NHNE
Reader Reports
.............
1.
Name: Kathy Gray
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Email: <kgray@iteck.net>
I am
a 61 year old female and live in a rural area and vote
in a small town that has two polling places. I used to
be a poll worker. My husband and I decided to vote mid-morning
as we thought it would be slowest. We were pleasantly surprised
to see the polling place very busy. In fact at 10:00 A.M.
there were 320 votes cast. That is amazing number of votes
for our precinct. The whole experience lasted only 15 minutes.
.............
2.
Location:
Sedona, Arizona, Yavapai County
Polling Place: Church of Christ in West Sedona
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 10 AM
Name: David Sunfellow
Email: <nhne@nhne.com>
I arrived
at our polling place a little after 10AM. There were four
people manning a Kerry/Edwards table outside, with Kerry/Edwards
election materials and a platter of cookies. Surprisingly,
there were no Bush tables or supporters. Nor were there
supporters of any other candidates. There was a sign, set
up near the Kerry/Edwards folks, that said people who were
supporting particular candidates had to stay 75 feet away
from the polling area.
Inside,
there were eight polling stations and about eight people
manning the tables, registration books, and ballots. Although
all the polling stations were full of people voting, there
was no line -- just a steady stream of people coming in,
voting, and then leaving. The process was simple: I was
first greeted by a woman who looked up my name in a voter
registration list. Once she found it, I was given a slip
of paper with the number that had appeared beside my name.
I then took the slip of paper to man who looked me up in
another voter registration book. After he found my name
and number, I was asked to sign a blank space near my name.
Then another woman gave me a paper ballot. I stepped into
a small, portable, open-air, three-sided polling booth
and selected the candidates I wanted by filling in ovals
on the paper ballot. When finished, I took the ballet to
a machine that was manned by yet another election volunteer.
The machine sucked in my ballet, scanning and tallying
my selections optically.
Everyone
was calm and friendly. There were six people present that
I knew by name and several others I knew by face. I was
at the polling place about 15 minutes. After my ballot
had been sucked into the ballet machine, the gentleman
who was manning the machine gave me a sticker that said "I
Voted".
.............
3.
Location:
New York City, 109th District
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 7:45 AM
Name: Sharon Smith
Hi, this
is Sharon Smith, voting in the 109th District of New York
City. I went to my usual polling place at 7:45 AM. In
my 20+ years of voting there, I have NEVER seen so many
people standing in line waiting to vote. I am sure
that my district (the West Village of Manhattan) is one
of the most progressive in the country and people were
ready to rock and roll for Kerry.... Keeping our fingers
crossed.
.............
4.
Location:
Paradise Valley (Scottsdale, Arizona)
Name: Joseph Dillard
I have
already voted. Many of the challenges people are going
to be reporting would have been avoided if more people
had avoided the lines and the opportunity for confusion
at the polls. If you did not vote early, consider doing
so in the future.
.............
5.
Location:
Macon, Georgia
Voting Date: October 28, 2004
Time: 8:30 AM
Name: Dianne
Well,
early voting went nuts here in Macon, GA. Every day there
was another article in the newspaper about it, and every
day more and more people seemed to get on the bandwagon.
By the time I decided to go on Thursday (not sure why,
actually), the wait was up to three hours! I got there
promptly at 8:30 AM when the office opened, and walked
out at 11:30.
I guess
people are worried it'll be even more crowded on the actual
day, but it probably won't because the voting will be divided
up among the different precincts, and because half the
people will have already voted! Anyhow, I think it's heartening
that so many people are so interested in voting for a change!
............
6.
Location:
Boston Area: Franklin, MA
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 9:30 AM
Name: Ernie Karhu
Email: erniekarhu@comcast.net
My partner
I and left home for the Franklin High School Field House
to vote at around 9:30 AM. The parking lot was nearly filled,
but people were leaving at about the same rate as they
were coming in to vote. All the town precincts voted in
the same building. There were eight lines for eight precincts
and about a dozen or more voting booths at the end of each
precinct line. Each precinct line had three workers, each
who check off the voter by address before balloting and
three workers receiving ballots and checking off those
who completed the vote. We thought we were precinct one
but had been changed to precinct eight. We moved quickly
to line eight at the other end of the field house and received
our ballots, filled them out in the booths and turned in
the ballots in a shredder-like device that records and
stores the ballots.
