MetaChat - I voted!

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03 November 2008

I voted! →[More:]The line at SF City Hall was 3 hours long. My god, I've never been in such a line. It was really surreal -- just endless winding down narrow hallway after hallway, to finally end up in a gigantic hallway that had us winding back and forth endleslly through those elastic rope things (I have no idea what to call them).

One of the few cool things was that the final hallway was decorated with artwork from legally blind people. Some of it really blew me away, and there was more than enough time to read every artist's statement in full, and contemplate it in light of the paintings/photos/etc you were next to.

By the time I got to the booth, my back was pretty sore from all the aimless standing-and-doing-nothing. My hand actually trembled as I voted -- it was, I think, a combination of the emotions that are wrapped up various aspects of this elections, physical fatigue, and the stunning sight of seeing so many people in line. And, when we eventually left, the line was even longer.

post by: treepour at: 22:52 | 22 comments

Are you fired up?
Ready to go?

posted by eekacat 03 November | 23:13

A friend of mine who lives in Arlington, VA had to wait 2 hours to early vote, several days ago. Amazing! I'm shooting to get to my poll at 7am opening so I have enough time to get to later appointments. I wish my state had early voting. :(

posted by MonkeyButter 03 November | 23:17

I voted last week, and there was a very short wait. I live in a small town, but the early voting was at the county building. We're a swing county in a swing state, I certainly hope we help push Colorado the left way. It's about time for a change.

posted by eekacat 03 November | 23:22

I voted this morning! By which I mean I pushed my ballot through a slot in the wall of a building I walk past every day on my way to school. It felt...anticlimactic. But that's okay.

posted by Fuzzbean 03 November | 23:26

Kicking myself for not absentee voting. Tomorrow's going to be nuts, and if the line is long I'll have less time to volunteer for the seekrit patented Obama lightspeed data entry!

posted by Miko 03 November | 23:50

I got through SF City Hall in 3 hours exactly. I arrived at 4:30 for a line that closed at 5. It was awesome to see so many people - one volunteer said that they'd been getting 1600 - 1800 people per day for the last 10 days, and guessed that today would be another 1800 day. Given that it takes a person ~10 minutes to churn through casting a ballot, that's pretty respectable throughput. Moreover, IMO, SF has not been advertising the early voting program very much, so that's 1800 folks who were largely there on word-of-mouth, plus whatever percentage line attrition happened before the headcount was made.

Charge your iPod and bring a good book tomorrow, everyone!

Finally, I hope all San Franciscans will join me in voting YES on Measure R!

posted by Triode 04 November | 00:04

I'm going to give myself an hour extra before work to vote. I don't know how bad it will be, but Buffalo has a LOT of poll locations, so I've never had to wait behind more than a couple people in the past.

posted by kellydamnit 04 November | 00:09

People tried to disenfranchise me! I'm excited!

I voted a month ago, early, on campus. I've been registered here for about a year. Since I live in the dorms, I used the address where I receive mail (the campus center), which is where the county auditor told us to vote.

Today, lawyers for the Republican party descended on Grinnell and tried to challenge the registration of all of all 750 or so students who voted early, because where we actually reside isn't where our mailing address is. This was probably because the Republican in the race (who is a dick) will definitely win if our votes aren't counted, rather than the McCain people.

The county auditor had already certified the majority of the ballots, however, so only about 50 of them have actually been challenged, and I guess mine went through. But I'm probably skipping class tomorrow to drive people to the polls, because Danny Carroll is a coward and I'm pissed off.

posted by dismas 04 November | 00:10

Treepour -- I was there too (voting early today at SF City Hall)!!!! From 12:15 to about 2:45. I wish I'd known -- we coulda commiserated at least by text. My back was killing me -- I felt bad for all the older folks. They should give out folding chairs.

posted by Claudia_SF 04 November | 00:10

Charge your iPod and bring a good book tomorrow, everyone!

Absolutely. I like how people are digging in on this as much as possible, though. This weekend I got an NAACP email recommending exactly that - bring snacks, water, a folding chair, whatever you need to make it through - but be there. ColorOfChange.org is asking people to make it a Party at the Polls - asking people to play music, juggle, do magic tricks, give out snacks, whatever. They want you to go on down and make it worth the wait.

