The Many Methods of Voting

[ClareWalks]

I'm curious to see how my fellow Americans plan to vote! I live in a state where anyone can get an absentee ballot, so I've already submitted mine. I usually prefer to go to the polls day of, but I have a toddler and it's less practical this year.

[Mountainair]

I'm not voting this year. I usually vote Libertarian but I can't really get behind Johnson all the way so I'm opting out. To top it off I have three children- 6, 4, and 7 months. The two oldest go to school (one full day and one half a day) and the school system thought it was a bright idea to make voting day a teacher workday. So, no way am I dragging three kids to the voting booth with me even if there was someone I wanted to vote for. 

[Kromm]

Ah, this is about ACTUAL methods of voting, not fictional ones!

Fictional ones are in the news:  

Western PA Republican circulates fake meme about online voting in PA

Pol Says Online Voting Post Was Joke; Officials Not Laughing

 

 

Ugh. Hard to say if people would have actually fallen for this if it had continued.

[Hanahope]

I have no  choice but to go to the polls on election day, so the second question can only be answered as "not yet."

I hope that one day my state will allow early or easier absentee voting.  It was definitely a problem when my kids were younger.  I had to bring both into the booth with me either in the morning on the way to daycare/work or on the way home.  Its easier for me now, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who have their own problems with being able to vote on only one day, in a certain place, in a certain time.

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

I have no  choice but to go to the polls on election day, so the second question can only be answered as "not yet."

I hope that one day my state will allow early or easier absentee voting.  

GAK! I'm going to vote early, but I did the "not yet" by accident, because I already know/have decided who I am going to vote for. It's a no brainer for me.  I just wish early voting was earlier for me!  I live in MD, and the earliest is next Thursday.

[Hanahope]

16 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

GAK! I'm going to vote early, but I did the "not yet" by accident, because I already know/have decided who I am going to vote for.

Oh I know exactly whom I'm voting for, but I have "not yet" submitted my vote because I cannot.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Exactly.  I have to admit that I'm glad that in my family, we aren't fractured in terms of our political affiliations. Well, except for my sister, who was going to (I never did find out if she did or not) vote for Romney in 2012, because of his "business plan." Fortunately, whatever was possessing her was exorcised.

Even my parents, who have retired and moved back to India, don't think the Orange Orangutan will win, but I know where I'll be going IF that should happen, which, please, I don't think it will.

[atomationage]

I just think it's important to vote as early as possible.  You don't know what kind of nonsense will be going on come Election Day.  I'm picturing people lined up around the block before 6 in the morning, being harassed by armed marauders.  Maybe states that don't have early voting will be persuaded to start.

Edited October 20, 2016 by atomationage
punctuation

[Darian]

Planning to vote Monday, the first day I can. Husband also voting early one of the nights city hall is open late. I like voting on the day, but we're taking no chances.  

[ClareWalks]

40 minutes ago, atomationage said:

 

I just think it's important to vote as early as possible.  You don't know what kind of nonsense will be going on come Election Day.

 

Yes! Plus I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, and I cannot in good conscience let my young son live in President TrumpLand if I can help it ;)

[Moose135]

Early voting started today here in North Carolina - at the place near me, they had 2 hour lines by mid-morning.  I'm working from home tomorrow, and will try to get down there during the day.

[partofme]

I live in New York, my only option is in person on 11/8.  I will be there bright and early in the morning before work.

[Moose135]

8 minutes ago, partofme said:

I live in New York, my only option is in person on 11/8.  I will be there bright and early in the morning before work.

Been there, done that! I'm a Long Island refugee, hit the polls on the way to work many times.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Moose135

[ABitOFluff]

38 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

Early voting started today here in North Carolina - at the place near me, they had 2 hour lines by mid-morning.  I'm working from home tomorrow, and will try to get down there during the day.

Same here! I work from home actually tried to do it today around 2pm, but there were cars parked about a quarter mile away, and a lady walking back to her car said it was a 2 hour wait. Which is a good sign, I guess.

