It looks like Kerry/Edwards has won my state - Pennsylvania.
My voting experience was very easy, compared to what I've heard about people having to stand in line for hours & such. The poll was very quiet when I arrived, despite the fact that the area has apparently had a record voter turn-out. There was a steady stream of voters at the poll, just no waiting - at least not for me.
I will say one peculiar thing that happened was that the elderly woman working at the pool, upon looking at my voter registration card, behaved as if she'd never seen a registered member of the political party I'm registered as. (I'm not a registered member of either major political party. Though that doesn't necessarily determine who I voted for today.)
Later I went to the Kerry Wilkes-Barre campaign headquarters (in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) to visit my friend John D. who was working there. At 6:45pm they were still sending people out to "flush" neighborhoods... which was explained to me to mean they were going out into the neighborhoods and knocking on doors urging people to go out and vote if they hadn't already. Someone was knocking on doors in my neighborhood in the afternoon.
(John was looking harried and Frankenstein-ish, because of a respiratory infection and lack of haircut & sleep, so there were no photos.)
Everyone there was quite enthusiastic though. And they had every reason to be, since it looks like Pennsylvania is going to Kerry, despite the enthusiastic volunteer work of my friend Kristen on the Bush campaign in Wilkes-Barre.
I noted a lot of people with Kerry/Edwards signs set up casually on every corner on Jefferson Avenue in downtown Scranton during rush hour... and no Bush signs. But later, on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, there were several people with Bush signs yelling "Vote Bush!" at the cars.
(I'm deliberately vague about exactly where I live, exactly where I voted, and exactly who I voted for, but if you're really curious, you can leave a comment, and I'll tell you privately.)
Here are photos I took of John Edwards' visit to Wilkes-Barre in September: John Edwards in Wilkes-Barre
Here is a site that's collecting a gazillion voter experiences: kottke.org - How'd your vote go? "So if you've voted today (or earlier by absentee ballot), I'd like to ask you: how did your voting experience go?"
posted by Chloe | Tuesday 02 November 2004 11:38 PM
I didn't have a long wait either, but there were two things that I thought were strange. First they didn't ask for any ID when I came in. Second, after looking at my party, they proceeded to announce to everyone the polling place, ("Oh, you're a Green Party Member,") which they didn't do to any other voter. And though I'm not ashamed of my party, and there weren't a lot of people there, I still didn't think it was right. Combine that with the fact that I've been hearing at other polling places anyone that was a Green, Independent or Libertarian was accused of throwing there vote away and I did not want any trouble. I mean its bad enough that the Democratic and Republican parties were fighting amongst themselves, but I didn't need them both ganging up on me when I went to vote Green.
Posted by Lee Ann | Wednesday 03 November 2004 7:33AM
Well, that's pretty much the experience I had... In other words, though I wasn't paying close attention and wasn't there long, I didn't hear anybody else's registered party mentioned. THough in my case of the little old lady - I'm 98% sure she really was just surprised by something she may have never seen before in her district. hah.
As for getting accused of throwing your vote away... that's ridiculous no matter who does it and where. It's your vote to cast however you choose. One might say one doesn't agree with your choice... one might even say your choice hurt the major party cadidate you would've voted for had there not been your party in the election, but as long as you don't mention your 2nd choice, you're in the clear with that. hehe... The only way someone could rightly accuse someone of "throwing their vote away" is if they didn't vote.
I keep harping on the fact that in Australia, it is apparently against the law to NOT vote.
At any rate, anybody who harrasses you is clearly "unAmerican". haha.
Anyway, it says on my voter registration card that "identification is required the first time you vote at a new poll" - seemingly meaning you don't have to present one if you've voted there before? I've always been asked for photo identification in addition, even when I have voted multiple times at the same poll, presumably because I'm not personally known by the poll workers. In your case it could be that the people at the polls actually do know you, and recognize you... Or I guess they might be just comparing your new signature to your last signature at the last election?
Posted by Chloe | Wednesday 03 November 2004 8:42AM
Comment Avatar icons by Gravatar.
E-mail addresses are required, but not displayed nor shared.
Please post comments relevant to this page only. For off-topic comments, questions, and discussion, please use this site's Message Board Forum. All comments posted that are spam, abusive, use phoney e-mail, or that do not relate directly to the page, will be removed.
Thank you for respecting this site, author & readers, and for helping stem the flow of ridiculously inaccurate hits from search engines.
superficiality >>If the facade is what's important to you, all you wind up with is an illusion. Disillusionment is the gift of substance.
-- Chloe<<
(more)
I didn't have a long wait either, but there were two things that I thought were strange. First they didn't ask for any ID when I came in. Second, after looking at my party, they proceeded to announce to everyone the polling place, ("Oh, you're a Green Party Member,") which they didn't do to any other voter. And though I'm not ashamed of my party, and there weren't a lot of people there, I still didn't think it was right. Combine that with the fact that I've been hearing at other polling places anyone that was a Green, Independent or Libertarian was accused of throwing there vote away and I did not want any trouble. I mean its bad enough that the Democratic and Republican parties were fighting amongst themselves, but I didn't need them both ganging up on me when I went to vote Green.
Well, that's pretty much the experience I had... In other words, though I wasn't paying close attention and wasn't there long, I didn't hear anybody else's registered party mentioned. THough in my case of the little old lady - I'm 98% sure she really was just surprised by something she may have never seen before in her district. hah.