And free Starbucks, Ben & Jerry's, and Krispy Kreme? What an exciting election. A festival atmosphere, an outstanding mobilization of the electorate.

posted by Miko 04 November | 00:12

Miko, I was thinking of that today. With all the lines in early voting, and the potential for lines tomorrow, I thought it would be great if musicians would give impromptu concerts at polling places to keep people entertained. Sure, Bruce Springsteen can warm up 80,000 people for an Obama speech, but could he play his acoustic guitar and sing for a few hundred at a polling place? The big things are great, but it's the thousand little things that are going to make the difference in our world.

posted by eekacat 04 November | 00:18

Can't wait to vote! Also, anybody know where I can get a nice blog badge or temporary site image that says something like "Vote for Change"? I've had a heck of a time looking, and I'd love to replace my blog tomorrow with a banner or something of the sort, encouraging people to vote.

posted by iamkimiam 04 November | 00:20

Gosh. What if I have to pee? I can't go three hours without peeing. (No early voting here). Mayor Wilder was on MSNBC tonight with dire prophesy of not being able to handle the turnout. No keeping polls open late, beyond if you're in line at seven, you get to go.

posted by rainbaby 04 November | 00:21

I brought a book and got through several chapters. Two dudes in front of me became like best friends over the hours. Behind me a large dude told tales of his service in Afghanistan and chatted up a tiny gal in heels. "I like to work out," etc.

posted by Claudia_SF 04 November | 00:26

bring snacks, water

There were two fellows - one wearing judicial robes, one trailing wearing a $1K+ suit, going down the line offering everybody water tonight. I didn't recognize them, but I'm just going to assume he was a judge, and declare that it was a pretty awesome & humble thing for a judge to do, given that they're accustomed to being addressed as "your honor" & having everyone stand up when they enter a room & so forth.

Rainbaby, everyone was in an especially friendly mood - plenty of chit-chat, placeholdings for restroom breaks & line reconnaissance, etc. Even the 2 Sheriffs and misc. election officials were smiling and chatting, despite working a 10+ hour day. It was not a "DMV line" type experience; quite the opposite, it was the best 3 hour line I have ever stood in, bar none.

posted by Triode 04 November | 00:51

Agreed -- no one complained, not at all. Everyone was super polite and jazzed.

posted by Claudia_SF 04 November | 01:08

My hand actually trembled as I voted Me, too! I don't know what it was exactly -- no real lunch, all of the emotions, the long wait. I kept checking and double checking my answers.

posted by Claudia_SF 04 November | 01:09

I don't think I'll have too much trouble voting in time in my town of 200 people...so I'm gonna go volunteer at my job on my day off so other people can go vote.

Oh, and dismas, I love the Grinnell campus, my best friend graduated from there a while ago.

posted by Schyler523 04 November | 01:20

Hi Schyler! Haven't seen you in a while.

posted by arse_hat 04 November | 01:24

I'm gonna offer to stand in line and hold people's places while they go pee. I'm gonna bring 'em some snacks, too.

If I'd really thought ahead, I'd have rented a port-a-pottie for each precinct, and I'd have someone there whith charging capability for everyone's iPods & phones.

I'll have my cell all day, waiting for calls to give people a ride to the polls.

posted by chewatadistance 04 November | 07:35

Thanks for reminding me about the lines. Pops has left the house to try and get there before work, Mom is going around 10, and I'll be going after work (5pm, which is going to be teh suck). I almost forgot to toss a book in my purse. I'm quite excited.

posted by sperose 04 November | 07:51

Just voted. It was so simple and quick that now I'm feeling slightly paranoid. Literally walked out my back door, crossed the street, entered the fire station, signed my name on a little slip, and poked at a screen for 30 seconds. No lines, no issues. Only paused to take a flyer from the sweet little old man who shyly suggested I consider the local Green Party candidate. Obama posters were all over. Not much red to be seen anywhere. I wish it were this easy for everyone.

posted by notquitemaryann 04 November | 16:03

← Emptied my desk into boxes and was escorted out of the building today. || Richard and Linda Thompson: "Time to Ring some Changes" →

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