I will definitely vote early, but I'll have to wait a little longer.

[Silver Raven]

I wish I could go to an election precinct to vote.  I'm in a vote by mail only precinct, and I don't like the idea that my ballot floats around in the mailing system and then might get to the proper place and then they might be able to compare my signature on the ballot with the signature I used when I registered.

[NewDigs]

3 hours ago, atomationage said:

I just think it's important to vote as early as possible.  You don't know what kind of nonsense will be going on come Election Day.  I'm picturing people lined up around the block before 6 in the morning, being harassed by armed marauders.  Maybe states that don't have early voting will be persuaded to start.

Unfortunately, long lines are the norm in my FL county. Both for early voters and day-of voters. 

Luckily our Supervisor of Elections is on this year's ballot and we can hopefully make a change.

One year ('12) the line snaked around a church parking lot and then serpentined through the actual polling place. It rained and we all huddled under an overhang and remembered who was in front of and behind us in line in order to reassemble.  

It took hours. I had tried to early-vote but, lines...

Will try early again this cycle. Fingers crossed.

I own an old Florida punch-card voting "machine" and ballot box. Our elections' office sold them off for 5 bucks each after the travesty of the 2000 election.

Edited October 20, 2016 by NewDigs

[GHScorpiosRule]

Hearing all these stories, I feel so grateful that I live in a state and county where early voting, day of, and absentee* have been so easy for me. The longest I've had to wait in line was 30 minutes. I've never taken it for granted and never will.

 

*I was in India in 2008, so I made sure to get my absentee voting ballot as soon as I could and voted. Watched the results and speech in my parents parlor room in Jaipur, India on CNN INDIA. 

[atomationage]

2 minutes ago, NewDigs said:

Unfortunately, long lines are the norm in my FL county. Both for early voters and day-of voters. 

I lived in FL from 79-94.  I remember standing in line in the rain to vote for Jimmy Carter at the Pine Castle Women's League near Orlando in 1980.  After that I moved to a suburban town which kept expanding in population but never had more than one polling place, at the city hall.  I guess I had better bladder control back then, because I know exactly what you're talking about with the lines.   You'd think it would have improved over the last 20 years, but I guess not.   When I moved back to Chicagoland, I voted in the local public school with the kids running around the voting area, until they moved the polling place to a local church, which had better facilities.  Then early voting came in and since then I've always voted early, and there was only a line the first time.  After that, it's been much easier.  The local governments really need to get their act together. 

[biakbiak]

I have voted at the polls everytime I have been in town my entire life and even in Presidential elections with high turnout I have never waited longer than 10 minutes.

[partofme]

5 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

I have voted at the polls everytime I have been in town my entire life and even in Presidential elections with high turnout I have never waited longer than 10 minutes.

Same.   My district in NYC never has a line in the morning, the longest I ever waited was in '08 and that was probably 10 minutes.  

[Fable]

Normally, I've never waited more than 15 to 20 minutes, but in the 2004 Bush/Kerry election I was in line for well over 2 hours.  This election seems even more divisive than that, so I am not expecting any short lines in these parts.  

[maraleia]

My polling place is in my apartment building so I can go down in my pajamas if I want. I work from home BTW. #ImWithHer

[scarynikki12]

Early voting started in TN on Wednesday of this week.  I always vote early because I prefer to vote at my library since I'm there at least once a week anyway.  Plus, there's about five parking spaces at my Election Day polling location and I have no patience for limited parking.  Anyway, there were already lines out the door and it made the news.  I'm going on Saturday and I'm very curious to see if it will be as busy. 

I wish every state had early voting because it is so convenient and stress free.  That leaves people to vote on Election Day if they want to rather than out of necessity. 

