Put your Voting Story HERE - makes US feel THAT MUCH CLOSER TO WINNING..

[symbolman]

So, how'd your voting go? Any problems? Make new friends in line? See any Repub Lawyers stalking the crowd, trying to screw with people waiting? Did you get ID'd or asked silly questions? WHERE did you vote? Was it cold or raining or too hot? Was it optical scanner, electronic, chads?

I'm really loving these stories but they are scattered all over the site - there's so much HOPE and Dread all balled up, but when I hear a Voter story it just makes me feel THAT MUCH CLOSER TO WINNING..

SO fire away, let's hear it!

[kerry2win]

1. just got done in cleveland

Was one of the first ,and I guess some are new volunteers there.

the 1st 3 had the top tab with the holes given to us torn off in

advance so there were no slots to line up, but it was corrected right

away. Some rain but warm ,crowd building fast.

[symbolman]

4. I'm in Hawaii and won't be able to Vote

until much later (it's 2am here) so I'm sitting here watching the Voting world wake up on the east coast..

Considering that some people are saying that this election could come down to literally two votes PER PRECINCT nationwide, then YOU have just done 50% of the Winning for Kerry statistically :)

[vademocrat]

2. I voted in Richmond VA

Polls open at 6am. I was in line at 5:45 - yes IN LINE - # 23 to cast my ballot. No problems - just a steady stream of people exercising their right to vote. Democracy IN ACTYION!

Now I wait for the cell phone to ring - am on call all day to GOTV

GOTV=Kerry Landslide!

:D

[npincus]

3. here's mine:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1268046

was #2 in line in Hoboken, NJ!

[Gin]

5. Number 175 at 6:45am in Virginia Beach.........I have never seen a line...

there was one this morning....lots of interest.

President Kerry..........How sweet it is!

[symbolman]

6. I think this is shaping up to be a

beautiful day - we're off to a good start - bet the lines are going to be nuts today, but that means WE WIN..

I love it..

[Chovexani]

7. Brooklyn, NY checking in

MASSIVE turnout in Flatbush area of Brooklyn. My neighborhood is like 99% black, with tons of Caribbean immigrants. My mom and I went at 6 am sharp and there were already quite a few people there...by the time we left the line was out the door, at 6:30 am! My mom is a nurse and most of the time she votes when the polls open due to her weird shifts, and she says that in 20+ years of living around here she's never seen this many people this early in the morning.

I chatted with the woman behind us while we were waiting for the folks to set up (a couple of machines still weren't plugged in yet, for those outside of NY we still vote on those ancient lever machines). She is Bajan and has lived here for 25 years, but after 2000 she was so angry she became a citizen so she could vote Bush out! How cool is that?! She says she has many friends, older immigrants who became citizens also because they felt so strongly about * stealing black folks votes and what he did to exploit 9/11.

Funny little story: my mom forgot to pull the lever back when she was done voting, but a poll worker stopped her and said "hey we want every vote to count!" and everyone laughed and clapped.

:D

[johnfunk]

8. 6 AM, Manhattan's Upper West Side

... the doors opened with some 100-plus people on the line. My wife and I were 9 and 10.

The lines moved quickly; some of the poll workers were clearly seasoned and experienced.

New York City still uses the lever-driven mechanical voting machines. The Prez race, a Senate race, and some judgeships -- no ballot referenda. Took me less than 30 seconds to vote.

Nothing but Kerry buttons on voters as far as the eye could see...

[roseBudd]

9. Got there at 7 am, first time I have seen lines at my polling place

TURN OUT BABY!

[giant_robot]

10. Buffalo, NY here

I got to the polls just as they opened. Light rain. No lines. I was voter number 4 from my district. It went very smooth, no ID was needed, just my signature. There was a republican asshat already stationed in front of the polling place. They handed out literature to some people, but not me, for some reason (probably because I'm a white male).

The local news said people were lining up before the polls even opened, but it looked pretty slow in my neighborhood. Maybe it'll pick up later. In any case, NY will be solid blue.

