Finished my sixteen hour day as a poll worker in suburban NY.

[yellerpup]

My precinct in NY turned out 840 of it's 1,050 votes. We voted for Obama by a margin of 2 to 1. I LOVE NEW YORK!!!

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Now I'm going to collapse! Happy new world everybody! NY gives you President Barack Obama!

:dem: :dem: :dem:

[FLyellowdog]

1. Thank you for your hard work. Now rest.

[yellerpup]

3. I can rest now. We could not have done better.

Everyone has worked so hard. :toast: Enjoy the reward!

[SusanaMontana41]

2. And we love you, yellerpup!

Make a joyful noise loud enough for me to hear you. Then get some rest.

Wooo Hooo!

[yellerpup]

4. Thanks SusanaMontana41.

First a bite of sushi, then sweet potato pie! I'm too excited to sleep. Arent you?

[SusanaMontana41]

20. I just got off work

where I had the pleasure of writing the main headline for our newspaper's Page One: LANDSLIDE

No, I'm not going to bed for awhile. Gotta let this sink in!

WOOO HOOO!:bounce: :toast: :party:

[yellerpup]

21. Just reading your headline made my heart race again!

Hello, World! We have taken our country back. :toast:

[SusanaMontana41]

30. That headline is the one I sooo wanted to write

Have had a lump in my throat since Ohio flipped.

So, why are you up so darn early? Come to think of it, why am I up so darn early??

My Costco-sized bottle of Korbel has been chilling all night, but I'll toast you with a beer. :toast:

WOOOO HOOOO! :party:

[yellerpup]

31. I'm too curious to sleep late.

The older I get the less I want to miss! What a night! I'm glad you finally got to write the dream headline. My face hurts from smiling already today. :hug:

[SusanaMontana41]

32. We're walking on air

and you are very cool.

Stay in touch, friend. I'm adding you to my buddies list.

Wooo Hooo! :pals:

[yellerpup]

33. I added you to my buddy list, too.

In all these years, you are the first! :pals:

[Jackeens]

5. You're a hero - and you helped make history!

[yellerpup]

6. People were determined to change things.

You could see the pride. The local college was very well organized and kept trucking in vans of college kids. Everyone was asking if people were "showing up." Our little village made history today. There has never been another election that broke 80% of turnout in this town. We busted our asses, but how amazed we were. How gratified we were and my terrific co-workers were patient, helpful, good humored all day long. One man of 87 came and voted for the first time. New Irish-American citizens, new Indonesian-Americans, Arab-Americans, Italian-Americans, Israeli-Americans, Egyptian-Americans all got their shit together and VOTED for the CHANGE we NEED! It was absolutely a groundswell of inspiration. I am very proud of my neighbors this day. :loveya:

[DawgHouse]

7. THANK YOU! GOOD JOB!

[yellerpup]

9. Thanks. It was so worth it!

We were thanking people for voting, we were welcoming them with open arms. For every Dem on the crew there was a Republican, but everyone was swept up in the historical nature of the day. No partisan bickering, no sniping, just love and fidelity to the process of getting it right and letting the people have their say through the vote. Beautiful experience. Exhausting but fantastic.

[RayOfHope]

8. Yeller, you are the awesome. What great work you did. Now kick back and watch and rest n/t

[yellerpup]

10. The returns are a treat to watch.

Thanks, dadsblacksheep. I am kicking back. We all did great this time. Thank you, Barack Obama! The healing has begun.

[whitewomenforobama]

11. Yay! Thank you for all your hard work!!

And I'll bet you have some good stories to tell us after you've rested up and celebrated properly!

[yellerpup]

15. Thanks wwfo!

I will soon. Thanks for your good wishes.

[LiberalCompassionate]

12. Thank you!

:toast:

[yellerpup]

16. Thanks to all my brothers & sisters here.

Whenever I need to know anything, all I have to do is ask. :toast:

[moriah]

13. I got done with my day, it was only 14 hours, but I am soooooo sleepy....

... I am yawning my head off but I'm wanting to stay up for the concession....