[NewDigs]

11 minutes ago, madmaverick said:

The figure was quoted by the BBC and they linked to the poll.  Makes for fascinating reading when you have the time and I welcome analysis from any experts here.  I can't give it more than a cursory glance right now but it looks like a very thorough poll.  I think the figure came from p.144.  Even if you look at the whole figures, the % of people who believe there's likely voter fraud is still higher than I would have expected.  So many don't trust the system? I don't know if the percentages would have been the same before Trump did his whole 'rigged' campaign, or jumped after.

My initial guess at why so many worry over voter fraud has to do with the 2000 election. 

That's when it was discovered that many many absentee ballots are never counted. They're just held in abeyance in case of ultra tight election results. 

Then it was brought to light that most of our military vote by absentee ballot and the concern was exponential. 

Then it came out that if your signature-on-file was even slightly different than what your ballot signature looked like it was not counted.

And the butterfly ballots and too few machines and and and, and we had a tipping point?

And now Trump throws gasoline on the problem.

[madmaverick]

I see.  Thanks for the explanation, NewDigs, to a non-American.  

By the way, and excuse the basic question, but do all states use the same voting machinery?  And is there still any risk of chads?  Cause I still remember 2000 and that was a freaking nightmare.

[partofme]

27 minutes ago, madmaverick said:

I see.  Thanks for the explanation, NewDigs, to a non-American.  

By the way, and excuse the basic question, but do all states use the same voting machinery?  And is there still any risk of chads?  Cause I still remember 2000 and that was a freaking nightmare.

No voting is different all over the country.  My mom lives in NJ and their voting is computerized.   In NY since 2008 our voting is by scantron, before that we had machines with levers that you pull, I preferred that to the scantron which we put into the machine in public and have no privacy.

[NewDigs]

The first machines our genius Supervisor of Elections chose after the 2000 debacle had no paper trail and no receipt! You had to just take it on faith that you voted for whom you thought. I'm thinking they were touchscreen.

By 2008 we had machines that scanned the ballots that were then deposited, I dunno, somewhere safe, I hoped. 

But in 2012 we had something like 4 pages of ballot initiatives that didn't scan so quick and our precinct had plenty of "booths" but only one scanner! We lined up to get in, lined up for ID check, lined up for a privacy "booth" and lined up for the scanner.

We vote for everything from judges to the sheriff to the mosquito control person.

And there are always a few extras ranging from treatment of pregnant pigs to medical marijuana.

[ExplainItAgain]

I plan to vote early. It opened in North Carolina yesterday and the lines were long! Disproportionally Democrat, which is is very typical of early voting. We have scantron in my district. In addition to being a BIG presidential battleground state (seriously, the commercials are out of control), there is a big battle for governor (due to the HB2 nonsense).

I do enjoy the excitement of election day and the camaraderie of being at the polls, but I'm so grateful for early voting since I'll be at a day-long conference on the 8th and won't have to rush.

#ImWithHer

[madmaverick]

4 hours ago, NewDigs said:

The first machines our genius Supervisor of Elections chose after the 2000 debacle had no paper trail and no receipt! You had to just take it on faith that you voted for whom you thought. I'm thinking they were touchscreen.

By 2008 we had machines that scanned the ballots that were then deposited, I dunno, somewhere safe, I hoped. 

But in 2012 we had something like 4 pages of ballot initiatives that didn't scan so quick and our precinct had plenty of "booths" but only one scanner! We lined up to get in, lined up for ID check, lined up for a privacy "booth" and lined up for the scanner.

We vote for everything from judges to the sheriff to the mosquito control person.

And there are always a few extras ranging from treatment of pregnant pigs to medical marijuana.

Fingers crossed there are more scanners this time if you still need them.  The supervisor should have realized the problem of just having one scanner!

Oy, treatment of pregnant pigs?  Really?

Being bombarded by those political TV commercials must be so annoying.

[NewDigs]

8 minutes ago, madmaverick said:

Fingers crossed there are more scanners this time if you still need them.  The supervisor should have realized the problem of just having one scanner!