[blackcatpgh]

11. pittsburgh, PA checking in

our polls opened at 7AM, i got there a few minutes after and had to double park with the flashers on because the lot was full! i was voter #6 at our set of machines, and voted straight democratic ticket. it looks like there was good early turnout -- lines were already forming, and this was in a heavily democratic area.

no matter what the news networks spew (which i've given up watching, anyway) i still don't believe that PA is a swing state -- it's going to go to kerry.

cheers!

[newyawker99]

41. Hi blackcatpgh!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[lolamio]

12. Upstate NY/ Albany area here

Our polls opened at 6 am and I was number 42. I was in and out of my polling place in about 10 minutes, but as I left a lot more people were starting to arrive. I took all three of my kids into the polling booth with me; I just had to remind them not to shout out who I was voting for! This morning, before we left the house, my eight year old referred to Dumbya' as George "Stinking" Bush! lol!

[symbolman]

13. Too bad

8 year olds can't vote - I'd loved to have seen YOUR kid Debate Bush :)


WE ARE GOING TO WIN!

[lolamio]

14. She's a pretty cool kid!

She wrote a couple of letters with me on behalf of Moveon that brought me to tears. And yeah, she would run rings around Bush in a debate! ;)

[ncgrits]

21. My eight-year-old, Sam, challenged

a bush voter at his school! They had a mock election and Sam was wearing his Kerry/Edwards button. A mini-repug got in his face with "Kerry stinks" and Sam (bless his heart) told the kid to name one thing, just one thing, that bush had done that was good!

All the kid could come back with was, "Well what has bush done that's BAD?!"

Sam's answer "He cheated and he lied!"

What a good boy!

[Norbert]

15. Cincinnati voting

went to my polling place 10 minutes before it opened. There was already a good size line waiting to get in.

On the way in I walked past a car that read "al Qaeta supports Kerry". Thinking to myself I though this could be an insult to John Kerry but it could be self incrimination too. I was on the lookout for a tall thin man with a long beard and strange garb from that point on.

I came in the schoolhouse where I was voting and luckily I was seventh in line to vote. Longer lines was in other precincts. There was no challengers waiting to greet me which was fine. When I was through voting I left and found the line to vote was almost twice as long.

The only problem I has with voting was that I vote in a Baptist Church school house K-2nd grade. Their parking lot holds about 40-50 vehicles and they have two entrances at opposite ends of the lot. Their standard practice is to block off one of the entrances. Surely today they would have both of them open. Not. It was a pain in the ass trying to squeeze my way out of the open entrance. As I left I saw there was a line of cars on the road waiting to get in the lot.

By the way. Bye! Bye! Dubya! Hello fresh start! :toast:

[symbolman]

16. I guess that Bush actually

IS a Uniter, eh?

Look at all the people being "united" and standing in line to prove it..

[Dukakis88]

17. I voted by mail in Oregon -- have had problems in the past.

The only choice in Oregon is to fill out the ballots the state sends in the mail. You then put the ballot in a secrecy envelope and then sign your name on the outside of the envelope and mail it in or drop it off at a drop box.

The problem I had with this in the past was that I once had my vote rejected because some computer scanner said that my signature on the envelope didn't match the one they had on file for me. I have no idea why. And, of course, this rejection notice did not arrive until well after the election, and by then my vote had been irrevocably invalidated.

I hope this sort of crap doesn't go on widely.

[Generator]

50. Hey cheer up!

I heard on the news that they are supposed to notify you, and if there is a challenge for any reason, you have until November 12th to clear it up. They also said they are counting all ballots.

My voting story, I got the ballot on Saturday October 17, and drove out of my way to personally hand it in to the elections office on October 19-with my husband's ballot. (Oregon really makes it easy-you have over two weeks to get your ballot in by mail or in person until 8PM tonight)

I'm only keeping my avatar because it symbolizes 9/11 to me, my love of New York, and the travesty of * using this tragedy to further his political agenda. I will never forget and I love New York. It's very personal to me even though I only lived in the city for three years.


I voted for Kerry!! It's November and I'm wide awake.

