Get Yer Voting Stories Here! October 22, 2016 10:53 AM Subscribe
I was inspired by the grin that I see Hillary sporting lately, and how people's voting stories make me remember that this is an awesome historical moment, let's enjoy it! Share 'em when you cast 'em :)
The election threads were bumming me out, this is my attempt to gather some of the fun stuff in one place.
The election threads were bumming me out, this is my attempt to gather some of the fun stuff in one place.
You and your adorable baby both get a high five! I early voted on Thursday, the first day here in NC--it was a half hour wait, which was the shortest wait I heard of for that polling place. Everyone was in good spirits and chatting in line, it was actually really fun! Here is my early voting selfie. :)
posted by leesh at 11:54 AM on October 22, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by leesh at 11:54 AM on October 22, 2016 [10 favorites]
I'm waiting to vote on the official Election Day, but I'll share my 2008 voting story...
I got to my polling place at about 6:30 am and the line was already out the door. As the line moved inside and was snaking back and forth, the gentleman directly behind me started talking with an African American woman several places in front of us--it was obvious that they were acquaintances. After some conversation about the weather, etc the gentleman said something like "Wow, you must have really gotten up early to be so far ahead of me in line!" The woman gave the most wonderful smile and quietly said "Well, it's a historic day."
It's the only time that I've ever wept while waiting to vote. I'm tearing up now remembering the quiet, dignified joy that I saw on that woman's face and heard in her voice. I'll never forget her or that moment in time.
posted by bookmammal at 12:02 PM on October 22, 2016 [29 favorites]
I got to my polling place at about 6:30 am and the line was already out the door. As the line moved inside and was snaking back and forth, the gentleman directly behind me started talking with an African American woman several places in front of us--it was obvious that they were acquaintances. After some conversation about the weather, etc the gentleman said something like "Wow, you must have really gotten up early to be so far ahead of me in line!" The woman gave the most wonderful smile and quietly said "Well, it's a historic day."
It's the only time that I've ever wept while waiting to vote. I'm tearing up now remembering the quiet, dignified joy that I saw on that woman's face and heard in her voice. I'll never forget her or that moment in time.
posted by bookmammal at 12:02 PM on October 22, 2016 [29 favorites]
I am decidedly not a baby person, but great googly moogly that is one amazingly adorable baby.
posted by blurker at 12:03 PM on October 22, 2016 [22 favorites]
posted by blurker at 12:03 PM on October 22, 2016 [22 favorites]
I haven't voted yet, but I have an election-day story from another thread -
I work with an NGO that, among other things, resettles refugees here in the US. I'm with the human resources office, and one of the things I do is "stage manage" some of the new employee orientations. We have guest speakers at them, and I reached out to someone from the US-resettlement program to be a guest speaker at the next one. He said sure.
He checked his calendar then, and said "oh, did you know it was the same day as Election Day?"
"Oh! No, I missed that - what a coincidence!"
He nodded - then grinned. "I think I'll start by asking everyone if they've voted yet," he teased, "and then if they haven't, I'll stop everything and take everyone out to go do that instead."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:12 PM on October 22, 2016 [6 favorites]
I work with an NGO that, among other things, resettles refugees here in the US. I'm with the human resources office, and one of the things I do is "stage manage" some of the new employee orientations. We have guest speakers at them, and I reached out to someone from the US-resettlement program to be a guest speaker at the next one. He said sure.
He checked his calendar then, and said "oh, did you know it was the same day as Election Day?"
"Oh! No, I missed that - what a coincidence!"
He nodded - then grinned. "I think I'll start by asking everyone if they've voted yet," he teased, "and then if they haven't, I'll stop everything and take everyone out to go do that instead."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:12 PM on October 22, 2016 [6 favorites]
Repeat from one of the election threads.
My Asbsentee voting report:
Living in Mississippi, it doesn't matter that I vote as much as it does elsewhere, but even though I am temporarily living with my mom several counties away, NOTHING was going to stop me from filling in that oval. So, I went to a bank for a notary public, who 1. Didn't understand "what a 'sworn oath'" is, 2. didn't know on what day the election will be, and 3. said, "I guess they want a notary because of all those dead people voting." I said, "That is not really a thing that happens." She said, "Well, there's just so much both sides are saying about it!" I surreptitiously took a photo of my darkened oval beside "Hillary Clinton" with, I admit, tears in my eyes, and determined not to let this dumbass ruin my moment. I JUST VOTED FOR THE FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE USA!
posted by thebrokedown at 12:12 PM on October 22, 2016 [20 favorites]
My Asbsentee voting report:
Living in Mississippi, it doesn't matter that I vote as much as it does elsewhere, but even though I am temporarily living with my mom several counties away, NOTHING was going to stop me from filling in that oval. So, I went to a bank for a notary public, who 1. Didn't understand "what a 'sworn oath'" is, 2. didn't know on what day the election will be, and 3. said, "I guess they want a notary because of all those dead people voting." I said, "That is not really a thing that happens." She said, "Well, there's just so much both sides are saying about it!" I surreptitiously took a photo of my darkened oval beside "Hillary Clinton" with, I admit, tears in my eyes, and determined not to let this dumbass ruin my moment. I JUST VOTED FOR THE FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE USA!
posted by thebrokedown at 12:12 PM on October 22, 2016 [20 favorites]
Filled my ballot out when it arrived on Thursday. Just dropped it off at the library (along w/Mrs. dersins' ballot).
No ballot selfie, but it sure as shit felt pretty goddam good.
Now off to knock some doors.
posted by dersins at 12:19 PM on October 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
No ballot selfie, but it sure as shit felt pretty goddam good.
Now off to knock some doors.
posted by dersins at 12:19 PM on October 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
I mailed my ballot from York, England today (California overseas voter)! It's been strange and tumultuous to watch this all from afar, and at the same time paying close attention to UK politics too — what a world we're living in today.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:32 PM on October 22, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 12:32 PM on October 22, 2016 [7 favorites]
I filled out and put my ballot in the mail this morning. Filling it out took quite a while because of needing to make sure not to accidentally vote the wrong way on a confusingly-worded ballot initiative, and to check up on all those lower-tier races (like for judges) where I didn't recognize any names.
posted by Dip Flash at 12:38 PM on October 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 12:38 PM on October 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
No early voting in PA so I'll be at the senior towers around the corner at 7:00 AM on November 8 so I can yell my name at the very sweet but very deaf lady so that she can flip through the cards in the file box for three minutes trying to find my card while voters pile up behind me. After two minutes of this, the other little old lady in charge of the ledger that you sign starts yelling at her that she's taking too much time and that she's looking in the wrong part of the file box for my card. This will be my seventeenth election in this district and it's always the same ritual.
posted by octothorpe at 12:39 PM on October 22, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 12:39 PM on October 22, 2016 [18 favorites]
I got my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday -- I haven't been so excited about a piece of mail since I was a little kid. I filled it out immediately, and put it right back in the box for pick-up. It was very hard not to doodle happy faces all over the ballot, but I did write a secret message on the envelope, under the stamp: PUSSY GRABS BACK.
posted by Corvid at 12:40 PM on October 22, 2016 [40 favorites]
posted by Corvid at 12:40 PM on October 22, 2016 [40 favorites]
I was voting for a local election last November and when I approached one of the help tables to go sign-in, I recognized the lady working the help table was no other than my 8th Grade English teacher from over two decades ago. I introduced myself and she remembered our brief time together when I was a pupil in her class doing assignments. After our friendly conversation she pointed me to the available voting booth and I went inside to vote.
posted by grobertson at 1:17 PM on October 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by grobertson at 1:17 PM on October 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
There isn't much in the way of a story about my voting. By the time I was of legal age to vote, my family had moved to Canada. We spent the first three years as landed immigrants and were unable to vote. But once those three years were up, we applied for citizenship. My first vote was in a local municipal election here in Ontario, it would be another year after that before I was able to vote in a federal election and put my vote towards choosing the Prime Minister. I've voted in every election since. I am one of those sentimental people that think its my civic duty to vote in my elections, to make my voice heard. I always ask for my “I VOTED, DID YOU?” sticker.
posted by Fizz at 1:32 PM on October 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 1:32 PM on October 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
I just got back from voting! Here's my voting selfie!
I noted on Facebook that I kind of wish I had gotten dressed up for it instead of just wearing my Saturday cleaning clothes.
posted by Stewriffic at 1:54 PM on October 22, 2016 [12 favorites]
I noted on Facebook that I kind of wish I had gotten dressed up for it instead of just wearing my Saturday cleaning clothes.
posted by Stewriffic at 1:54 PM on October 22, 2016 [12 favorites]
Here's my contribution from October 12 in another election thread:
I voted early today, something I have never done in a general election before. It just seemed too important to wait.
I walked a few blocks from work to the Hamilton County Board of Elections in downtown Cincinnati and it was like a party down there, y'all. The Hillary supporters were basically running up and down the sidewalk clapping and smiling and high-fiving anyone who would join in. It was infectious enthusiasm and I was able to grab a couple signs so I wouldn't have to stop at headquarters on the way home (I need to put some at the entrance to our neighborhood).
However, the Trump supporters who were there seriously looked embarrassed to be there. They weren't holding their signs up, they weren't making eye contact, and a handful of them left while I was inside, leaving only two of them there to hold down the fort. They didn't even have any sample ballots to hand out! They didn't have any extra signs to give away!
I overheard two Board of Elections staff saying that they've never, ever seen it as busy as it was on the first day of early voting. That's good. Historically, that means that the Democratic base is getting out and when the Democratic base shows up, the Democrats win.
I'm with her! LET'S DO THIS!!!!!
posted by cooker girl at 1:10 PM on October 12 [98 favorites +] [!]
posted by cooker girl at 2:45 PM on October 22, 2016 [9 favorites]
I voted early today, something I have never done in a general election before. It just seemed too important to wait.
I walked a few blocks from work to the Hamilton County Board of Elections in downtown Cincinnati and it was like a party down there, y'all. The Hillary supporters were basically running up and down the sidewalk clapping and smiling and high-fiving anyone who would join in. It was infectious enthusiasm and I was able to grab a couple signs so I wouldn't have to stop at headquarters on the way home (I need to put some at the entrance to our neighborhood).
However, the Trump supporters who were there seriously looked embarrassed to be there. They weren't holding their signs up, they weren't making eye contact, and a handful of them left while I was inside, leaving only two of them there to hold down the fort. They didn't even have any sample ballots to hand out! They didn't have any extra signs to give away!
I overheard two Board of Elections staff saying that they've never, ever seen it as busy as it was on the first day of early voting. That's good. Historically, that means that the Democratic base is getting out and when the Democratic base shows up, the Democrats win.
I'm with her! LET'S DO THIS!!!!!
posted by cooker girl at 1:10 PM on October 12 [98 favorites +] [!]
posted by cooker girl at 2:45 PM on October 22, 2016 [9 favorites]
My sister-in-law who is a freshman in college will be voting for the first time this year and as we were talking about it it brought back memories of my first presidential election in 1992 when I was a freshman in college. I'm hoping that she too gets to elect a Clinton.
posted by sciencegeek at 2:50 PM on October 22, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by sciencegeek at 2:50 PM on October 22, 2016 [5 favorites]
I sent off my own ballot (overseas voter for Michigan) last week. I don't have any voting story to share myself, so I'll share Mr. Nat's instead. Mr. Nat got his AZ absentee ballot and filled it out today; he took a ballot selfie and posted to Facebook about how happy he is to vote for three women for federal office (president, senate, and house rep).
(Of course then his friends had a long discussion about the legality and reasonableness of ballot selfies... I'm wondering how many of them are mefites since they sure can analyze the hell out of a plate of beans.)
posted by nat at 3:23 PM on October 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
(Of course then his friends had a long discussion about the legality and reasonableness of ballot selfies... I'm wondering how many of them are mefites since they sure can analyze the hell out of a plate of beans.)
posted by nat at 3:23 PM on October 22, 2016 [4 favorites]
I just filled out my ballot after going through the phone book of candidate statements and ballot measure explanations. Now for a stroll through this glorious fall day to drop it in a mailbox.
posted by janell at 3:26 PM on October 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by janell at 3:26 PM on October 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
I voted this week at our local library. I brought my two year olds with me so I can tell them they came along to elect the first woman president. They mostly just tried to knock over the voting booth.
I've never been so emotional about a vote. Trump's campaign has been such an assault on everything that matters to me that voting against him would have felt great regardless. But after the last couple weeks of continual unmitigated misogyny, voting his ass into ignominious defeat by a WOMAN was just ..... wow. Amazingly cathartic. I cried walking out to my car.
posted by gerstle at 6:19 PM on October 22, 2016 [16 favorites]
I've never been so emotional about a vote. Trump's campaign has been such an assault on everything that matters to me that voting against him would have felt great regardless. But after the last couple weeks of continual unmitigated misogyny, voting his ass into ignominious defeat by a WOMAN was just ..... wow. Amazingly cathartic. I cried walking out to my car.
posted by gerstle at 6:19 PM on October 22, 2016 [16 favorites]
Voting started in my state on Thursday at noon; and I felt really strongly that I just had to be there, on the very first day, the very first hour. I arrived at my polling station a half hour early and there was already a line snaking further than any other I have seen in previous years. The mood was joyful (I live in a liberal college town, there wasn't any question that most everyone in line was there to vote for Hillary). Talk swept through the crowd that the first person in line, an older woman, had been waiting since six am. She felt so strongly about being the first person in town to cast her vote, she showed up SIX HOURS EARLY. At one point, I stepped away from the line to look upon the people waiting patiently for their turn, and I got legit verklempt for the first time during an election, ever. We're making history again! We are all here to vote for our first woman president. I vote at a senior center, so many of the women around me could remember a time when a woman president was unimaginable. Once the polls opened, the line moved smoothly - the poll workers were prepared for the crowd. We all watched the first woman fill out her ballot and feed it into the machine. A cheer went up from the line, and the lady pumped her fists joyfully into the air. I am sure I wasn't the only one to shed tears. It was pretty damn cool and it's a day I'm sure I won't soon forget.
Also, from a mental standpoint, I feel SO MUCH BETTER about this election now that I voted. I've been obsessively reading the election threads and it has not been so great for my anxiety. Voting was a real psychological release, I highly recommend it.
posted by msali at 7:39 PM on October 22, 2016 [25 favorites]
Also, from a mental standpoint, I feel SO MUCH BETTER about this election now that I voted. I've been obsessively reading the election threads and it has not been so great for my anxiety. Voting was a real psychological release, I highly recommend it.
posted by msali at 7:39 PM on October 22, 2016 [25 favorites]
I've been working full-time for the campaign since August, so I'm not going to have time to vote on Election Day. So this Wednesday I went to my county seat to vote. (I live just over the county line of the office I volunteer for.) It was an adventure, involving me getting lost on several back roads on the way there, ducking into the local Democrat HQ to say hi, and finding a sweet coffee shop next to the ancient library where I actually filled out my ballot.
And y'all. I dunno, having done the work for ten hours a day every day, the bare metal of it all seems kinda far away. So it was weird, filling out that oval, when it hit me just what it was I was doing: I was voting for the first woman president.
I'm going to sob like a baby on the day itself for a lot of reasons-- I'm going to miss my crew so much when all this is over, I'm going to be so glad to sleep, I'm going to be so proud of my country when we win-- but I did tear up a little in the booth.
posted by dogheart at 7:44 PM on October 22, 2016 [18 favorites]
And y'all. I dunno, having done the work for ten hours a day every day, the bare metal of it all seems kinda far away. So it was weird, filling out that oval, when it hit me just what it was I was doing: I was voting for the first woman president.
I'm going to sob like a baby on the day itself for a lot of reasons-- I'm going to miss my crew so much when all this is over, I'm going to be so glad to sleep, I'm going to be so proud of my country when we win-- but I did tear up a little in the booth.
posted by dogheart at 7:44 PM on October 22, 2016 [18 favorites]
We finally got our California Voter's Handbook on Wednesday and studied and studied
all week. This afternoon, we talked over each measure and what we had learned by reading in between the lines and the full content of the measures when needed. Candidates were far easier, as this was one of the few elections where choices for each race were easy to make. And I'll mail them Monday and we can tell the pollsters who pester us constantly that yeah, we already voted and it's NOYB so f*** off!
posted by Lynsey at 9:19 PM on October 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
all week. This afternoon, we talked over each measure and what we had learned by reading in between the lines and the full content of the measures when needed. Candidates were far easier, as this was one of the few elections where choices for each race were easy to make. And I'll mail them Monday and we can tell the pollsters who pester us constantly that yeah, we already voted and it's NOYB so f*** off!
posted by Lynsey at 9:19 PM on October 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
All three Wallflowers have voted by mail. In addition, I appear to have convinced the postal clerk to vote for Clinton instead of sitting this one out, and Mrs. Wallflower may have persuaded a female former-Trumper to stay home on Election Day. You're welcome, America!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:44 PM on October 22, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:44 PM on October 22, 2016 [12 favorites]
I was very impatiently waiting for my absentee voter ballot. Last election it ended up in my neighbor's mail, along with half of the rest of my mail for months (which nobody knew about because that apartment was vacant for a few months), so I had trouble, plus I moved since then. I was very nervous it would not show up. I first got some booklet saying my ballot would be coming...then the ballot arrived a few days later...but my giant voting guide didn't show up until after I'd finished voting. I'd planned on filling it out and slapping it in the mail immediately, but then there were those 50+ propositions I had to go look up, sigh. But hey! I'm done! Hopefully my ballot is counted early and often instead of "well, hopefully after the election's over."
I do shudder to think that my mom has hers though. She is a diehard Republican who won't vote for Trump (and thankfully she's felt that way all along), but she won't vote for Clinton either and seems to think the two are pretty equal. I think the best I'll get is if she doesn't vote at all. I bet she votes for Gary Johnson or something, but I am not gonna ask.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:50 PM on October 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
I do shudder to think that my mom has hers though. She is a diehard Republican who won't vote for Trump (and thankfully she's felt that way all along), but she won't vote for Clinton either and seems to think the two are pretty equal. I think the best I'll get is if she doesn't vote at all. I bet she votes for Gary Johnson or something, but I am not gonna ask.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:50 PM on October 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
Got my vote in on October 11: this is the third presidential election where I've made an "absentee ballot in person" (what a weird phrase), which basically means I went down to the courthouse and filled out the paperwork. Easy-peasy and done.
The last presidential election where I voted on the actual election day was 2004, when I had to wait almost three hours in line because of all the people who only come out to vote once every four years --- where the heck are they when it's not a presidential election, when it's 'merely' the governor or senate or city council that's on the line?!? Don't they realize the rest of the stuff counts too?
posted by easily confused at 4:47 AM on October 23, 2016
The last presidential election where I voted on the actual election day was 2004, when I had to wait almost three hours in line because of all the people who only come out to vote once every four years --- where the heck are they when it's not a presidential election, when it's 'merely' the governor or senate or city council that's on the line?!? Don't they realize the rest of the stuff counts too?
posted by easily confused at 4:47 AM on October 23, 2016
We do mail-in ballots here in CO. This year I signed up for a service where I get ballot tracking information via text/email.
I got a text Tuesday evening that my ballot was in the mail. Got my ballot Wednesday, filled it out and deposited it in a drop box Thursday morning. That evening I got a text confirming the ballot had been received by my county elections office.
posted by audi alteram partem at 7:24 AM on October 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
I got a text Tuesday evening that my ballot was in the mail. Got my ballot Wednesday, filled it out and deposited it in a drop box Thursday morning. That evening I got a text confirming the ballot had been received by my county elections office.
posted by audi alteram partem at 7:24 AM on October 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
This year I signed up for a service where I get ballot tracking information via text/email.Oh wow, that's a great idea, and I think that people would be a lot more likely to vote by mail if they knew they'd get a text when their ballot was received. I'm going to ask around if there's ever been a proposal to do that here.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:34 AM on October 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
I forgot to change my registration when we moved to the Bronx, so I'll have to schlep to Queens to cast my vote, but I wouldn't miss it for the world. Then I'll reward myself with a shot and a beer at one of my old watering holes.
posted by jonmc at 9:51 AM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 9:51 AM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Sitting on the couch right now, moderating a [knock wood] very chill Sunday morning MetaFilter and about to vote.
My wife and I got our ballots in the mail a few days ago, in Oregon, along with a big ol' voters' pamphlet, and took the latter with us to a food cart pod the other day to catch up on some of the ballot measures and local/district/city seats. She finished up since then and got her votes all filled out; I've been busy this weekend and so am just now getting to finishing my read-through.
Then I'll fill in the bubbles—Clinton and Wyden and education funding etc.—and later today we'll walk up to the library in St. Johns and drop our ballots off, as we've done for elections since we moved to this part of town eight years back.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:24 AM on October 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
My wife and I got our ballots in the mail a few days ago, in Oregon, along with a big ol' voters' pamphlet, and took the latter with us to a food cart pod the other day to catch up on some of the ballot measures and local/district/city seats. She finished up since then and got her votes all filled out; I've been busy this weekend and so am just now getting to finishing my read-through.
Then I'll fill in the bubbles—Clinton and Wyden and education funding etc.—and later today we'll walk up to the library in St. Johns and drop our ballots off, as we've done for elections since we moved to this part of town eight years back.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:24 AM on October 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
A buddy announced that he had ended his "voting anxiety" and gotten his permanent absentee ballot into the mail. "Voting anxiety?" I asked. "Were you uncertain about who to vote for?" He wasn't specific. My own vote-by-mail materials were on hold at the Post Office.
On Friday I got my mail. The paper voter's pamphlet in California, with the candidate statements and the numerous Propositions, is a measured 23/64ths of an inch thick, 223 pages long. We can end or hasten the death penalty, legalize marijuana, teach English in schools, and make a good or disastrous decision about who is President.
Now I understand what he meant by "voting anxiety": it's more work to be an informed voter in California this year.
posted by the Real Dan at 11:13 AM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
On Friday I got my mail. The paper voter's pamphlet in California, with the candidate statements and the numerous Propositions, is a measured 23/64ths of an inch thick, 223 pages long. We can end or hasten the death penalty, legalize marijuana, teach English in schools, and make a good or disastrous decision about who is President.
Now I understand what he meant by "voting anxiety": it's more work to be an informed voter in California this year.
posted by the Real Dan at 11:13 AM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
The first time I voted was in a school board election in Madison, Wisconsin. The voting took place in a volunteer fire station that was staffed with more cookie-dispensing grannies than seemed strictly necessary for a school board election with nothing more exciting on the ballot to draw in voters. Said grannies looked at me like I was some unholy combination of a unicorn shitting rainbows and Shub-Niggurath (The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young).
I guess 18-year-olds don't often vote in school board elections.
Got the sticker. Ate the damn cookies.
I love voting.
posted by stet at 4:32 PM on October 23, 2016 [9 favorites]
I guess 18-year-olds don't often vote in school board elections.
Got the sticker. Ate the damn cookies.
I love voting.
posted by stet at 4:32 PM on October 23, 2016 [9 favorites]
i voted earlier this afternoon, results are already in.
mayor: the (progressive, independent josefa errázuriz) incumbent i voted for lost to the right wing challenger (evelyn matthei). and now people are driving around with flags and blasting their horns (it's always been right wing here, but last elections josefa challenged and beat an ex-secret policeman - finally, after years of corruption, he was unacceptable).
concejal (no idea how to translate that - adviser?): i think the guy i voted for (jaime parada - first openly gay elected official in chile, afaik) kept his seat.
impressively, you can vote in chile if you've lived here for 10 (i think) or more years, whatever your nationality. turnout was pretty low. there's been a big scandal because the election service updated their database of addresses without telling anyone, disenfranchising (temporarily, one hopes) a pile of people.
