ENOUGH!!!

[ChiO]

Speaking of Keith Olberman (which I'm generally loathe to do, he being one of those talking heads who I usually agree with philosphically, but whose manner & presentation could easily send me to the other side), just out of morbid curiosity...

Which stations are people watching tonight?

We will watch the hour special with the best political reporters -- Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert -- but are debating where to focus the rest of our time. Our resident Brit friends here are insisting on BBCA, but I fear it may be too disengaged. Should we flip between Fox and MSNBC for the real comedy?

[moira finnie]

Which stations are people watching tonight?

We'll probably toggle between CNN, MSNBC and C-Span--thank goodness for picture in picture!. Maybe take a peek at WGN for some Chicago flavor and of course, our local races, which are of interest to me too. Oh, and NPR in the car too!

I have a few questions for others too:

1.) If people have voted, did you have to wait in line?

2.) What time do the polls close in your area?

3.) Why in heck do polls in some states like Virginia and Vermont close before 9pm? Don't they want people who work for a living to vote?

3.) What would you guesstimate was the average age of the poll watchers in your area? (I am happy to see people of all ages employed, but I ask the latter because I had to repeat my last name 4 times and spell it for the watcher 3 times until I pointed out my registration myself in the book for the poor lady at my polling place. I know I'm soft-spoken, but this poor soul's need for new glasses and a hearing aid are good arguments for socialized medicine.)

[jdb1]

I got to my polling place at about 6:15 this morning. There are about seven booths there, and there were already a number of people waiting on each line. As I left, a large crowd was coming in. My co-workers report long lines already this morning at other polling places.

Whatever the outcome, it makes me proud that the voting public is turning out, and taking this so seriously. I knew they were out there all along.

[Marta]

I have to be up at 6am British time, which is 1am Eastern time, so hopefully it will be decided by then. I will be watching Sky News channel, but we also get Fox News Channel over here so may watch that too.

[mrsl]

Moira:

We are having a spectacular day here in Illinois, so the voting should go well. I packed my borrowed wheel chair in the car to sit in while in line, and lo and behold, I got a parking place directly in FRONT of the main door! When I asked for a booth to sit in, they said sure! I had to wait a few extra minutes for the lady using it, (there was only one), but it was worth it, and there were plenty of seats around with a total of about 10 machines, but people like me who wanted hand marked ballots had a little longer wait than the ones doing electronic. One lady I talked to said she had been there at 6:00 a.m. but the lines were 2 blocks long so since she doesn't work, she went home so the working people could get in, and that was the attitude of everyone I spoke to, helpful and willing to do what they could to make it as easy as possible.

Our poll watchers are between 30 and 50, I would say, and all with good senses. I spoke to one watcher and she said they had been coming in all morning in bunches, like bananas (empty room, 5 minutes later full room), and that's just how it was as I sat there.

There was one upset while I was there. One older couple came in (my age), and their names were not in THE BOOK. He was really angry - "Thirty years I've been voting in the very building and now they can't find my name!!!" That's the kind of thing that made me go hand written, but even so, after you mark it up, it's fed into another electronic machine, so I guess its 6 of one and 1/2 dozen of another.

Anne

[Lzcutter]

Chris,

On Keith's special Countdown on Saturday he ran a number of Biden's gaffes during his look back at this historic election.

I just got back from voting. Early voting here in Los Angeles was only offered in one place: the County Registrar's Office in Norwalk. Norwalk is a far piece to drive from my little home in the San Fernando Valley. Over the weekend, people stood in lines in Norwalk for up to eight hours on both days.

My neighborhood polling place, in an Obama stronghold here in Sherman Oaks, is a mile from my house. Voting took about a half hour. Most people I have seen at the polling place since we moved into the neighborhood four years ago.