I think they had scanners and didn't deploy them. It wasn't just our precinct. Hopefully she will be gone!

14 minutes ago, madmaverick said:

Oy, treatment of pregnant pigs?  Really?

It was an animal rights measure .

TALLAHASSEE — The "pregnant pig" amendment Florida voters adopted six years ago finally goes into effect this week, but its most prominent and enduring role has been to help curtail citizen initiatives.

The amendment, which prohibits tying up or confining gestating sows in enclosures too small for them to turn around in, goes into effect Wednesday after an extended phase-in. Rather than change their ways, Florida's only two hog operations that would have been affected went out of business, said Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson.

If you get enough signatures on petitions you can have your idea turned into a citizen's ballot initiative to perhaps become a FL Constitutional Amendment on Election Day. The pig issue made that process much more difficult.

9 minutes ago, madmaverick said:

Being bombarded by those political TV commercials must be so annoying.

And the phone calls and the paper wasted on a gazillion flyers and...

 

I'm guessing it's a more civilized process wherever you are.

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, ExplainItAgain said:

I plan to vote early. It opened in North Carolina yesterday and the lines were long! Disproportionally Democrat, which is is very typical of early voting. We have scantron in my district. In addition to being a BIG presidential battleground state (seriously, the commercials are out of control), there is a big battle for governor (due to the HB2 nonsense).

I'm in Charlotte, and I went this afternoon.  It took almost two hours, but I came away with one of these!

Fortunately, there were about 6 of us who got to talking, and it helped the time pass.  We were outside for an hour, and it was a beautiful afternoon.  I'm going to break the TV remote from hitting the mute button during all the political commercials.  Hopefully when this is all over, we have Hillary in the White House, and a new governor in Raleigh.

[NewDigs]

WooHoo! I want one! ^^^ We start early voting Monday.

Why are there still freaking lines? I've also seen lines on teevee. 

Not enough machines? Poll workers? Available space? I do not get it.

It's the kind of thing that can appear to be an intentional misstep. Especially if Supervisors of Election are political positions.

There are reasons people are mistrustful.

But most wait til the votes are counted.

Glad I have caller ID. Donald Trump just called!

[Moose135]

You should have taken the call and given him a piece of your mind! ;-)

As to the lines - in my county which includes Charlotte, there are over 650K registered voters.  Early voting started yesterday, but for the first week, there are only 10 polling places, where anyone in the county, can vote.  Next Thursday, another 12 open, so there will be 22 locations to vote through the Saturday before election day.  On election day, there are about 240 polling places available in the county.  I think there are so many people wanting to get it done, they are crowding the available locations.  We are actually lucky down here - they were going to restrict early voting to begin next week, but when our Voter ID law was ruled unconstitutional, hours reverted back to the earlier opening date.

Last year (or maybe it was this year's primary) I voted about the same time, and the line was about an hour.  I go to a local library to vote early, and like last time, there was a line out the door into the parking lot that took about an hour+ to get through.  Once you were inside, you went into the meeting room where the voting machines were - they have about a dozen machines - and you sign in.  Last time, after signing in, you went right over to a machine.  This time, there was another line, inside the library, that took about 40 minutes to get to the machines.

[Bastet]

The only time I ever waited in line more than a minute or two to vote was in CA's gubernatorial recall election, and that was only about ten minutes.  Most of the time, there's an open booth.  Granted, the fact I've always had the flexibility to take a break and go at an odd time rather than having to vote during the before- or after-work rush is undoubtedly a factor. 

I have my official voter information guide from the state, which is a whopping 223 pages long, thanks to our many propositions, but my sample ballot has yet to arrive.  It was pretty late to arrive in the primary, too.

We don't have early voting here, but one can vote by mail.  With how problematic the mail service is in my neighborhood, I opt to vote in person.  I just hope my polling place is at one of the schools again this time; it hops around a fair bit, and I don't appreciate having to go into a church in order to vote.