[Francine Frensky]

18. In GA, Newt's old district

Long lines of repubs lined up early, but a few dems I know where also there bright and early. I wore blue, and had a minor problem checking in because I have one thing wrong on my drivers license (but I did have plenty of backup), but they didn't give me much grief (must have thought I was a republican)...

I was 54th to vote in my district, and 12th overall on my machine. I wonder if there is a way to audit the results to ensure they were recorded properly??

[dixielib]

19. Small town in north Georgia

Probably won't mean much in this red state, but unusually large crowd when I went to vote. Folks saying there have been long lines all week. No Rethug challengers...sigh...this state is too red to care how I vote.

[Skinner]

20. My voting story.

I woke up about an hour earlier than usual this morning, perhaps because Daylight Savings Time just ended, but more likely because I was really excited to get out and vote.

I made the short one-block walk to my polling place, and arrived there at 6:30AM, about half an hour before the polls opened. There were already about 20 people in line ahead of me. The guy in front of me was wearing a black hoodie. I'm not kidding. It mighta been a coincidence, but you never know.

So I put Eminem's "Mosh" on repeat on my iPod, and spent the next 30 minutes reading the newspaper. By 7:00AM when the polls opened, the line was at least 50 yards long, reaching all the way out the door of the polling place.

I signed in, got my ballot, and proudly voted for John Kerry and John Edwards! I think I felt a little bit of a chill as I connected the little black arrow with my Number 2 pencil.

Lower down the ballot, on one of the non-partisan races where I didn't know anything about the candidates, I wrote in the name of a friend here in DC, as is custom. He, in turn, will likely write my name in for one of those lower-level races, as is custom.

I walked out of the polling place around 7:10AM, and the line was already stretching for an additional 50 yards outside. Mind you, this is in Washington, DC, where our vote for president hardly matters. No Democrat has ever lost the presidential vote here.

I put my iPod back on and scrolled through my playlist. Selected the Dixie Chicks, which seemed appropriate since they got demonized by rabid Bush supporters a while back. The first song on the album was somethinng I didn't really like so much, so I skipped directly to the next song. I swear to you, this was pure luck. I did not realize which song I was skipping to until it started to play...

Its name: "Landslide" :thumbsup:

[mwb970]

22. Columbus, Ohio

Arrived at 6:30 (opening time) to find a LONG line - about 100 I'd guess - I finally voted around 7:20. (Normally you can walk right in and immediately vote, any time of day.) Everyone was peaceful and patient. I couldn't tell how others were voting, but our community has about a 2-1 lawn sign advantage and about a 4-1 bumper sticker advantage for Kerry, if that means anything.

I'm afraid to believe it, but this is seeming promising - very promising - at this point.

[agtcovert]

23. Not really any big surprises here

Voted in Marion County Indiana. I was 45th to vote, no wait, and there were not many people around...this was around 7:30am.

There were a couple cars outside with a crapload of anti-Kerry bumperstickers...right where you walked in the doors. That wasn't particularly cool.

[kurt_cagle]

52. Not necessarily bad

That area is very red. If the Republicans are NOT showing up at the polls, it means that they are disgusted and/or demoralized, and are NOT showing up despite all the exhortations from Fearless Leader.

[nickinSTL]

24. Just voted in St. Louis County (Missouri)

Long line, took 40 minutes.

The weird thing is that the traffic is totally different.

The 'inner belt', I-170, is usually backed way up where it merges into Hwy 40, and this morning, there was NO traffic. Little traffic on 40 EB, as well.

It seems that enough people are voting or otherwise involved in the voting process to change traffic flow significantly.

[mockmonkey]

25. Menasha, Wisconsin.

Small city just south of Green Bay. There were about 50 people ahead of us at 7 A.M. when the polls opened. Only took 15 minutes for us to get to vote. It's damp and dreary here but everyone seemed in good spirits. We use optical scan machines here.

This is the first election that my b/f has voted in. We stayed up after working 2nd shift and we are happy to have voted and now it's time for a couple of hours sleep before work.

