What are voting lines so long?

[castleview]

I'm watching the news and am just stunned that some are waiting six hours to vote. Who isn't doing their job? If ten ladies and gents over the age of 78 can get it done in my town, why can't everyone else?

 

[dvcgirl]

I've seen the long lines on the news as well. I also heard that 30% of the votes are already in across the country! There was just a huge early-voter turn-out. So I think that states with early voting will see much shorter lines tomorrow as many more polling stations will be open on election day than they had open in early voting.

We don't have early voting here in New Jersey, so I plan to go very early tomorrow.

 

[okeydokey]

The lines are long for early voting because there are so few polling places for early voting. ALL polling places will be open Tuesday so hopefully the waits will not be too long. I hate to think about people not being able to vote because of the lines.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Sometimes it is the length of the ballot itself and that the voters are not prepared.

The official sample ballot I was sent by the Board of Elections includes:

President/Vice President
Congresscritter
State Representative
Sheriff
County Commisioner
5 Judges
6 State Consitution Amendments
4 County Charter Amendments, and
County Property Tax Exemption Question

That is a total of 21 entries I have to make.

So once I am checked in and get my ballot I have to transfer my entries from my sample (which I will have with me) to the official ballot and then check to make sure everything was right. So it should only take me 2 to 3 minutes until I am ready to take my ballot to the scanner.

But what about the people who don't do their "homework" ahead of time, how long will it take them to make all the decisions?

 

[CapeCodTenor]

I think it's a Republican conspiracy.

 

[Laura]

The lines are long for early voting because there are so few polling places for early voting. ALL polling places will be open Tuesday so hopefully the waits will not be too long. I hate to think about people not being able to vote because of the lines.

Exactly. In my county, there's only one place open for in-person early voting. It's a large space, but it doesn't really compete with the hundreds of polling locations open tomorrow. I voted absentee; in Ohio you can vote early in-person or you can request an absentee ballot without giving a reason.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

I just hope that those places that experienced long lines the last two elections learned their lesson and have plans in place to rectify the problem.

 

[corndog]

The simplest answer is people are stupid. They're being duped into voting early, to go stand in line at a county courthouse that has 2 machines for the entire county when on election day there will be hundreds of machines throughout the county.

 

[John Smith1]

The simplest answer is people are stupid. They're being duped into voting early, to go stand in line at a county courthouse that has 2 machines for the entire county when on election day there will be hundreds of machines throughout the county.

You're a "people", aren't you?

 

[dismom2]

I stood in a very short line last week, but it took longer than it should have because most of the people in front of me never put in a change of address when they moved, so it took forever for the seniors running the poll to make the changes. They were so happy when I stepped up and informed them that my address was correct, and I was pushed right through. So, make sure your address is the same as the one it was when you registered, or be prepared for a wait yourself.

 

[sha_lyn]

Sometimes it is the length of the ballot itself and that the voters are not prepared.

The official sample ballot I was sent by the Board of Elections includes:

President/Vice President
Congresscritter
State Representative
Sheriff
County Commisioner
5 Judges
6 State Consitution Amendments
4 County Charter Amendments, and
County Property Tax Exemption Question

That is a total of 21 entries I have to make.

So once I am checked in and get my ballot I have to transfer my entries from my sample (which I will have with me) to the official ballot and then check to make sure everything was right. So it should only take me 2 to 3 minutes until I am ready to take my ballot to the scanner.

But what about the people who don't do their "homework" ahead of time, how long will it take them to make all the decisions?

I believe you have hit the nail on the head. A friend voted 2 weeks ago. He looked at the sample ballot on line made all his decisions etc. Went to vote and said he saw people taking 15-20 min to vote. He is in a different county than I am so I don't know for certain how long their ballot was, but ours was only 1 3/4 pages when I printed out the sample. He stood in line for about an hr.

I saw the same thing on Thur when I voted. I went to the library on the north end off the county because a friend called and said there was no line. I got there and there still wasn't a line. About 1/2 the machine were open. Must have been 8 machines along the one wall, and 2 off to the side on lower tables for handicapped. I was out the door before 2-3 people that were already at the machines when I walked in.

ETA: the same friend was actually drving by another libriary when she called me. She was picking her DD up from a babysitting job. The line there was wrapped around the building and cars were parked all along the road, in the grass etc. The 2 libraries are ony 15 min apart.

 

[justhat]

I think some places are just more crowded than others. When I voted in the primaries earlier this year, I had to wait about 45 minutes to get my slip of paper with only 1 question on it. Took me just seconds to 'connect the arrows', but the line to check in was huge, then the line to get your paper handed to you was decent too.

I'm sure I'll have a nice wait ahead of me tomorrow too.

 

[Goofyluver]

The simplest answer is people are stupid. They're being duped into voting early, to go stand in line at a county courthouse that has 2 machines for the entire county when on election day there will be hundreds of machines throughout the county.

That's very presumptuous. Speculating on people's intelligence.

People must feel it's very important to exercise their right to vote if they are willing to stand in hour-long lines.

 

[DawnM]

Wow. I voted early and I don't consider myself stupid at all. I didn't wait a long time to vote, but really, how are people being DUPED and who are you to call people stupid just because they don't do what you would do?

Dawn

The simplest answer is people are stupid. They're being duped into voting early, to go stand in line at a county courthouse that has 2 machines for the entire county when on election day there will be hundreds of machines throughout the county.