The voting
process moved as quickly as we could. We were in and out
in a matter of minutes. No harassment but we were observed
closely by police and other observers inside the polling
location. State Highway Patrol Officers were directing
traffic.
A local
candidate and campaign workers were out with signs and
handshakes alongside the field house. We saw CNN exit pollsters.
I made direct eye contact with the exit pollster but she
ignored me. I suppose the surveys were done randomly. Someone
else was completing a survey.
............
7.
Location:
Cambridge MA
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 10:00 AM
Name: Sharrhan Williamson and Jonathan Backstrom
Email: mymuseislove@hotmail.com
I live
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a bastion of liberal Democrats.
Nevertheless, I had expected a long wait at the polls this
morning, and the possibility of having to show my I.D.
for the first time in my voting life. I was pleasantly
surprised. We went to the polls at about 10:00 a.m. Not
only did my husband and I not have to wait in line because
there was none, but the voting official taking our address
said, "Oh, we know you guys! You've been coming to
this polling station for years." It was easy and quick,
and there were no challengers present.
............
8.
Location:
Ocean Springs, MS, Precinct 5 Fountainbleau
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 8 AM
Name: Sherry Stultz
Email: sherjs@earthlink.net
The main
precinct in town was its own traffic jam with police trying
to move cars off the highway where some folks had double
parked. It was prime time for people on their way to work
and the voter turnout was heavy. At my precinct the voter
turnout was the equivalent, given our smaller population.
I waited about 20 minutes to have my name checked off the
list and the one observer was helping handicap and elderly
people to the booths.
All alternate
candidates had made it to the ballot in Mississippi and
I was surprised to learn as I looked at the ballot that
we were one of 11 states with a gay marriage referendum.
It was not well written and I will be curious to see the
percentages. You were asked to check FOR or AGAINST. FOR
represented that you agreed that same sex unions could
not take place in the state and marriages enacted in other
states couldn't be recognized either. AGAINST meant you
did not want such a law on the books. But people not reading
the carefully will pick AGAINST when they really mean FOR.
My mother was confused enough to reread this statement
at least three times before she made her choice. I found
it somewhat ironic and comical given the low literacy rate
in our state.
...........
9.
Location:
Houston, TX, Precinct no.637
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 9:45 AM
Name: Pat
It is
a rainy day here. I had to park at the restaurant across
the street as there were none open at the polling place's
lot. I went at a time that is usually quick in an out.
There was no wait to check in/sign my name by my name and
to get my code number from the Gems unit. I did have to
wait for a 'booth'. There were at least six, maybe seven
attached to each Gems unit -- there were two Gems units
to the location. People were in need of assistance for
language or age reasons. The clerks were friendly and helpful.
I really did not expect anything less. The place actually
had a festive air to it. I was in there about 15 minutes
all told. I knew one of the poll workers by name and three
by sight.
There
was only one voting precinct at this location which in
itself eliminated a level of potential confusion. I have
election clerked where there have been up to three to a
location. I asked and was told it had been steady all morning.
The election judge was looking at how they might rearrange
the tables to speed things along as they were expecting
it to be very busy by 5 PM.
There
was someone outside asking as I left, and every one else
who left, if they were able to vote okay. I did not expect
any problem -- I may live in Houston, Texas, but I live
in a Democratic part and voting is taken very seriously;
many are very informed and civically and politically active.
There were no Bush signs out front; I have counted only
three in the neighborhood. My block has eight Kerry signs.
...........
10.
Location:
Ottumwa Iowa Courthouse
Voting Date: October 25, 2004
Time: 9 AM
Name: Vicky Morrow
Email: twomoro@webtv.net
Our family
went to the courthouse to vote absentee knowing that the
polls would be busy. Also we are concerned that new machines
were going to be used and wanted to be sure our vote was
secure. We were told that already in our county over 3,000
people had voted and 5,000 in another county. The woman
who helped us looked dazed but managed a smile when we
left. There were no others waiting to vote there. We've
been politically active all year and are working the polls
today.
