(no subject)

[jfb]

Over on Talking Points Memo, a reader offers this report from Florida:

At today’s early vote in the College Hill district of East Tampa -- a heavily democratic, 90% African American community — we had 879 voters wait an average of five hours to cast their vote. People were there until four hours after they closed (as long as they’re in line by 5, they can vote).

Here’s what was so moving:

We hardly lost anyone. People stood outside for an hour, in the blazing sun, then inside for another four hours as the line snaked around the library, slowly inching forward. It made Disneyland look like speed-walking. Some waited 6 hours. To cast one vote. And EVERYBODY felt that it was crucial, that their vote was important, and that they were important.

There's more. It feels good.



... although a little part of me is imagining what the lines are going to be like on Tuesday.

Comments

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

The biggest line I've ever been in to vote was mmmaaaaybe ten people (presidential election when I was living in Chicago). Maybe it's because I generally go vote in the middle of the day? Or I've just always lived in precincts where they have a reasonable clue about how many people will show up and how much equipment they'll need? I'm really not sure. The idea of a line that lasted for hours just boggles my mind.

[jfb.livejournal.com]

Turnout's way up, challenges are way up, it was a weekend, it's a swing state, etc.

I'm pretty glad I voted absentee, just in case.

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

I suppose for recent elections living in a small wealthy suburb probably has a lot to do with things. Our ballots are fill-in-the-bubble types, and there's a machine you put it in that does a quick scan to make sure you haven't invalidated your ballot (i.e., chosen two candidates in the same race) that also shows a tally of how many forms it has accepted that day (which is possibly smaller than the number of people who voted, since if you make a correction on the form that might cause it to spit it back but the ballot is still valid, there's a slot on the side that bypasses the machine). I don't think I've seen a number as high as 200 for the half dozen precincts who vote at the middle school (something like 1200 registered voters, though a lot of folks do vote absentee), even on days where we voted towards the last minute. It will be interesting to see what those numbers are like this time out.