[lizzielou742]

26. I voted in Louisville, KY

At 6:00 am this morning, with my boyfriend. We both wore our black hoodies (moshthevote.com)!! This was my second Presidential election I've voted in, and the third for my boyfriend (I'm 23 and my boyfriend is 26). Had to wait in line for about 20 minutes. There were so many people there, there weren't enough booths, so people were just sitting at a big table filling out their ballots. Our precinct used the optical scan (think "scan-tron") machines. It felt really good to make a big dark mark next to JOHN KERRY! I must have gone over it 5 times. And a big dark one next to Daniel Mongiardo for Senate too. I live in an affluent, white suburb in a very red state, but I did see a person with a KE04 t-shirt on, and another young person with a black hoodie on. Felt SO good!

[newyawker99]

42. Hi lizzielou742!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[cheezus]

27. going to vote at 8am, then some burgerking breakfast

there are some good things about being up this early :)

then I'll be phoning in turnout numbers from a small township, then knocking on doors to GOTV in the eve.

[fidgeting wildly]

28. Dallas, Texas

I dropped my husband off at the polling place at 7 a.m. (I voted early) and the line was out the door and halfway up the block! This is a fairly Democratic neighborhood (by Dallas standards, anyway) and I can tell you, it was a beautiful sight! It took him 45 min. to get through the line and vote. It started to rain a little while he was in line but he says no one budged.

So there you go. Not much excitement, but a lot of determination. We Texas Dems are with you, America! :)

[kc.ink]

29. smalltown ohio, no problems this morning, BUT. . . . . .

the hippies and bikers are even at the polls this morning, something I have never seen before. . . . .not since Viet Nam.

[LEW]

30. Southern Illinois

I dropped the kids off at school, then went and voted. Felt so goooood! Lots of people, and a line, which is unusual for my polling place. Saw people with their ID cards just in case!!! Loved it, can't wait until tonight.

[adapa]

31. NH, record turn out, lots of young voters, 1 challenge, 8:45am

YAY!!!

[HootieMcBoob]

32. I voted in Brooklyn this morning at about 6:15am

There was a small line but I was in and out in about 15 minutes. After I voted I went outside of the school to wait for my wife who was behind me in the line.

I was hanging out outside of the building and a cop comes up to me and says "hey kid, what are you doing?" I thought "shit, I'm 43 years old"! But, I'm short and I have a goatee and kinda look like a beat-nick type. I said "I just voted and I'm waiting for my wife". He said - "oh, OK I saw the goatee and I thought you might be out here screaming Bush Sucks, Bush Sucks!" :)

I laughed and he said he didn't care but there were gonna be big shots around all day and nobody's aloud to "electioneer" within 100 ft.

Then my wife walked outside and saw us talking and she walked up and the cop said "I just caught your husband telling people to vote for Bush"! She laughed and said "well, he's gonna get spanked"! :)

Anyway we all laughed and that was the end of it. All in all a very nice experience!

[onecent]

33. Voted in Clay County, Missouri

No problems. MUCH heavier turnout than 4 years ago. Didn't make any friends, at this polling area NO ONE EVER talks about politics.
It's amazing, I wanted to shout, "I voted for Kerry" "Go Kerry".
Last year this county was won by Gore by ONE vote. Saw that information in a book down at Demo. Headquarters in Kansas City.

Which means, One vote DOES count.

GO Kerry! Heading down to the headquarters to work now.

[symbolman]

39. One vote

Does count.. YOURS :)

Mine too soon.. still only 6am here.. mp sleep for me tonight..

this is great, seeing that almost EVERYONE is saying that there are LONGER LINES than ever seen my pollworkers is prove that a revolution is coming!

[Dastard Stepchild]

34. Chicago, here... quite a group of us at the school polling place

I live in a pretty demographically young neighborhood in Chicago (larger percentage of 18-35 year olds), and it was most encouraging to see that I didn't brave this windy morning alone. I have my internship this evening, so I won't get to keep my eye on it all day, but I'll have this morning to wander by the school and see what the turnout looks like. Since this is a VERY KERRY neighborhood, no presence of Bushites to be found.

There was a certain exuberance in the air... I'm excited and nervous all at once!

