Voting Check-In

[candygirl200413]

My parents did the same thing (especially because we would get school off on election day). My first election 6 years ago was for school board and she made me and my twin brother do our staged photos at the booth. My state doesn't have early voting but just like the primaries and 2016 we make it into a family field trip since all the kids are still living at home!

[47of74]

 
Two years ago I was glad my dad didn't live to see this shit pile.  Like my mom in '72 44 years ago I couldn't get out of bed the next day.

Yeah that’s about the only reason I’m glad my grandparents are gone now. They didn’t have to see the damage that stinking orange shit pile and his fucking groupies have done to this country and the world.

[WiseGirl]

Not voting early, but voting and driving the child.  Excited to be meeting this candidate next week.  One of my friends is at an event today.  Guess what, she went out and knocked on doors.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/jahana-hayes-2016-teacher-year-could-be-connecticut-s-first-n901721

[Curious]

We had a vote for something either earlier this year or late last year (maybe @GreyhoundFan remembers what it was for) and they didn't send me my ballot so I drug my carcass to the voting place with my husband.  It was no problem to vote there, they just marked I hadn't gotten my ballot by mail.

I have not voted in a voting place in YEARS, so it was actually kind of fun for me to do (once lol).

For this election, I got my ballot just fine but a week or so ago I got another mailing from the board of elections that was alerting me to the fact that I should have already gotten my ballot by mail and if I hadn't the process to make sure I got it in time.

That's the first time I've gotten this second mailing so it seems like they are making a bigger effort this year to make sure people who are supposed to be getting the absentee ballots are getting them in time to vote.  I think it's a good plan, as not everyone would be able to actually go to the voting place on election day like I can in a pinch.

[WiseGirl]

Just wanted to say my senior citizen parents voted early. My mother told me she thinks even my dad voted blue for everyone (a new thing). Then my fine, proper mother continued to tell me "you know there was no way I was voting for any of those Republican asses!"  Go mom!

[Destiny]

My absentee ballot will be here Friday. I’m doing blue all the way!

[PsyD2013]

Absentee ballot arrived today.   Straight blue.  

[SilverBeach]

First day of early voting and I am done! In case I die before Nov. 6, wanted to make sure that my vote was in the can. Straight democratic ticket.

[quincygal]

Gonna go vote on the day & take my seven year old.  Then we phone bank for Sean Casten (#flipthesixth), drop off goodies for loved ones election judging, then do more GOTV phone banking at home for a local gal running for state rep.  Please send us in IL Congressional 6 good thoughts- we are supposedly ahead a bit, but last time around when it got this close, the republican had tons of money poured into his coffers and beat Duckworth at the last second.  Looks like it could go this way again.  

[keen23]

Mailed out my Arizona ballot today. Doing my part to flip Arizona blue and #dumpducey

[Tikobaby]

Mrs. Baby and I sent our mail-in ballots a few days ago!

[candygirl200413]

Hi dumb question, how does early voting work? Are voting locations opened as they would be on election day? Or you just go to your voting location and ask for a ballot?

[onekidanddone]

20 minutes ago, candygirl200413 said:

Hi dumb question, how does early voting work? Are voting locations opened as they would be on election day? Or you just go to your voting location and ask for a ballot?

Here in Maryland there are designated locations usually in state or county buildings. Most of the precinct locations are in schools so they can’t be used for early voting. 

My early voting starts Thursday and I really want to be first in line. 

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, candygirl200413 said:

Hi dumb question, how does early voting work? Are voting locations opened as they would be on election day? Or you just go to your voting location and ask for a ballot?

Like @onekidanddone said, there's several locations around town, and you can go to whichever one is best for you. I have a barcode on my voter registration card, and the poll worker scans that and gives me a code that I have to put in the machine so it will pull up the correct ballot for me. One of our early voting locations is a hardware store, so we usually do a little shopping afterwards.

Prediction time:

If the Democrats make serious gains in this election, but don't get control of the Texas Legislature, the first priority for Texas Republicans will be to get rid of early voting in Texas.

 

[danvillebelle]

Voted yesterday!  I was going to go Monday morning but I woke up sneezing that day and it turned into an all day allergy sneeze fest, so voting was a no-go.

When I was there yesterday, around 1pm, there were 25-30 people in line.  

I was so happy to vote for Beto and Lupe Valdez.  

