slow or the volunteer for my line was incredibly slow. While I waited in line, numerous people came in the door, had their names checked, and received their ballots from other lines, while my line got longer and longer.

But there still was an open booth when I finally got my ballot and there was no line to have my ballot fed into the machine. But by time I finished, a person had to wait in three different lines - one to get their ballot, one to wait for an open booth, and one to have their ballot fed into the machine.
 
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