Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Voting Accomplished (Part One)- Updated

I got up early and joined the 100+ people standing in the rain across the street- I arrived at 7am and voted just before 8am, not bad compared to some of the anecdotes I've heard at the office- one lady said she waited for an hour , but "all those people" had shown up and she wasn't going to "waste all day" in line. I didn't ask her who she meant by "all those people" but I did note that she is white and her district is mostly non-white.

Curiously, my district is about 50/50 black/white but the voters I saw were about 80% white...by the time I emerged , the line had dwindled to about half the original size...was it a pre-work rush? What will the 5pm line look like?

Kudos to the volunteer poll worker who helped a college student who had been denied a vote- I heard the student complaining to him and he made a phone call- I didn't hear the details, but after fifteen minutes, the volunteer escorted the young lady to the head of the line, where, presumably, she was able to vote.

On the way to work, I saw that the entire southbound side of the local Interstate was completely shut down- it looked like something large had crashed through the guardrail and plummeted down the opposite hillside, the entrance ramps were shut,the traffic was stopped...I'll check the news once I find the courage to do so.

There is nothing to do today at work. I guess I'll drink coffee and try not to piss myself. Not that I'm nervous or anything...maybe I'll blog a hundred times...was that an email ? False alarm...wait...no, another false alarm. Write already!

Did you vote yet?

I coulda sworn I just got an email...

Aaaaaaggggh!

UPDATE: I can't help myself . I peeked. Virginia has problems...lots of problems.

7:50 a.m. -- Voters report that Precinct 308 in Richmond, at a Richmond library, opened late because a poll worker overslept.

I tossed and turned all night and got in line promptly at seven and somebody overslept? Overslept? WTF?

Election Protection, a non-partisan organization monitoring voting, said it has received reports of problems at more than two dozen polling places throughout the state, but especially in the Richmond and Chesapeake areas. The problems include the improper use of provisional ballots instead of paper ballots at locations where voting machines are malfunctioning.


I need a hug but don't squeeze too tightly, I'm full of sloshy coffee...

6 comments:

Enemy of the Republic said...

I'm going midday in the hope to avoid the rush. My son has the day off so I am bringing him with me.

schlep said...

Me and Crow Jane went over to the hospital at 5:45 am, full of civic-minded beans - there was already a line to the front door!
It was easy and quick though, we're lucky in this district, the voters and officials seem to have it together pretty well.
See you dancing in the streets later tonight maybe, hm?

Romeo Morningwood said...

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
H. L. Mencken

Good Luck my Friend, Good Luck.

billy pilgrim said...

will the age of aquarius dawn tomorrow?

yellowdoggranny said...

it was busy this am at 7 but when i took the 'girls' at 1pm it was no line..
im hoping this time tomorrow we's some happy sumsabitches

Anonymous said...

My polls were packed and there were lots of black voters, which is different from years past.