Today's the day!

[Duck on Wheels]

OK. I'll be non-partisan for the moment. Red socks, blue socks, green socks ... whatever! Just get out there and vote! Don't let a few hours of line turn you away. Don't let a provisional ballot turn you away. Don't let a balky machine turn you away. Find your polling place, take along ID, arm yourself with plenty of good humor, patience, and even orneriness if you have to. But no matter what it takes: Vote, and make sure your vote gets registered. Because whatever the outcome today, this election is going to be one for the history books, and today is your last big chance to be part of it.

[Pax]

Done at 6am, it was fun being there before dawn and chatting with the folks in line.

[Blueberry]

I voted early. Here's hoping everyone who wants to gets to cast their ballot.

Whispered response to avoid offending those who were offended by other "mentions" of the election. e.g. the fact that there are too many political ads.

[Pax]

Good job CA, I had to hit "quote" to read your response.

[Andrea]

I early voted & let my students out of class early today so that they could go vote!

[OakLeaf]

Two civic duties done today!

Jury duty - sorta. Just showed up, watched the introductory video and waited around for a few minutes. Turns out it was a criminal case and they reached a plea agreement - the jury pool just had to stick around until the plea hearing was over "just in case." Nothing else on the docket for the rest of the week, so we were discharged.

(Of course I left my jacket in jury room... well, it's just a light one - that can be a nice 40 mile RT on the bici tomorrow to pick it up.)

And voted on the way back. I know I said I was going to vote absentee, but just never got around to it. At least I could still get a paper ballot at the polling place... FWIW.

[andtckrtoo]

I'm heading out now to vote! I hold to the notion that if you don't vote, you can't complain, so I make sure I get out there every election! :P

A bit of trivia - Ever wonder why we vote on the first Tuesday in November? I just heard this on the news and thought it was interesting. November was picked because it is after the crops are in and before the roads are impassible in the winter. It’s on a Tuesday because in the olden days people had to travel miles to vote – often to the nearest town. Sunday was a day of rest and no one would travel, so Monday was the traveling day. People would arrive to their destinations late Monday, vote Tuesday and head back. So if anyone asks you why we vote on the first Tuesday in November – there ya have it!

Edited to add - voting done! No lines at 10AM. I walked in, voted, got my little sticker, and walked out - I was gone a total of 20 minutes from work.

SKHILL - WONDERFUL story! Thanks for sharing!

[ACG]

My daughter is voting for the first time ever today.

So I am not voting until she gets home from college. She wants to keep her sample ballot and put it in her baby book. She is very excited. She watched all the debates, watched all the public TV shows, any other special she could watch. Read every article from every angle. She looked up information on all the other ballot issues too.

I told her I don't need to know how she votes just that she did.

A side note: Mom watched all the SNL shows.

[Pax]

... November was picked because it is after the crops are in and before the roads are impassible in the winter. It’s on a Tuesday because in the olden days people had to travel miles to vote – often to the nearest town. Sunday was a day of rest and no one would travel, so Monday was the traveling day. People would arrive to their destinations late Monday, vote Tuesday and head back. So if anyone asks you why we vote on the first Tuesday in November – there ya have it!

Kinda puts that whole standing in line thing into perspective. We've got it pretty darn god these days.

[snapdragen]

This is from RBR forum, I liked this story:

Voted this morning (Virginia). Polls opened at 6 am, and I was there. Waited over an hour (could'a been worse). Had a pregnant lady take a dive in front of me - she skipped breakfast, and then passed out after standing around for about 45 minutes. She was fine, but they did call the ambulance to cart her off. The best part was that they let her vote - polling stations in Virginia have a PC/Notebook deal that they can take curbside to accommodate the handicapped. As the EMTs were wheeling this lady out on a gurney, a poll worker ran up and handed her the computer. They both got an ovation.

[skhill]

I voted this morning-- what a wonderful experience. I live in a predominantly African-American precinct, and before today my longest wait to vote was ~10 minutes. Today, it took 1.5 hours (and the line was as long when I left as when I got there). The coolest thing: whenever an elderly person or disabled person showed up, the line by common acclamation sent them to the front. One of my fellow waiting voters told one extremely elderly lady "you've waited long enough for this day-- you go on ahead." And then, when that lady came out, leaning on her cane, there was a little tear rolling down her cheek. What a powerful moment to be a part of....

It was also pretty cool seeing the garbage truck pull up and one of the crew hop off the back and get it the line to vote!

[tulip]

I got to my voting place at 6am. The line went out the door, down the street, around the corner, down that street, and around the next corner to the middle of the block. 6am!! I finished voting at 8:30, just in time to go to my dentist appointment (ooh, fun, fillings!) Now my face is numb and I went by the voting place on my way home and there is no line. Oh well, I'm glad I voted and all the people waiting were in good spirits despite the cold rain falling.

I was witness to two disabled voters using the curbside service.

[Pax]

I voted this morning-- what a wonderful experience. I live in a predominantly African-American precinct, and before today my longest wait to vote was ~10 minutes. Today, it took 1.5 hours (and the line was as long when I left as when I got there). The coolest thing: whenever an elderly person or disabled person showed up, the line by common acclamation sent them to the front. One of my fellow waiting voters told one extremely elderly lady "you've waited long enough for this day-- you go on ahead." And then, when that lady came out, leaning on her cane, there was a little tear rolling down her cheek. What a powerful moment to be a part of....

It was also pretty cool seeing the garbage truck pull up and one of the crew hop off the back and get it the line to vote!

What a neat story!! Thanks so much for sharing it.

[OakLeaf]

One of my fellow waiting voters told one extremely elderly lady "you've waited long enough for this day-- you go on ahead." And then, when that lady came out, leaning on her cane, there was a little tear rolling down her cheek.

Wow, that made me all misty-eyed. Thanks for sharing that.

[Aggie_Ama]

Due to a clerical error I was not registered in my new county when I got my new drivers license and didn't think to confirm before the deadline.

But I am proud that DH took time to read up on the candidates instead of voting straight ticket like our parents and like he did last time. Not to criticize straight ticket voters, we just prefer to know each candidate. He generally favors one party but this time he didn't like some of the people's ideas or track record running on their platform. I don't know if he voted how he planned but last night he had candidates from all parties selected. He was very passionate about some changes going on near our house and wanted to make sure he got the county and state offices right in his opinion.

He got there at 7:00 when the polls opened and had to wait an hour. The line was pretty long at 6:30 when I drove past for work.