I don't know if I will do it....

As an aside, I took my Claritin-D today but I am feeling like I'm catching a cold. I really hope I didn't catch one .... I can't afford to miss work, and I've done so well with all of the germy people at work lately and not catching one....

[yellerpup]

14. Don't let the germs get you down.

Wish you could have sidekicked with me today. I know you didn't get the gratification in Arkansas that I got to have in NY. Your immune system would have perked up, I bet, if you could have seen Obama win. You're really tough for doing 14 hours in a red state. THAT's real dedication. :yourock:

[moriah]

19. I was the youngest poll worker by 30 years :)

But I really had a good day, it flew by....

And the people I worked with were very happy to have a youngling taking an active interest! I had thought with me being a computer tech they would have wanted me working with the voting machines but I was doing check-in.

I made a very special effort to greet every voter and thank them for braving the crowds to come in, we had 2 and 3 hour waits, and the people who were new voters or by their ages were likely first-time voters in a Presidential election I commented on specifically.

I was also thrilled to see that our election judge was very, very fair..... everyone who showed up to vote at the least got to do a provisional ballot, and a lot of the address/name changes did regular ballots when she could have made them go provisional.

[yellerpup]

22. People really showed up prepared to vote this time.

They wanted to present photo driver's licenses (not necessary if they've voted in the precinct before), they brought utility bills as back up. We are a college town, so a lot of students showed up. Everyone wanted to be sure their vote counted. 80% participation in our precinct. I still can't get over that. We never had waits like yours (maybe 30 minutes during morning rush hour), but this is NY and as my brother in Oklahoma says, "Nobody suffers as much as New Yorkers when time is an issue," so we did have some grumbling. A very few had to be turned away because, as we explained "Yes there are states where you can register and vote on the same day, but NY is not one of them." I'd do it again! And, it did fly by! The big disappointment was that the very expensive voting machines that we trained on for voters with special needs went unused all day long. Even the people with special needs didn't want to use them because they took too much time. It was a great day and it turned out just as I hoped it would. Thank you for your work! America is on the mend. :loveya:

[EmeraldCityGrl]

17. You are seriously my hero.

O8)

[yellerpup]

24. Thank you.

The experience was incredibly inspiring. Many, many people brought their babies and children and even dogs with them to vote. Some accompanied their elderly relatives into the booth to make sure things went well. We truly experienced a Renaissance in democratic participation yesterday. We are tired of cynicism. We want truth in government again. We crave honor in the world. Have faith in America, we are coming out of the darkness and returning to the light. :hi:

[AZBlue]

18. THANK YOU!!!

Get some well-deserved rest and enjoy the results!! :D

[yellerpup]

26. We did it, AZBlue!

The USA is in good hands again! Voter apathy has been banished (at least for one very important day) and we are ready to turn to the task of fixing what is wrong. We can all enjoy the results today! :hug:

[Kukesa]

23. It was 16 hours for me here in Ohio, as well. BLUE Ohio, that is! n/t

[yellerpup]

25. You guys really pulled it off!

Hats off to you in Ohio! We knew NY would be blue--we were shocked that we had over 80% participation in our precinct, but we always knew it would be blue. I'm so happy for all Buckeyes that you have a great SOS now and that Ohio voters prevailed at the polls. Did the time fly by for you? We were so busy, we didn't have time to be anything but fully engaged in the moment. Thanks for your service to your nation yesterday. Congratulations for turning Ohio blue!!! :yourock:

Edit for spelling

[Kukesa]

27. Thanx, pup. My precinct was jammed early; then subsided

a bit. We had 83% turnout and the day went by so quickly.

It's so wonderful to be in BLUE Ohio; I guess we can all exhale now.

Thanx for your kind words.

[yellerpup]

28. You deserve kind words and....

:donut:

[yellerpup]

29. Somehow I got into the thread you started and started replying as if it

were my own thread. I wasn't trying to hijack, I don't even know how that happened. :blush: