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On Sunday, Denise and I decided to take advantage of early voting, as we had in the last presidential election. Instead, it took advantage of us...
The hours for early voting were from 1:00 to 5:00; mind you, due to the wisdom of our Repu
The hours for early voting were from 1:00 to 5:00; mind you, due to the wisdom of our Repu
blican state administration, there was only one polling place permitted to be open for the county, so anyone in Hamilton County who wanted to vote early had to come to downtown Cincinnati and the Board of elections office there. Denise and I arrived at about 1:30, finally found a parking spot about two blocks away, and walked over. The Board of Election building is at the end of a city block on Broadway; the line, as we discovered, came out of the door, went down the length of the block, turned to go down the length of the block again, and then turned yet again to follow the back of the buildings down the length of the blocks again…
Honestly, I would have happy to have walked back to the car, but Denise said “Let’s just get in line and see how it goes.”
I started the timer on my iPhone…
The line moved slowly but steadily at this end, and we had lots of visitors. We took a sample ballot from the Democratic Party volunteers working the line, and chatted with those around us. The early voters, true to what has been reported, were almost entirely Democrats, and racially diverse. One poor Republican volunteer walked the line,holding out their sample ballot, and finding no takers.
There were also people on the ballot walking the line and shaking hands -- again, every one of them affiliated with the Democratic Party. We shook hands with a couple candidates for judge, the candidate for Hamilton County Sheriff, the candidate for County Commissioner, and so on. A car circled the block with flags and such, chanting “Four more years!” through a megaphone; another man with a megaphone walked along the line out in the street (all campaign workers have to stay ten feet away) and urging people to hang in there and vote.
About twenty minutes into our stay, there was a stir in the line: Jesse jackson had arrived and was walking the line himself, shaking hands as people took out cell phones and cameras to take pictures. He shook Denise’s hand in passing.
An hour in, and we’d reached the 1/3 point, the corner where we turned up 8th toward Broadway. We also were now in sunlight, which was a great improvement over the cold shadow of the buildings we’d been in. The campaign workers (the Democratic party ones, anyway; there was almost no representation from the Republican party here) were doing their best to keep everyone happy: they were passing out water, chips, granola bars, and sandwiches to anyone who wanted them.
But the line was moving slower and slower the closer we got to Broadway: people bunching up. One highlight, however, was Congressman John Lewis, of civil rights era fame, who arrived to walk the line and give encouragement to everyone to stay and vote. He moved slowly down the line, stopping to talk and shake hands. We both shook his hand, and I took a picture of him with Denise.
At the two and a half hour mark in line, we reached the corner of Broadway and could look down the length of the block to our destination. But the line was now crawling, and it was after 4:00 PM, and the line behind us still went all the way back down the street, turned the corner, and vanished behind the back of the buildings. We were assured by the the campaign workers that at five, the election officials wouldn’t allow anyone else to join the line, but anyone in line at that time would be permitted to vote -- their lawyers were inside the building too.
The sun had done down behind the city buildings, and it was rapidly getting much colder. The campaign people came by with pizza and hot cocoa, which was nice -- all in all, kudos to the workers, who kept everyone nourished during the long wait. My lower back was complaining about having to stand this long, and my knees were joining the chorus. I told them to shut up, since there was no way that after waiting this long, I was leaving the line.
Five o’clock came and went; by 5:30 were were finally at the door. Up the door, to the registration area, and we were finally given ballots and shepherded to the booths that were set up for voting. I hit the timer on my iPhone when I reached my booth: we’d been in line four hours, twenty-three minutes, and eight seconds.
I filled in my ballot, put it in the box, and waited for Denise to emerge. We said goodbye to our “line friends” who were also emerging at around the same time, and headed home.
All in all, it was an interesting experience, but not one I really care to repeat...
Honestly, I would have happy to have walked back to the car, but Denise said “Let’s just get in line and see how it goes.”
I started the timer on my iPhone…
The line moved slowly but steadily at this end, and we had lots of visitors. We took a sample ballot from the Democratic Party volunteers working the line, and chatted with those around us. The early voters, true to what has been reported, were almost entirely Democrats, and racially diverse. One poor Republican volunteer walked the line,holding out their sample ballot, and finding no takers.
