Southwest PA (Pittsburgh) Heavy Turnout

[RamboLiberal]

Western Pennsylvania voters flocked to the polls in what could turn out to be record numbers today, with long lines reported well before the 7 a.m. voting start.

Elections officials had warned that there could be backups before and after people went to work, and that turned out to be the case between 7 and 9 a.m.

Unusually long lines were reported at polling places in Shaler, Edgewood, East Washington and Indiana Township. Tillie Simpson, a veteran poll worker in East Washington, said she's "never seen anything like it."

The crowd began gathering at 6:30 a.m. on the campus of Chatham University and by the time the polls opened there were 51 people in line. Number 12 was a fatigue-lined man who didn't get up early to vote. He just hadn't been to sleep all night.

Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin arrived back in Pittsburgh at 3:30 after last night's Monday Night Football victory over Washington, went to the office, and about three hours later joined the queue. He passed the time by punching numbers into his cellphone, talking football with friends and thinking about how, with a day less than usual to prepare, he would ready his team for the Indianapolis Colts Sunday. Would he get to sleep sometime Tuesday? Probably not, he said. ``I can sleep,'' he said into the phone, ``when I'm dead.''

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08309/925196-100.stm


Voters line up Tuesday morning outside the Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church in Murrysville, Westmoreland County. Some had been waiting in line for over an hour to cast their vote.


William Hawkins III, of the North Side, is first in line to vote at the Medic 4 Station off Federal Street Extension and Lafayette Avenue just before polls opened at 7 a.m. this morning.

Lines in this area are not the norm on election day! Wow! And good for Coach Tomlin. Steelers are a class organization!

[OneGrassRoot]

1. Come on, Pittsburgh. Show that there are more of you than....

the ones Murtha, rightly in my experience, spoke of. Show that there are MANY MORE of you who are not small-minded and afraid.

Way to go Mr. Tomlin! :)

I was raised in SW PA, currently live in a red area of NC. I am very, very anxious to see how both areas vote. I have tremendous hope for, and faith in, both areas!!!!!

[GDAEx2]

2. My Wife and I were the first in line at 6:30

and there were easily 75 people behind us at 7 when we voted in one of the SW suburbs of Pittsburgh.
It's a beautiful day here, sunny with temperatures in the mid 60's.

[distantearlywarning]

3. I'm in Pittsburgh and things are looking very good here!

Got to the polls at about 7:30 this morning, and had a 45 minute wait. I was #128 in my precinct. When I left at 8:20, the line was twice as long as when I came in.

I should mention that I live in a large, inner city, 75% African-American precinct, and almost everybody in line with me was chatting about voting for Obama. A man came by and handed out a Democratic party straight-ticket voting guide and at least 3/4 of the people in line took one. There were lots of signs in the vicinity and every single one of them was for a Democrat.

There was a private non-partisan poll watcher present who informed everyone going in that if they had any problems whatsoever that she would be there to help them. I did not see anyone doing anything illegal or trying to disenfranchise any voters at my polling place. Everything was going very smoothly and as quickly as could be expected with the high turnout.

I voted on a touch-screen but everything seemed to go well. I did not hear anyone else complaining about anything related to the machines.

I am a grad student and had to proctor an exam this morning in a large lecture class after I went to the polls. There were many students in the hall who were wearing political t-shirts (vast majority Obama/Biden), and they all clapped and seemed excited when the professor reminded them to go vote after the exam.

It's a beautiful warm fall day here (sunny, upper 60s), so weather won't affect the turnout.

Also, the Steelers beat the crap out of the Redskins last night, which predicts an Obama landslide! :-)

Overall, things are looking up and I'm really excited and optimistic today!

[chemenger]

4. Wife and I were #2 and #3 in line at our polling place at 6:05 this morning.

By the time the poll opened at 7:00 there were something like 80 people in line behind us (wife was keeping count). A lot of those were younger voters (probably students from Robert Morris University just down the road).

An amusing(and irritating)incident occurred as we were leaving. A self-important old geezer dressed in a suit blustered into the polling place, looked at the line and then marched up to the table where the staff was seated checking IDs and demanded to be allowed to vote NOW (obviously a McCain/Palin supporter). A man at the table told him he'd have to get in line like everyone else. The geezer tried to give the poll worker an arguement but the poll worker would have none of it. So the geezer blustered out complaining that he was denied his right to vote. What an asswipe, but one less vote for McCain/Palin. HA, HA, Too Bad. So Sad.

[RamboLiberal]

6. My precinct is small but even there was a small line

Right after I voted around 8:30-8:45. Lot of seniors in my area so I expect there will be no huge lines but they will be busy all day.

But 5-6 people in a line at my precinct is the first time in my lifetime I've ever seen a line there. McKeesport, PA older steel town on the Mon & Yough Rivers in the Mon Valley.

[distantearlywarning]

5. Kick for Pittsburgh DUers!

:kick:

[paparush]

7. Go, go, go PA!

[RamboLiberal]

8. More from the PG

PG reporter Diana Jones has been cruising all over, starting in Pittsburgh and moving up to Beaver County. In Aliquippa, she reports, turnout is brisk, to say the least -- one polling place that typically sees 120 voters for the whole day had more than 120 people by 11:30 a.m.

Said Johnette Dinello, judge of elections: "It's been wild. How many words can I use? Wild, wild, wild."

Another Aliquippa polling place, which usually gets 300 voters all day, had 250 people by 11:30.

Back in Oakland, college freshman Allie Bustin, part of a student voting watchdog group, was pacing up and down the line of 500 student voters, passing out food and asking "Anybody want a bagel? Anybody want a bagel?"

She explained: "We're trying to keep everyone not cranky so they stay in line."

http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/earlyreturns/

[spinbaby]

9. East Washington is very blue

Good sign.