[TalkingDog]

35. Took my Mom, 70, who's never voted before.

My mother's very bright, but born in the wrong era. She was born to my sharecropper grandparents and quit school in the 9th grade. She grew up with that distinctive mindset that poor Americans often have: Don't trust the Authorities, you have no power either way.

I've often bugged her about not voting; planting the seeds of social democracy whenever I could by discussing unionized labor, working conditions, pay scales for workers and management and so on. She understood what I was talking about, but to her, unionized labor was just another type of authority she couldn't trust.

She's a very tough woman. She's had to be. So when she feels threatened, watch out! Well, sure enough, the apolitical factory worker gets pissed off by Shrub. "I'm voting", she tells me over dinner one day. "That George Bush has screwed up my prescriptions. He's crazy." And she proceeds to recite the litany were all familiar with here. Bad choices, stupid war, innocent lives lost.

I tell her I'll take her to the Polls and help her through the process. Last Friday we went. The line was very short. I asked the Poll worker if I could help my mother out since she had never voted and she said yes. Since my mother didn't know any of the other candidates she voted for Kerry and a straight Democratic ticket. I did go over the state amendments and explained them as best I could. She fed her ballot into the machine and as we were walking out the door she said to my husband and me, "Well, that was easy!"

We took her to breakfast to celebrate.

Democracy at it's best.

[elperromagico]

36. I'll repost what I posted in the AR forums.

I voted this morning in Garland County at around 8:00 CST. No rain - it was cool and clear. The line wasn't long when I got there, but there were four people already voting in the booths, and about six people came in after me.

Voting was simple, as usual - we use optical scan here - and I was done in about two minutes. I voted for Kerry (duh), Lincoln (duh), and against Amendment 3. Our Representative, Mike Ross, is running unopposed.

Here's the part that I think is rather encouraging. It was 8:00. The polls had been open for 30 minutes. My vote was the 39th recorded. If that rate continues, or picks up, until 7:30 PM (about one a minute), there could be over 900 votes cast in that polling place alone.

There's my little report. :D

[Goldmund]

37. Yonkers, NY, 8 AM

It's a NYC suburb. There was a small line -- although bigger than I've ever seen before. No problems, I voted straight Dem, since we didn't have any Green local candidates (I usually vote straight Dem for national offices and straight Green for local).

[smiley_glad_hands]

38. 40 min Wait at 7am Chesterfield Co., Va eom

[Captain Lance Bass]

40. Me and the wife VOTED! 2 more for President Kerry

Small mountain town.
Old school paper ballots :-)
Place was packed (40 people) alot for here.
Knew just about everyone there

Guesstimate
35 Kerry
3 Shrub
2 3rd party

Damn it feels sooooooooooo good.

Was like I gave * an official slap in the face!

[AndrewJacksonFaction]

43. Precinct 420 Indian Rocks Beach, FL (Report)

The las and I got to the polling place around 9:30. The line was 2 hrs. long. Talked to an 80 something guy that has lived in the area for over 30 years. He says he has never seen this many people at the polls. Plus we had another lady (54 yo) in front of us that is a registered Repub and is VOTING FOR KERRY. She says she can not take this anymore! She also agreed with me that the Dems. Have more conservative views than those who are in office now (i.e. Balanced budget, smaller government, etc.. Could be a great day today!!!

[paper chase guy]

44. In Culver City, CA

Quite a big line, and the pollworkers were very nice, pleasant, and the list of posted voters for that site showed pretty much 95% dem registration :) It did take a while because there were only 4 booths.

I guess my voting story isn't that exciting. :(

I did feel great voting for Barbara Boxer, though, as I have always loved her and her voting record.

oh yeah, I was wearing a black hoodie. But I always wear a black hoodie, so it wasn't too special. :)

[treehuggnlibrul]

45. Berthoud, Colorado. 1 hour wait...

I walked from my house to the polls this morning. Cars parked for a long ways down the road, but no line. Hm. It was held in the meeting room of a local restaurant.

I walked in the door to wall-to-wall people, and a convoluted line that folded back upon itself. Restaurant had free coffee available to all.