...........
11.
Location:
Volunteering in Phoenix, Arizona
Date: November 2, 2004
Name: Joseph Dillard
I voted
early by mail but I spent this election morning from 7:00
A.M. to about 11:30 A.M. volunteering for MoveOn.Org. I
had never done anything like this. The fact that I am is
probably a sign that there are hundreds, if not thousands
of traditionally complacent liberals like me who have been
driven into activism by the embarrassing incompetence of
this administration.
At 7:00
A.M. I reported at the local MoveOn office, in an apartment
complex near the airport. About 25 men and women of all
ages and races were busy at laptops, calling up candidates
or processing volunteers like myself, giving them assignments
in the field. I had the sense that they were well staffed
out in the field because one Anglo lady who came in to
volunteer said that she could go to a Hispanically-dominated
precinct because she spoke Spanish, but they ended up sending
her to a precinct that was predominantly Caucasian. This
was surprising to me, considering the large Latino populations
in parts of Phoenix.
My assignment
was in Glendale, checking to make sure that canvassed voters
actually showed up at their polling place, working with
a very dedicated canvasser named Rosemary who was already
at Apollo High School when I arrived. Voting was steady
in this mostly middle class white precinct. Lines were
short. We had "Move On" and Kerry signs on Rosemary's
car as well as doughnuts for voters. There were no other
political representatives to be seen. I went around the
neighborhood knocking on doors, trying to remind those
who had not yet gotten signed off at the poll out to vote,
taking them if necessary. Most weren't home, but I did
get to talk to a few. Although it didn't feel like I did
much, I felt good about what I did. I was told that precinct
turn out was above normal, which is hopeful for those of
us who badly desire a change at the top.
All in
all, it was a very positive experience and I recommend
it to others. I will undoubtedly volunteer in the future
and probably get involved with local house and senate races.
Tonight
there will be two victory parties that I'll attend, regardless
of the state of the election. I've never done that before
either!
............
12.
Location:
Doyline, Louisiana
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 6:30 A.M.
Name: Pepper Lumina
I live
outside the city limits of a small rural town and arrived
at the local High School at 6:30 A.M. I thought I would
be one of the very first to vote, but I was surprised to
see a line of about 14 people! I am usually in and out
in a matter of minutes, but today I waited in line. There
are only two old-fashioned voting machines and so it took
about 30 minutes to get to vote. There were four polling
attendants and everything went very smoothly. Not a single
candidate sign or poster was to be seen, which is very
unusual! All very quiet in Doyline, LA!
............
13.
Location:
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 9:30 A.M.
Name: Bonnie Willow
Colorado
Springs, Colorado, a highly conservative, Republican-dominated,
swing state. We voted at 9:30 AM in our usual church location.
Outside was a table with signs saying "You Have The
Right To Vote". They were there to protect anyone
who was harassed. They said there had been no incidents
so far in Colorado, and that ours was the quickest-moving
precinct. They told me that the scanner didn't work in
the morning, but it was repaired pretty quickly. Inside
the church, there were three times more people than I've
ever encountered while voting! That was heartening. (Many
acquaintances here voted early this year.) The process
moved quickly and without incident, so we didn't have to
wait at all. The ballot was the fill-in-the-circle type.
The mood was jovial, there were no protestors or people
checking anything. It went very well.
............
14.
Location: Rye, Colorado
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 2:10 PM MST
Name: Jack Finch and Mary Wehrman
Email: johnrfinch@aol.com
The 17th Precinct voting took approximately ten minutes, no lines
or delays. There was a 100' restriction sign to prevent political
commentary within that distance of the polling place. There were
signs inside that listed election crimes and the pencil and paper
ballot went through the optical scanner without difficulty. As
of 2:10PM MST, there were 371 ballots cast at the 17th Precinct.
