My wait in Denver...2 hours.

[Touchdown]

I posted in another thread. I'd like to hear from other DUnverites about their voting experiences.

I first went to the Botanical Gardens and saw a line clear out to 11th Ave (2pm). The wait was at least 3 hours. I was tipped off by a pro-min wage woman whho told me that the Mile High United Way was the shortest wait. Trouble is, that everybody else was told that too. It took me 30 miin to get there, since I didn't know where to go, and the line was out the door, and was told about an hour wait.

At 3:30 the whole system crashed and nobody could verify any addresses. There were about 25 people in front of me. It took 15 or so minutes to boot the system back up, but that's not the problem. A woman with a newborn who was crying and hungry didn't know where to feeed her baby (I assume breast feed). We all told her about the restroom about a 150 people back. I hope she was able to get her place back in line.

There were 40 older flat panel voting machines, 4 new Sequoia touch screens (Couldn't see any paper trail), and 3 spots for provisionals...All but a handful were empty. There were only 4 laptops to verify name & address! Four kindly older folks were hunting and pecking their way to verification as if these were the first computers they actually ever touched.

A young blond kid next to me, about 20, was advised to vote provisional. I so wanted to open my mouth and tell him not to do it, and challenge them more to vote by machine, but I held my tongue, even though I know his will never be counted.

I voted on the flat panel job. Still no paper trail, but my Congressional District had a choice betgween a Democrat and a Green, I couldn't lose anyway! I only hope that Ritter will win, even though he NEEDS Denver's votes to do that.

I walked out at 4:55pm. A couple of voters drove up, and asked me about the wait. I was honest, and they got back in their cars. I'm thankful nobody else asked me, because I'm an awful liar. I hated to see them go.

Somebody needs to lose their job over this! :grr:

[niallmac]

1. It would be encouraging to hear the Feds investigating

these people. If no-one gets burned for this it will just
happen over and over again.

[donco6]

2. When I left work, . . .

. . . (I work in a building that's also a polling place in Adams Co.), the line was out the door and down to the parking lot. I'd estimate the wait was at least 2 hours. I've worked there 10 years and have never ever seen a line out the door.

[otohara]

3. Just Drove By S. Denver Police Station - Long, Long

line - Woah - I was a poll watcher in 02 and heard numbers like 9 / 14 for dems voting. It was just as important, Allard won another term because dems stayed home.

[mom cat]

4. Take the people in line food and water!

[kath]

5. 2 hour wait is absolutely unconscionable.

We badly need a pen-and-paper system, hand-counted at the precinct, like in Canada.
As long as they had enough pens and little cardboard voting-desk thingies or whatever, it's hard to imagine that the lines could become very long.


Oh, oh, wait, what was I THINKING??? (thunks self on forehead) -- there's no huge quantity of corporate profits to be made with such a system. Can't have that!

[CrispyQ]

6. More than one person needs to lose their job over this!!

We need to write to our officials, LTTEs & speak out on this travesty against democracy!! We cannot continue to tolerate this type of incompetence, deliberate or not!!

I'm glad you made the sacrifice of your time to vote. If We the People don't speak out & do something, it will soon be that only the rich will be able to make the 'sacrifice' to vote.

[Touchdown]

7. I couldn't skip this one, Sister.

I've been badgering everybody around me to vote. There's no way I could face them if I didn't. I just had to put up with it.

The good news, is that I saw VERY FEW people (like 2 or 3) get out of line. Everybody else stayed there and voted. That makes me feel good!

:hug:

[bobbieinok]

8. remember--in Denver ca 800 polls were changed to ca 50 vote centers

In the DU discussion I read about this, the change was made without citizen input. There was some DU discussion that this was another way to depress the vote.

I think someone said the change was announced when there was little time to challenge the decision or to change the voting places back.