 

[Penny]

I hope Texas does not get rid of early voting. I voted Monday and got there 2 minutes before they closed. Got right in.  My daughter voted yesterday and was in a long line. There was a girl in front of her who had an ankle monitor on! Oh, and she wore a t-shirt that said The future is Female! 

[Cartmann99]

4 hours ago, Penny said:

I hope Texas does not get rid of early voting.

I want to be totally wrong about this, but I believe Texas Republicans will do whatever it takes to try and keep themselves in power. Making it more difficult to vote helps them win elections. 

[CTRLZero]

My husband express mailed my ballot to me, and I just returned from walking it to the local post office.  Coincidentally, my daughter mailed her ballot in today as well.  My home district is mostly blue, but her current residence is in a reddish state, so here's hoping for the best in her local elections.

 

[Howl]

Voted this morning at the Chinatown Mall in the Chinese supermercado.  My city has a large Asian population (Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean). I have two early voting places, both about 10 minutes from my house.  In the past I've voted at churches, at the Chinese supermarket and at an elementary school. 

We ended up arriving a few minutes early, and didn't realize that the polling place (in the foyer of the Chinese supermarket) didn't open until 10. We were concerned that the poll workers had no clue, but they were just adjusting this and that as the clock ticked closer to 10.  I was the third person in line and the poll workers were competent and cheerful.  Fortunately, one still has the option to vote a straight Democratic (or Republican) ticket, which I did, but there were a bazillion-ty City Council races, judges, propositions for the City and so forth, so it was a 14-page ballot.  I noticed that the Libertarians had a pretty full slate. 

And yes, Texas does keep a paper record. 

[fraurosena]

Of course I won't be voting. I hope you don't mind me posting this voting check-in instead...

 

[LearningtoFly]

I voted this morning.  I live in rural Ohio so had to go to the Board of Elections at the county seat to vote.  I was the first one there but a couple came in right after me to vote, and it sounded like from what the clerk said that they'd had quite a few early voters.

I really like early voting, this was the first time I had done that.  The regular election day polling places always made me so anxious.  I felt fine about this, no pressure.  I also voted straight Democrat, I consider myself a moderate Independent, but I am so sick of the Republicans right now, I couldn't even consider them.  Healthcare/pre-existing conditions are my biggest motivators at the moment. 

One thing to note, in my state they had a couple of judges running but did not list their political party.  I had looked at my ballot online and found this, so I looked them up ahead of time.

[MarblesMom]

Just completed my absentee ballot.  Blue all the way.

[47of74]

Hi dumb question, how does early voting work? Are voting locations opened as they would be on election day? Or you just go to your voting location and ask for a ballot?

Where I live in Iowa they have a central elections annex that people can visit once early voting starts. They have all the ballots for the various precincts in the county. I’ve been voting there since at least 2006.

[Audrey2]

I turned my ballot in yesterday. I let the little guy (3 1/2) in my life watch me coloring some of the blocks while I explain what I was doing. Yesterday was perfect too, as Daniel Tiger talked about voting and choosing. The little guy and I went to the drop box at the library and I let him stick the ballot in. I reminded him both of what we had seen on Daniel Tiger and watching me make my choices. I told him how important it was to vote every single time he could. I do think if we knoe little people, it's important to talk about how important voting is and how important it is to us, especially since I live in a vote by mail no polls state.

[formergothardite]

NC has all sorts of awful constitutional amendments on the ballot including a voter ID aimed to repress votes by democrats. I'm terrified it will pass. The GOP went into a panic when they lost the governor race and are very worried that they will lose their hold on NC. The GOP is not going to go down without a very dirty fight. 

An article about the voter ID amendment. 

Quote

Apart from being completely unnecessary, the biggest problem with the proposed Voter ID requirement is that it will function as a 21st century poll tax to silence African American votes — which is precisely its intent. A report from the Budget and Tax Center says that 1 in 20 voters in Mecklenburg County don’t have a DMV-issued ID. African Americans constitute 33 percent of voters in Mecklenburg but make up 50 percent of voters who lack ID. The cost of securing ID is estimated at about $100 including lost wages, travel, and associated fees. That cost will be borne primarily by people of color who can least afford it. How many will opt not to vote when faced with a choice between casting a ballot and putting food on the table?

https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article219182260.html

I can check my local polling numbers and the number of republicans voting early is a lot higher than the number of democrats. There are a lot of unaffiliated people voting but in this area you can't assume they will vote blue.