Best news, we still have paper ballots! I love paper ballots. We have the inka vote process where you mark a hole in the ballot. Instead of breaking the paper hole (and causing dangling chads), it makes a nice indelible black circle that can't smudge. I wish all states had this kind of ballot instead of touch screens and the like that too frequently break down, hic-cup and cause votes to flip and leave no paper trail in the event of a problems.

As for who I'll be watching tonight? I've been like a junkie these last six months. The last 90 days have been like mainlining heroin. I've been watching MSNBC and reading the Huffington Post obsessively.

Tonight I'll be sticking with MSNBC (though likely to do some channel surfing) because of Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson, Howard Fineman, Jonathan Alter and Richard Wolfe. Oh, and Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman.

David Gregory is anchoring but all the others are providing insight and analysis.

I'll probably not give up Keith and Rachel in the months ahead but I look forward to detoxing from my political obsession and getting back to my real life.

[ChiO]

1.) If people have voted, did you have to wait in line?

2.) What time do the polls close in your area?

3.) What would you guesstimate was the average age of the poll watchers in your area?

1. I went to the polls at about 9:50am. No line, but all 9 voting booths were full, so one of the Election Judges suggested that I fill out the ballot at a table in the rear of the room (we have a ballot similiar to that described by Lynn).

2. 7:00pm (though they remain open after 7pm for anyone who is in line at 7pm).

3. Most in 40s-50s (both Election Judges & poll watchers), with a couple in 30s.

I was the 177th voter at 10am in a precinct of 604 registered voters, so that's approx. 27.7% in the first 4 hours. That, of course, does not take into account those who may have voted early or absentee.

The only activity in terms of electioneering is a couple of folks pushing a "Yes" vote for holding a State Constitutional Convention, but that largely due to living in a very Democratic area in a very Democratic city. My State Senator and State Representative are running unopposed. Sheesh! At least my U.S. Representative -- Rahm Emmanuel (ooh, I feel the power if Obama wins and, of course, if Sen. Dick Durbin wins re-election) -- has Republican and Green opponents, who combined will probably get 10 votes in the precinct.

[movieman1957]

Well, at least he was even handed about that. I'm going to try this afternoon. Luckily tonight I have practice at church so I won't be home until 9:30 or so and I'll get to miss all the speculation.

I'll probably run the whole gamut of stations. It probably depends on who is talking.

I figure I'll detox in a hurry. This has been a long tedious and repetitive trek. At least tomorrow there will be no more commercials. No more people standing on the side of the road waving at me like that would really make the difference. Everyone gets to take a break and then Jan 21 the next campaign will begin.

Lord help us if these things are going to run two years every time they come around. I hope everyone gets a good night's sleep knowing that whoever wins the republic will survive.

[ChiO]

P.S. Our neighborhood Starbucks is giving a free tall coffee if one shows ones ballot receipt. In true Chicago fashion, I was given two ballot receipts.

Moral dilemma: Is it unethical to go to Starbucks a second time and use the second ballot receipt?

[jdb1]

I forgot to mention:

My Congressman was on the ballot. I wasn't even aware he was running. He never bothers to show his face in our neighborhood, or even in Brooklyn for that matter, since his district includes Queens as well. He hasn't done a single thing that is of any direct benefit to any of us. Unlike most New York City politicians, local or federal, he is seldom in the news, so we have no idea what he's up to, if anything.

He has the habit of showing up after an election, maybe at a subway station at rush hour, to "thank" us. Since the area is so knee-jerk Democratic, he knows he doesn't have to bother campaigning. If he comes to my subway station, he will get a large and irritated piece of my mind (he's had a few from me before, so he'll probably hide if he sees me).

He wants to be Mayor.

Over my dead body.