My own, unscientific theory is that the people who were grumbling about the long lines were the repugs, and the Dems were smiling and happy to wait as long as it took.

The woman behind me kept muttering comments about taxes -- she made it pretty clear who she was voting for. She said something about the line and I said how nice it was that we were able to wait in line INSIDE, instead of in the cold. She agreed then said, a couple of times, "It's... good... it is, that there's so many people. It's good."

LOL She was really TRYING to convince herself the turnout was good. And I said, "YES, it's WONODERFUL to see so many people voting." BIG SMILE. She looked less than thrilled. Saw a woman with a big */cheney shirt on...but other than that, no one really being partisan, just excited to vote.

Everyone was required to show ID, and had to fill out a voter signature card (?) Then I went to a computer station where I was again verified, entered into the computer, and then in line for the ballots. Once there, I signed my voter signature card, my ID was checked again, and I was handed a ballot.

I was voter 619 at 9 a.m. I think we have a population of 3000 here. And we did have early voting available last two weeks. I just wanted to vote on election day.

Vote method here is the electornic scan kind -- black marker to fill in the ovals. I have never filled in an oval with more emotion. Filled in an oval to put John Kerry in an oval (office, that is) :-)
Damn. It felt good. Now, off to help with driving...

[GreenPoet64]

46. Grand Terrace, CA (population 11,000)

Gorgeous weather, long line this morning at polling place, lots of provisional ballots for some reason, and daughter voted Kerry in her first presidential election. (She also helped two elderly people vote Kerry).

[gollygee]

47. Three challengers at my polling place but none messed with me

I was in line about an hour. We had to wait part of the time in the rain. It went well. No one asked for an ID or anything. We have brand new optical scanner machines.

[michigandem2]

48. I voted in Gaines Twp Michigan

around 9:15 am took both my little ones with me...had my kerry button on UNDER my jacket..and my Kerry sticker on my car...live in heavy red part of my county..but didn't give a shit..

there was I think an pro life activist in the parking lot but I didn't park near him so I went in with my kids..two people ahead of me...got my ballot...voted straight dem ticket..no on the gambling prop and no on the marriage prop and got my sticker and my kids got one too...a lady helped me open a door (had a stroller) and she was parked next to me with her "jesus loves you sticker" and "support our troops" sticker but no B/C sticker..so who knows...but I bet she was sorry she helped me! LOL!

I felt and still feel great...I said my peace and want him gone...hopefully the tides are turning in this country and WE get to voice our opinion of this evil empire

[julialnyc]

49. on Wall Street

OMG...I just waited for 2 hours to vote on Wall Street! They only had two machines  which  made it go really slow, but the people here had dedication to wait even though we are the furthest thing from a swing state. We had news crews and photographers in the place!

[julialnyc]

53. story from wall street

I waited on line for two hours on wall street and became friendly with the woman in front of me ....channel 2 news taped us and I told her to watch for us on the news...she said she worked for Fox and would have a work conflict (joking).....I immediatley gave a face (I couldn't help it)....she looked at me and grabbed my arm and said she's voting for kerry!!!

[VOX]

51. In Westwood, CA...

Pretty easy. Live in a heavily Democratic district -- when I signed the registration book, I noticed all the "D D D D D D D D D D D D D" marks down the column of names.

Great weather here today, in the high 70s. Good lines at the polls, longest I've ever seen. Lots of seniors voting. My wife and I needed about 30-40 minutes to get through the entire voting process.

The only weird incident: One of the poll volunteers was wearing a t-shirt that had the name of his realty company on it. Another volunteer was telling him it was against the law. But the exchange was short -- the guy agreed to change his shirt. :shrug:

I gotta say, I'm not a church-going person, but after our completed ballots were slipped into the box, and we got back in the car, I started praying out loud! O8)

[Dinger]

54. Hubby & Just Voted

We live in a rural area. Voted with pencil and paper. While in the booth, I saw something that looked like it said "Vote... (too messy). maybe a freeper who was about to get caught. I voted and before I left, I wrote on the side, in a corner, "Vote Kerry/Edwards- Save us all!" Hope it helps.