[NewDigs]

58 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

 

You should have taken the call and given him a piece of your mind! ;-)

As to the lines - in my county which includes Charlotte, there are over 650K registered voters.  Early voting started yesterday, but for the first week, there are only 10 polling places, where anyone in the county, can vote.  Next Thursday, another 12 open, so there will be 22 locations to vote through the Saturday before election day.  On election day, there are about 240 polling places available in the county.  I think there are so many people wanting to get it done, they are crowding the available locations.  We are actually lucky down here - they were going to restrict early voting to begin next week, but when our Voter ID law was ruled unconstitutional, hours reverted back to the earlier opening date.

 

I got small petty delight in just picking up and hanging up. Glad I had the phone next to me. I pick up for pollsters.

That Supreme Court decision must have sent your election people into a spin. And  then Matthew on top of that. Sorry for the turmoil but thrilled for the decision.

Matthew affected voter registration in Florida and, Trump's minion, Gov. Rick Scott went to court to fight the storm related extension of early registration.

Maybe we should look to Washinton State

Edited October 22, 2016 by NewDigs

[Moose135]

One of the folks I was talking with while waiting on line was born in Kenya - and yes, we made a couple of jokes about the President.  He came to the US almost 20 years ago, I don't know when he became a citizen, but he had his US passport with him in case anyone gave him a hard time.  He said in Kenya, there are fewer polling places, especially in rural areas - you might have to travel several hours to get to the polls, and the line could literally stretch for a mile.  In that context, my wait didn't seem so bad.

[annzeepark914]

After reading these posts, I emailed my sister in NC (who is planning to do early voting) and told her about the long lines already!  I'm sure she doesn't want to miss out on this historic occasion of voting for a "sister" :>)  I've already voted absentee (sheesh! there's still no early voting in VA) & told them I'd be in another state on election day (I voted in the elections office...no line).  I have no desire to stand in a long line (and doubt my back could take it anyway).  Thanks for the tip, NC voters.

[rcc]

I voted yesterday via absentee ballot for the first time. I've always hated going to the polls and getting bombarded by candidates wanting to shake your hand and giving you pins, stickers, etc. Then waiting in long lines and I anticipate this year being worse than ever. So, I decided to go to the town hall, get my ballots, sat in a room, voted, placed the ballots in an envelope, taped it, then handed it back to the clerk. Simple, easy and I will be voting this way from now on.

[scarynikki12]

Well the line at the library wasn't out the door but it did reach it. Thankfully the whole process took about fifteen minutes. Plus I managed to get a proper spot in the lot which means everyone else currently hates me hee. 

Also I convinced my parents to vote today as well. They go back and forth between early and day of voting but I don't want them to have to deal with any of that Election Day stress. 

[Sophlee]

In Washington state almost every county has mail in ballots.  There are only a couple of actual polling places for those who wish to cast their ballot in the  traditional way.    Ballots were mailed out on Thursday and the voters' pamphlet is 191 pages.  Not as big as 232 pages but still yuuuuge.  There is an online site you can use to see when your mail in ballot has been received.

[biakbiak]

SF voters guide tops our at 314 pages! But I get to vote for two good friends so I am slightly mollified about the number of props.

[BW Manilowe]

4 hours ago, rcc said:

I voted yesterday via absentee ballot for the first time. I've always hated going to the polls and getting bombarded by candidates wanting to shake your hand and giving you pins, stickers, etc. Then waiting in long lines and I anticipate this year being worse than ever. So, I decided to go to the town hall, get my ballots, sat in a room, voted, placed the ballots in an envelope, taped it, then handed it back to the clerk. Simple, easy and I will be voting this way from now on.

If you don't wanna go to the Town Hall, you should be able to get an absentee ballot mailed to your home, which you then complete as usual & mail back. We can in Indiana, anyway, at least after we complete an application for an absentee ballot (which is actually shorter than it looks--you don't have to fill as much out on it as it looks). You ask for/get/complete/mail back the application, then they send you a ballot.