[MichiganJ]

1. Went to the polls at 8:40. After an hour and seventeen minutes, I was able to hand over my photo ID to the poll worker (the US Supreme Court upheld the photo ID law in Indiana). After stressing to the poll-worker that a PASSPORT was, indeed, a legal form of ID (they insisted it had to be a driver’s license), and after they checked with their superior, I was given a paper ballot and filled in the circle next to the name of our next president. (Whether or not it will count, depends on how our state goes, and harkens back to my diatribe about the electoral college back in the early days of this thread)

2. Polls in Indiana close at 6! (Local time!) Does anybody really know what time it is in Indiana? Tooth and nail, our governor fought to get daylight savings passed, only to have the clocks change 2-days before his run for re-election. (He got my vote!) The church where I voted (that separation of church and state need not apply during actual elections) had not yet changed their clocks. I mentioned it to the poll worker, in the event the six o’clock closing time would be moved ahead an hour. He nodded.

3. Four poll workers at the table. Two checking ID’s (one in her 60’s and the other in her 20’s--she’s the one who challenged the PASSPORT), next was a woman in her late 60’s, who looked up my name in the huge registration book, quickly finding it, verifying my address and then having me sign my name. A young lady next to her handed me the paper ballot, and warned me against keeping the pen! No real booth to enter, just a standing table with partitions sectioning off voting areas (so no one can peak). Once done, walked across the room to have the vote scanned. A man in his 50’s once again checked ID (no PASSPORT problem this time), and I slipped my ballot into the machine, and voila, number 216.

Aside from Stuart and Colbert, I’ll be listening to NPR, and maybe some BBC, while watching Fox with the sound down.

[charliechaplinfan]

Isn't it annoying when a party is so entrenched in an area that they don't have to do anything.

I for one am amazed that it is so hard for some of you to vote. Here all the primary schools are closed down for the day and these are used as polling stations, which means there is no need to wait in line to vote. The polling stations are usually open from 7am to 10pm. I do find it heartening that so many people are prepared to wait in line. Our voting couldn't be easier but we still have poor turnouts.

What happens to the elderly and the infirm? Do they wait in line or are they fast tracked?

[movieman1957]

For the silly side of the Starbucks news my wife, who is an employee, there was having a discussion with a woman this morning. Starbucks was giving away coffee to anyone who asked for it. (Apparently giving it only to voters violated election laws.) Anyway a local poll worker told this woman that she could get a free coffee and a Krispy Kreme doughnut at Starbucks. When my wife told her they didn't have KK doughnuts the woman started to argue with her. She was adamant about getting her doughnut because she was told she could get one. My wife, ever the polite one, suggested she might try going to KK. Having secured her coffee she left not at all satisfied.

Even the dedicated poll workers don't always get it.

[moira finnie]

Too bad he didn't have ten minutes as he could have run some of Biden's offerings.

Actually, Olbermann noted several Biden gaffes, including the time when the veep candidate asked a campaign worker and state senator to stand and take a bow for all his hard work. The man was in a wheelchair. You can see it here--Biden recovered rather well. I sort of like the way that he acknowledges his goofs. If elected, he may provide moments of entertainment rather than playing puppetmaster to the prez like you-know-who.

Alison,
You asked about accommodations for the infirm and elderly at polling places. At mine there was a booth where a person could sit down and vote and there were several chairs provided for anyone waiting. One thing I was chagrined not to see: a ballot copy on prominent display where I voted. Ballot facsimiles are printed in the paper and can be seen online, but you'd be surprised how few people are aware of all the offices and referendums that pop up every time. Having a printed copy for people to look over might be helpful.

I'm still hoping that the closing time of all polls will someday be mandated later for all states--at least 9pm for prez elections.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks for answering my question Moira. It does sound confusing, I remember we were in California just before the 2000 elections and there were different votes going on on the same day. It was so alien to me although now our local council elections are sometimes included. A vote was meant to be the simplest of procedures so even the illiterate or uneducated knew how to cast there vote correctly. It's just another example of something else in life becoming more complicated than it should be

I'll be going to bed soon, when my alarm goes off tomorrow morning at 7 will I know the name of your new President?

Thanks as always for posting your thoughts on your election, I find them quite absorbing.