There were also people on the ballot walking the line and shaking hands -- again, every one of them affiliated with the Democratic Party. We shook hands with a couple candidates for judge, the candidate for Hamilton County Sheriff, the candidate for County Commissioner, and so on. A car circled the block with flags and such, chanting “Four more years!” through a megaphone; another man with a megaphone walked along the line out in the street (all campaign workers have to stay ten feet away) and urging people to hang in there and vote.
About twenty minutes into our stay, there was a stir in the line: Jesse jackson had arrived and was walking the line himself, shaking hands as people took out cell phones and cameras to take pictures. He shook Denise’s hand in passing.
An hour in, and we’d reached the 1/3 point, the corner where we turned up 8th toward Broadway. We also were now in sunlight, which was a great improvement over the cold shadow of the buildings we’d been in. The campaign workers (the Democratic party ones, anyway; there was almost no representation from the Republican party here) were doing their best to keep everyone happy: they were passing out water, chips, granola bars, and sandwiches to anyone who wanted them.
But the line was moving slower and slower the closer we got to Broadway: people bunching up. One highlight, however, was Congressman John Lewis, of civil rights era fame, who arrived to walk the line and give encouragement to everyone to stay and vote. He moved slowly down the line, stopping to talk and shake hands. We both shook his hand, and I took a picture of him with Denise.
At the two and a half hour mark in line, we reached the corner of Broadway and could look down the length of the block to our destination. But the line was now crawling, and it was after 4:00 PM, and the line behind us still went all the way back down the street, turned the corner, and vanished behind the back of the buildings. We were assured by the the campaign workers that at five, the election officials wouldn’t allow anyone else to join the line, but anyone in line at that time would be permitted to vote -- their lawyers were inside the building too.
The sun had done down behind the city buildings, and it was rapidly getting much colder. The campaign people came by with pizza and hot cocoa, which was nice -- all in all, kudos to the workers, who kept everyone nourished during the long wait. My lower back was complaining about having to stand this long, and my knees were joining the chorus. I told them to shut up, since there was no way that after waiting this long, I was leaving the line.
Five o’clock came and went; by 5:30 were were finally at the door. Up the door, to the registration area, and we were finally given ballots and shepherded to the booths that were set up for voting. I hit the timer on my iPhone when I reached my booth: we’d been in line four hours, twenty-three minutes, and eight seconds.
I filled in my ballot, put it in the box, and waited for Denise to emerge. We said goodbye to our “line friends” who were also emerging at around the same time, and headed home.
All in all, it was an interesting experience, but not one I really care to repeat...
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Here in ustta-be liberal land
We don't allow campaigning within 100 feet of polling places. We do sometimes get long lines at polling places (mostly because of same day voter registration which our ex-secretary of state, Kiffmeyer, is doing her best to stop) on election day.
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When voting is harder than paying your bills, some aspects of the system need overhaul. Stories like these will, I hope, provide impetus to such changes.
I intend to vote early tomorrow, with camera in hand. (One time, on the line outside, I interviewed an imam.)
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I'll be voting on Election Day. I'll be fully recharging my iPod battery first, and I hope it holds out until I get to the front of the line. But maybe, with all the people voting early (Michigan doesn't have "early voting" as such, but lots more people than usual are using absentee ballots), the line will be surprisingly short tomorrow.
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I hope there's record turnout for the election, and I'm thankful I vote in such a small town. I sure as heck don't have four hours, twenty-three minutes, and eight seconds to stand in line tomorrow. I must pack the car and head for the border. I'm stopping on the US side for the night, and fervently hope the lines into Canada aren't long the next morning.
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Also: JOHN LEWIS!!!! omg, that's so exciting.
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Be grateful you got water: in both Texas and Florida, Tea Party activists have successfully stopped the NAACP from distributing water to people in line by claiming that they are attempting to bribe voters *sigh*
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Good on you, as my overseas friends say, for sticking it out!
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