Editor’s note: we’ll continue to upload your pictures throughout the day. Click here for instructions on how to submit your pictures from the polls. –RA
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My voting place in North Liberty, Johnson County, Iowa (pop. 10,000) opened at 7am. When I arrived at 7:02 the parking lot was full and about 100 people were already in line. I was done voting by 7:45, but the other of the two precincts in town is much larger, so those folks were probably there for another 30-60 minutes. I got some great photos of the people working there. They were wonderful! The woman behind me in line had a 5 year old son who kept asking why they had to wait so long. The mother said, "Because this is very important." I agree! I had a smooth and enjoyable voting experience! -- Julia Neff.
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This is me at my favorite coffee shop, reading election news and thinking about what I'd do if I could vote today.В В В Yep. I registered to vote over a month ago, but the Election Board has no record of it--and it's too late to do anything to correct the problem. I asked and asked, believe me. It's a problem that surfaced two weeks ago and I've been working every angle to correct it--to no avail. Sigh. If you, like me, want to report lost a voter registration form--or voter irregularities, call the Obama campaign at 1-800-547-5600. Someone there is tracking them. (I'm sure the Republicans have a hot-line somewhere, too, but I leave google to find that for you if you need it.) --Shanna Burbank, CA 10:30 am. I vote "by mail" but choose to return my ballot at a polling place rather than mail it in; makes me feel more like I'm voting somehow - lets me feel the energy. I have never in my life seen lines like this in Burbank. LONG lines at three polling places within easy walking distance of my apartment (and within a quarter mile of each other). And it's not lunch time or after work even for industry people. I noted many people signing up to vote in the moment (or otherwise in need of personalized attention to be able to vote) and the people at the polling places working diligently to make sure that everyone who shows up can vote. I have to add - an uncanny sort of silence too. Almost surreal. The sun is shining this morning despite rainy night and rain/clouds the past couple of days. There are MANY very important Props on our ballot too -- such as keeping "alternative marriages" legal -- which I suspect are augmenting the turnout. -- Linda. I voted around 3:30 pm EST in Tuxedo, NY. There were about seven people in front of me. My mom and I went and voted for Barack Obama together. --Rachel Asher
4 thoughts on “You Voted: Accounts from Planet Waves Readers”
Reporting from “the belly of the beast” (Greenville, SC) today: my voting experience was actually rather pleasant.
Friends laughed at me 2 years ago when I stated the Dems could take SC if the national org. would give it it the least little bit of attention. (Kerry, an uncompelling candidate [IMO] got 41.9% of the vote here in 2004.) I’m a natural optimist, but I don’t think I’m whistling dixie when I say I think Obama has a fair chance of getting these 8 electoral votes. (Assuming the elections are fair, of course… which I’m not going to assume.)
Our polls open at 7am, and I only live a couple blocks from my polling place. I got in line at 6:15am and there were already 20 people ahead of me. Once they opened the polls at 7am, the line moved quickly and I was out of there in 15 minutes. As I was leaving, I noticed the line was over a block long.
I just hope my vote gets counted properly.
P.S.
After dropping off my ballot I decided to go to the cable company office and pay my bill; usually a line there…..NO LINE today. Is everyone voting?
Went from there to a retail grocery outlet that caters to small businesses. Quiet. AND the first time that anyone has ASKED ME HOW I VOTED. Hm. Interesting. I was in a city (Glendale) I generally regard as conservative. I was impressed that the ensuing conversation in the checkout line was 100% pro-Obama.
Next went to a healthy-alternative grocery up the road – back in Burbank. Fairly busy…no one else wearing their little “I voted” stickers….;-) No conversations about voting. Just lots of re-usable shopping bags. That might not speak for who voted how, but it speaks volumns re: the changes at hand.
Linda
i took my 5 year old son with me to early vote last week. he asked all kinds of questions and i loved being able to explain everything to him. he asked is he could vote and i told him he could when he turns eighteen. he said, “well why am i here? i am only 5!” i told him that we lead best by example, and that i wanted him to be comfortable with the process so he is ready to hit the ground running in 13 years when he can do it for himself.
I voted at the Third Baptist Church basement here in San Francisco in the middle of Obamaland. I heard a pollworker say it had been busy but steady, with over a thousand people voting so far. There are something like 25 propositions on the ballot so it took me a while to finish voting. One young mom with her two kids let the older one feed the ballot into the machine, so he could participate in this historic election.
Reporting from “the belly of the beast” (Greenville, SC) today: my voting experience was actually rather pleasant.
Friends laughed at me 2 years ago when I stated the Dems could take SC if the national org. would give it it the least little bit of attention. (Kerry, an uncompelling candidate [IMO] got 41.9% of the vote here in 2004.) I’m a natural optimist, but I don’t think I’m whistling dixie when I say I think Obama has a fair chance of getting these 8 electoral votes. (Assuming the elections are fair, of course… which I’m not going to assume.)
Our polls open at 7am, and I only live a couple blocks from my polling place. I got in line at 6:15am and there were already 20 people ahead of me. Once they opened the polls at 7am, the line moved quickly and I was out of there in 15 minutes. As I was leaving, I noticed the line was over a block long.
I just hope my vote gets counted properly.
P.S.
After dropping off my ballot I decided to go to the cable company office and pay my bill; usually a line there…..NO LINE today. Is everyone voting?
Went from there to a retail grocery outlet that caters to small businesses. Quiet. AND the first time that anyone has ASKED ME HOW I VOTED. Hm. Interesting. I was in a city (Glendale) I generally regard as conservative. I was impressed that the ensuing conversation in the checkout line was 100% pro-Obama.
Next went to a healthy-alternative grocery up the road – back in Burbank. Fairly busy…no one else wearing their little “I voted” stickers….;-) No conversations about voting. Just lots of re-usable shopping bags. That might not speak for who voted how, but it speaks volumns re: the changes at hand.
Linda
i took my 5 year old son with me to early vote last week. he asked all kinds of questions and i loved being able to explain everything to him. he asked is he could vote and i told him he could when he turns eighteen. he said, “well why am i here? i am only 5!” i told him that we lead best by example, and that i wanted him to be comfortable with the process so he is ready to hit the ground running in 13 years when he can do it for himself.
I voted at the Third Baptist Church basement here in San Francisco in the middle of Obamaland. I heard a pollworker say it had been busy but steady, with over a thousand people voting so far. There are something like 25 propositions on the ballot so it took me a while to finish voting. One young mom with her two kids let the older one feed the ballot into the machine, so he could participate in this historic election.