(no subject)

Voted. Got there about 5 minutes til 7am, and then had to stand in line for 2 and a quarter hours. At least most of that time was inside the building, not out in the cold. One of the poll officials said that usually they have 9 (or maybe it was 6?) voting machines, but this time they were only given 4.

voting in SC

Problems frustrate Richland County voters

Lines get longer as machines break down

It seems I was lucky only having to wait 2.25 hours in line to vote. In some places, there were waits of 5 to 6 hours!

As Qiao is in a wheelchair due to his foot, he got to go to the head of the line. Apparently if I had gone up with him, they would have let me vote right after him. But the poll worker who lead him ahead didn't say anything to me, so I decided to stay in line. I would not have felt uncomfortable cutting ahead of everyone else, anyway. After voting, Qiao waited on the side while I stood in line for my turn.

The poll worker who addressed us all at one point about the low number of voting machines said that they had expected a large turnout and had asked for more machines, but had been refused. He told us that we could/should make complaints to the Election Commission. He also urged us to be patient, and above all, to make sure we stay and vote in spite of the frustration, and regardless of who we intended to vote for. That part of the speech almost made me teary-eyed. I was thinking, he's probably a pastor; it seems everyone around here who is good at public speaking is a pastor. Sure enough, near the end of his little speech, it turned a bit religious, in terms of "god will get you through this ordeal and any others", or something like that. But at least he prefaced it with "If you believe in..." That made me feel he was at least acknowledging that not everyone does believe.

(from 1st link above)Richland County elections officials said they had the same number of machines as in past elections, though they acknowledged many of the machines at precincts were breaking down.
Many poll managers throughout the county, however, said they had to make do with fewer resources than during past elections.

I wonder what the truth really is, about the number of voting machines at the precincts.

They said cell phones were not allowed to be on in the building, not even in silent mode, and that otherwise they might make you leave. I could see several people using their phones anyway. It doesn't make sense not to allow people to use their phones, when they are standing in line for hours, bored and with nothing else to do.

(no subject)

It bothers me that they declare the election won so early. Why can't they wait until most of the numbers are in?
From what I currently see, Ohio has 49.2% Obama, and 49.1% Romney, with 80% of precincts in. A 1500 vote difference. And yet they already declared it won by Obama, therefore determining the whole election. What if they are wrong? What if it goes .2% the other way? Crowds of people on TV jumping up and down, cheering, crying... Why can't they wait to be sure?

Oh, look at it now. 49.2% vs 49.2%. 1046 vote difference.

I'd be less anxious if they hadn't called it already.