[ABitOFluff]

23 hours ago, Moose135 said:

I'm in Charlotte, and I went this afternoon.  It took almost two hours, but I came away with one of these!

Fortunately, there were about 6 of us who got to talking, and it helped the time pass.  We were outside for an hour, and it was a beautiful afternoon.  I'm going to break the TV remote from hitting the mute button during all the political commercials.  Hopefully when this is all over, we have Hillary in the White House, and a new governor in Raleigh.

I wish there was a forum just for the local political ads. The ads in North Carolina are maddening. Luckily, I'm out of state for a week so I can catch a little break.

Okay, sorry for the tiny off-topic rant, but every woman in every Pat McCrory or Richard Burr ad looks like they've been crying uncontrollably just before the cameras started rolling. And in the Raleigh-Durham area, we have a pearl-clutching socialite worrying about a Gen-X "odd-duck" Democrat getting into Congress. Can't wait to never see them again.

Edited October 22, 2016 by ABitOFluff

[moonb]

I voted this afternoon. I love early voting (I remember the 2004 election well, and the long lines at the polls on election day when I got there at 7am). 

[BW Manilowe]

12 minutes ago, ABitOFluff said:

I wish there was a forum just for the local political ads. The ads in North Carolina are maddening. Luckily, I'm out of state for a week so I can catch a little break.

Okay, sorry for the tiny off-topic rant, but every woman in every Pat McCrory or Richard Burr ad looks like they've been crying uncontrollably just before the cameras started rolling. And in the Raleigh-Durham area, we have a pearl-clutching socialite worrying about a Gen-X "odd-duck" Democrat getting into Congress. Can't wait to never see them again.

If you think there should be a thread (this whole, overall thing is a forum; the topics within are threads) for local (&/or national) political ads, you can start 1 if you like--I started 1 for the VP candidates & others started ones for threads they thought appropriate. It doesn't take a Moderator, or permission from 1, to start a new thread.

[ABitOFluff]

5 minutes ago, BW Manilowe said:

If you think there should be a thread (this whole, overall thing is a forum; the topics within are threads) for local (&/or national) political ads, you can start 1 if you like--I started 1 for the VP candidates & others started ones for threads they thought appropriate. It doesn't take a Moderator, or permission from 1, to start a new thread.

I wasn't sure, but since we all have at least two more weeks of ads, that's not a bad idea. Thanks!

[Cosmocrush]

I live in Washington state where all ballots are automatically mailed to registered voters 18 days before election day and then we have the option of mailing them back or dropping them off at a few local designated places on or before election day.   Yes, it's easy and convenient but I have to say I miss the days where I could head to the local voting place and cast my ballot even though it was either before work or leave early to make it.  There was something about the act of standing in line or just showing up that helped remind me / us how fortunate I was to live in a democracy.  

[maraleia]

Can anyone tell me the rules about posting your ballot photo on social media? I live in IL and I can't find any rule that forbids it.

[ClareWalks]

8 hours ago, maraleia said:

Can anyone tell me the rules about posting your ballot photo on social media? I live in IL and I can't find any rule that forbids it.

I hope it's not illegal, because I did it! Well, I posted a picture of only my Hillary choice on my absentee ballot, not a pic of the whole ballot or a blank ballot.

[ExplainItAgain]

13 hours ago, maraleia said:

Can anyone tell me the rules about posting your ballot photo on social media? I live in IL and I can't find any rule that forbids it.

Snopes says it depends on the state. It doesn't sound like anything they'd really go after people for though. I remember seeing signs in the past that phones had to be turned off once you enter the voting booth so I'm not sure how people would do it if they were following the rules (in my state [NC]). Obviously mail-in or absentee ballots are a different story.

EDIT: Here's some more info on ballot selfies.

Edited October 23, 2016 by ExplainItAgain