Heavy turn out at my polling place this morning.

[cosmik debris]

We had 25 machines and every one was in use when I arrived--and when I left.

I had about a 5 minute wait, which is not bad, but I'm usually waiting on the little old lady/gentleman in front of me to find her/his voter card.

This time I was waiting for a machine to vote on.

I had one major disappointment. An old stalwart of the local Democratic Party and a veteran of both WWII and the Labor Union battles told me that he couldn't vote for Obama because he is "scary" (code for Black). This is a man who called me twice before the primary to get me to vote for Hillary Clinton. Now I see that he only supported HRC to keep the White House white.

Oh Well. His head will explode on Nov. 4.

[Longhorn]

1. There's an article in the Austin paper saying that 20 people were lined up to vote

at 7 a.m. this morning (the first were in line at 6:20!) and turnout has been steady.

It isn't as easy to vote early in Hays County unless I want to drive to San Marcos but I do hope to vote this week. I've printed out the schedule so I know when it's available in my part of the county. :hi:

[thevoiceofreason]

4. Hey there Longhorn

Mrs. TVOR and I have a place in Wimberley - hope to move there from Houston one day.

Early voting at an inside the loop place this morning - 300-500 people in line.

[Longhorn]

6. You'll have lots of neighbors who are former Houstonians!

We picked up a paper in Wimberley once that was a Houston weekly community paper with a Wimberley section. :)

[WolverineDG]

2. Pretty heavy at one early voting place here in town

had to wait in line for about 5 minutes to get checked-in, but there were spaces available at tables so we could mark our ballots. Everyone got paper ballots because there is a pending suit against the use of electronic machines except for the visually impaired. They are the ONLY ones who can use the machines right now.

It will be interesting to hear how crowded the other polling sites in town were today.

dg

[sonias]

3. I just voted at one of Austin's two new meagsites

Plenty of machines, no waiting. Took me all of 5 minutes.

Each new mega voting site in Austin has over 50 machines. They have a location North and one South. In addition to many other voting sites. This is an example of a good election clerk Dana Debeauvoir (D) doing her job in advance and anticipating voter turnout. As opposed to the stories we're hearing from Harris already. Clerk Beverly Kaufman (R) is off to a bad start. Surprise, surprise!

There were probably 20 people voting when I cast my vote for Barack Obama and every other Democrat on the ballot - one at a time. I don't trust straight party voting on these machines. Take time to vote and time to review your ballot before you hit the cast ballot button.

With these faith based voting systems (paperless DREs) the best you can hope for is that your vote will count the way you intended it to count.

:kick:

Sonia

[hobbit709]

15. Just voted this morning at the Fiesta south

Got there at 7:30, one person ahead of me. Voted all Democrat except where there wasn't one on the ballot-there I voted for whoever was running against the Republican.

[PDittie]

16. That's how I did it too

There were a couple of judicial races that only had a an R and an L running, so I voted for the L.

[Vogon_Glory]

17. Voter Traffic Surprisingly Light Friday Evening

The crowd of voters at the North mega-site was surprisingly thin this evening. I swung by the North site on my way home from downtown and noticed how empty the parking lot was at 6:30. I decided to take care of business now and avoid the crowds.

For those Austinites who don't relate well to street addresses, the North early-voter mega-site is in the former Safeway at the corner of 51st and Airport Blvd.

--V--

VG

[PDittie]

5. Voted at the Fiesta on S. Main at 1:30 p.m.

This is my usual EV location and it's in Sheila Jackson-Lee's Congressional district, nearly in the shadow of Reliant Park (where the Texans play) and the old Astrodome.

It took 45 minutes in line. There were at least 200 people ahead of me, and when I completed at 2:15 the line was longer. I have never waited more than 5 minutes to vote before here, even in this year's primary (though my wife went on the only Saturday of the early voting period in March and waited about half an hour).

And the conversations with others in line was the best part. There were a few red-ass Republicans making faces but the rest of us were laughing and joking and having a great time.

Felt historic, to tell the truth.

[Larry L. Burks]

10. It's a Crying Shame

Now days. If you are around any Republicans. If you mention John Mc Cain's name.
All they do is hang their heads in shame.
Some have told me that they are planing to sent a massage to Washington.
They are going to boycott the election in protest.
There not going to show up at the polls.
More power to them
AS for the rest of us.
It's no time to give up now.
Pour on the heat. Lets get um.
Go vote. And bring a lot of other people with you when you show up at the polls.
It's the American way.
If I was you. I would laugh all the way to the polls
Let's make it a party.

Do you know what the number one question that Republicans are going around asking each other now days?

Is it all right for a full grown man, while still at the office, to break down and start to crying.

Larry L. Burks

[sonias]

7. Big Texas turnout on first day of early voting

AAS 10/20/08
Big Texas turnout on first day of early voting
By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press Writer

DALLAS — Record numbers of early voters packed polling locations from Houston to El Paso on Monday in what officials said could likely be the start of an unprecedented election turnout in Texas.

Anxious voters, many with the nation's crumbling economy on their minds, smashed first-day early voting records before lunchtime around big cities like Houston and San Antonio. Then more kept coming.

Harris County finished Monday with a record 39,201 early voters, an 88 percent increase from the first-day turnout in 2004. Dallas County hit a record of 23,000 voters with more than two hours to spare, and lines still growing longer.

Many still can't return to Galveston County because Hurricane Ike wiped out their homes. But more than 4,000 people voted Monday, a record despite some parts of the county remaining so devastated, early voting reminders were made at shelters.

"It's been busy all day long," county clerk Mary Ann Daigle said.

Travis County easily surpassed the previous first-day high of 16,139 set in 2004. "We are already over 22,000 with another hour and a half to go," County Clerk Dana DeBeavoir said. "It is a stupendous, overwhelming voter turnout."

Keep it going Texas!

:woohoo:

Sonia

[cosmik debris]

8. This has to be good for the Dems.

I've never seen the Republicans get this excited about voting.

[sonias]

9. Nope me neither (seen republicans get excited about voting)

Their side says stupid things like "it would be a heck of a lot easier if this were a dictatorship"

Our side says profound things like "count every vote, and every vote should count"

Plus we have "Hope" on our side. All they got is "Fear".

I choose hope over fear any day. :)


Sonia

[sonias]

11. Harris totals day 2 - 43,431

1st day 39,201
2nd day 43,411
Total to date 82,612

:woohoo::bounce:

Sonia

[thevoiceofreason]

13. Every day gets bigger - that's our goal.

[Lithos]

12. Voted today

At the South Austin Megasite. At about 5:00 this evening, there were about 20 people there. Took about 5 minutes to vote.

My recommendation, take the few extra minutes to select each candidate and don't select straight ticket. Yeah it takes longer, but I really savored selecting each and every Democratic candidate. It gave me the time to think about the effects each would have in their new position and what changes they could make to help overcome the disaster of Republicant misrule.

L-

[sonias]

14. I did that too - voted for each one individually

Just to get to know them for at least 5 seconds.

:bounce:

Sonia

[GOPisEvil]

18. I voted yesterday afternoon. Long lines at the Randall's on Braker.

I probably waited half an hour or so, maybe a little less.

[BlueCollar]

19. 45 minute wait this morning

but worth savouring every minute. More overt Dems than pukes at my location.

[Longhorn]

20. Hour to hour-and-a-half waits both times I tried to vote early.

We don't have as many options in Hays County. I may have to vote on election day! :(