No problems were reported although provisional ballots were on
hand if needed. No significant change from previous times we have
voted here. Thanks...
............
15.
Location:
Macon, Georgia
Voting Date: November 1, 2004
Time: 11:45 A.M.
Name: Dayne Hatten
Email: Grey.Beard@cox.net
I wanted
to vote early, but due to several items on our calendar,
pre-planned numerous weeks ago, I couldn't get around to
doing the patriotic thing during last week. Yesterday (11-1-04),
Dianne called me and told me that Bibb County was allowing
early voting that day, and where the voters could go to
complete the errand. I hurried up with the ninth hole,
cleaned up and hauled my ashes to the aforementioned place
to cast my vote. When I arrived at the polling place, I
found that the wait was no more than 30 minutes (max) and
to my delight, I was out of there in under 15. I called
Wendie and informed her of Dianne's message, which she
made hasty arrangements to acquit.
I did
hear about 50 people talking among themselves in the line
and it looked like a 50-50 split for the position of president.
In fact, from what I heard, there were people voting Republican
for President, and Democrat for Congressman etc., and vice-versa.
Whew. Gonna be a tight race!
............
16.
Location:
North Bergen, New Jersey
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 6:10 AM
Name: John Miranda
Email: jmmiranda@juno.com
My wife
and I went to our usual polling place about 1/2 mile away.
There were three folks inside and one outside to greet
us as we entered. One person was ahead of me and he completed
his voting in about 90 seconds. After they located my name,
I had to sign a receipt, then gave it to a person who was
collecting them. She opened the curtain for me. The system
was touch screen with no apparent confusion. I voted and
as I exited the curtain, the person who collected the receipt
checked to make certain I had pressed the confirmation
button. My wife then voted and we left. No problem. No
hassle. No police. No challengers or challenges (this is
a very mixed district). We even found a parking space!
But, that doesn't convince me even a little bit that those
electronic voting machines are not going to report what
the (Republican) manufacturers want them to report. Let's
face it: when you own the voting machinery and no one else
has access to them, you own the vote. Trust is not an option
here and without some sort of independent verification,
the whole thing is a sham. Period.
............
17. Location:
Ft Worth, Texas
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 3:30 P.M.
Name: Barbara
Half an hour after the elementary school let out my husband
and I drove over to cast our votes in the school gym. I was
unsure of the process because you see, although I have grown
children, I had never voted before. This election was different
the ones in the past. There was no way I could stand to the
side and not cast my vote while I felt so strongly that the
morals and values of this nations stood in the balance.
There
were no policemen, no long lines and no waiting. Understanding
in detail how the electoral votes work
but having never seen
with my own eyes a ballot, it only took a minute to see
how it was done. Within just a couple of minutes
I was out the
door and on my way home. According to the sign on the
door, over 3,000 had now voted in our little precinct in
suburban
Ft Worth. I am sure I wasn't the only first timer but
may have been the oldest first timer.
............
18.
Location:
Santa Barbara, California
Voting Date: Absentee, October 28, 2004
Name: Michael Hathaway
Email: mwhathaway@aol.com
It looks
like an overwhelming Kerry win here in Santa Barbara, CA
-- I've Seen 100 Kerry yard signs
and bumper
strips
to a mere five for Bush, and this area *used* to
be archconservative.
My political
contribution this time has been spending thousands of hours
since 2001 sharing
information,
ideas, inspiration
and money on the internet. It has felt like millions
and perhaps even billions of a mushroom mat's
mycelium spreading,
interpenetrating, growing denser and denser until,
with the right heat and moisture, POP!! -- suddenly
there's
a fresh
new mushroom standing up "out of nowhere,
out of nothing" --
a Dean movement, a MoveOn, a Kerry victory.
I've
gone door to door in almost every election
since Kennedy in 1960, including five months
on the road
in '68 for Eugene
McCarthy; this time I've cheered on those who're
doing it.
This
is the most important election of all time, I believe,
because of the overwhelmingly
wrong,
vicious, corrupt and
mendacious uses of America's power by the
Bush Administration. The US and the world really
NEED someone of passion
more like Dean, and of the range of awareness
of Nader,
but
it will be quite good enough for now to have
a basically decent
and thoughtful Kerry. Last election Jonathon
Edwards showed up (really!) at my voting
place, cracking
his wild, funny,
unsettling jokes. This time I urged everyone
to cast absentee ballots, concerned about
the not
funny,
unsettling evidence
of serious computer voting fraud INTENTIONS
at Diebold and others.
............
19.
Location:
Flagstaff, Arizona
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 11 AM
Name: Jeremia Sunfellow
My boyfriend
and I voted today, both for the first time. We arrived
at an old
Baptist church
at about
11:15 AM.
There was hardly a line at all and
the wait was about was as long
as it took for them to find your name
on the sheet. There were about seven staff
members who all seemed
well trained
and organized as well as friendly,
helpful and happy to be there. The room was almost
completely
silent.
People
seemed
to handle their ballots and the space
within the room with a somber respect.
The ballot
itself reminded me of every horrifying government written
standardized
test I have
ever taken, however
this time, it was different. The
outcome was not as direct or
immediate as passing or failing.
I had the distinct feeling that I was reaching
out
to and becoming
part of current
events, lending my tiny voice to
the hope of something better.
On the
way out after my ballot was sucked into the machine, the
staff
member standing
there
gave me
a sticker and told
me that my voice had been counted.
My little voice, whatever it means
in the
grand chaos
of our political
system, counted
-- at least at the Baptist church
in Flagstaff, Arizona...
............
20.
Location:
Eldersburg, Maryland, Linton Springs School
Voting Date: November 2, 2004
Time: 4:15 PM
Name: Ken Lang Jr.
Email: womken@pa.net
I voted
in Maryland at my granddaughter's middle school. Here we
are
using touchscreen machines.
There were
15 in the cafeteria. All
went smoothly and the place was
well staffed the instructions were
clear
and concise. The ballot easy
to read.
............
21.
Location:
Alberton, Montana
Voting Date: November 2nd, 2004
Time: 6:45 PM
Name: Parris ja Young
I went to the polls at 18:45 and registered,
as I was asked to by the VoteWatchers at Common Cause. I
was to wait until
the appointed hour and then observe the two voters immediately
following me. I did. It was a great evening, actually. Our
town is so small that we know practically everyone. The turnout
was so great (usually about 200, but this year, at 19:15
hours, 475!).
Although I was 'observing', the elections officials,
all of whom I know personally, let me wander around with
my camera
(I am a reporter at the local small paper) and take pictures.
I was respectful of voters privacy as I completed my forms
for the two voters.
The second of
the voters I was to observe I did not know. A young man,
his voting was conventional
and without a problem.
The other voter, by some strange chance, is a very good friend.
He is a wild man. A biker. A freelance artist. A woodcarver.
Strikingly good looking and dressed in black leathers with
silver earrings, an oddly cut goatee, wild hair. He's the
guy all the Hollywood Joes copy with their 'deliberate degeneracy'.
He loves and respects people, but goes from woman to woman
rather rapidly. "Ten feet further on, there's another
one," he says. He is one of the most creative people
I know. And he, by some chance, is my first observee. And
he, by some chance, is the only person all day that has shown
up to find his name not on the register. He knew he would
not find it.
So he questioned the election officials about
a provisional ballot. The ladies are very willing to help
him, but are
ignorant of the process. They let him fill out a form,
an application?, while they read or research. Then they let
him sign the register. Everyone must wait about 30 minutes.
A
city council meeting is in progress in the waiting room.
They have never seen such a big crowd at a city council
meeting. After 30 minutes they give my friend a ballot
and he votes.
They inform him that he has 24 hours to get to the county
seat and prove his identity before his voting will be
counted. He is very polite and respectful as he leaves, thanking
all the officials and after a few jokes, with himself
as
the
butt, he leaves everyone laughing. That's election day
in Alberton, MT. I wouldn't trade my cabin for a penthouse
in
Dallas.
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