and another car drives past beep beep beeping...
posted by andrewcooke at 5:40 PM on October 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
mayor: the (progressive, independent josefa errázuriz) incumbent i voted for lost to the right wing challenger (evelyn matthei). and now people are driving around with flags and blasting their horns (it's always been right wing here, but last elections josefa challenged and beat an ex-secret policeman - finally, after years of corruption, he was unacceptable).
concejal (no idea how to translate that - adviser?): i think the guy i voted for (jaime parada - first openly gay elected official in chile, afaik) kept his seat.
impressively, you can vote in chile if you've lived here for 10 (i think) or more years, whatever your nationality. turnout was pretty low. there's been a big scandal because the election service updated their database of addresses without telling anyone, disenfranchising (temporarily, one hopes) a pile of people.
and another car drives past beep beep beeping...
posted by andrewcooke at 5:40 PM on October 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
Thank you so much for all these stories, everyone! I'm loving each and every one! Yay voting!!
posted by eggkeeper at 6:43 PM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by eggkeeper at 6:43 PM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Got my mail ballot here a week or so ago. Immediately filled it out and mailed it. Recently I got an email asking if I had received my ballot yet. My reply was, "Filled out and mailed a week ago." The reply was from a human. "Thank you for being so prompt."
No problem. I was happy to do it.
posted by Splunge at 6:45 PM on October 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
No problem. I was happy to do it.
posted by Splunge at 6:45 PM on October 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
And thanks to the voting in other elections folks for telling us about those as well :)
posted by eggkeeper at 6:45 PM on October 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by eggkeeper at 6:45 PM on October 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
concejal (no idea how to translate that - adviser?)
posted by zamboni at 8:11 PM on October 23, 2016
Councillor, apparently.
posted by zamboni at 8:11 PM on October 23, 2016
Four years ago, my usually hour long commute stretched and stretched and I could not get to the polls in my town before they closed (central MA). But even if I had, I might not have been able to make it because people waited hours in line. There were several voting places when we moved to that town and then one year they closed to just one with crummy parking. MA is pretty dependably blue, so my vote doesn't make much difference, but there are always ballot questions that do matter. This time around we have just moved to a new town, plus there's early voting! We stopped by our town clerk to get our dog licensed and asked where to go for early voting. 'Well you can just vote right now, if you want.' No lines, no stamps, no obstacles. I'm so grateful.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:30 PM on October 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:30 PM on October 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
This was my first major election as a Washingtonian and while the universal voting by mail is convenient and probably makes it possible to vote for lots of people who couldn't otherwise, it is kind of a bummer to fill out my ballot all alone in my living room after the kids are in bed, rather than schlepping to the polling place to stand in line in the rain. I always liked walking over with my dogs to wait in line at the polls, chatting with the neighbors about the election season just past. It made me feel like I was part of a community with an engaged populace, and I miss that.
I took a picture of my ballpoint pen making its first mark in the Hillary bubble. I'll scrapbook it with my pictures of my kids in their Hillary-logo gear and my Woman Card. My ballot's in the mail.
posted by potrzebie at 9:06 PM on October 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
I took a picture of my ballpoint pen making its first mark in the Hillary bubble. I'll scrapbook it with my pictures of my kids in their Hillary-logo gear and my Woman Card. My ballot's in the mail.
posted by potrzebie at 9:06 PM on October 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
I took my 7-year-old boy and my teeny baby girl and we early voted. I had them press the VOTE! button so they can say they voted for the first woman president. I'm so psyched my daughter got to do it at 12 weeks old. My son got so psyched by it that he is walking around telling everyone to vote for Hillary Clinton and we're having to gently remind him that not everyone likes to talk about who they vote for and that's the point of a secret ballot. (Although probably all of his classmates' parents are voting Clinton and that's my major awkwardness concern so that's cool.) He wore his "I voted early!" sticker for three days until it quit sticking to new shirts.
Hubs is taking the 5-year-old to vote with him tomorrow.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 12:04 AM on October 24, 2016 [19 favorites]
Hubs is taking the 5-year-old to vote with him tomorrow.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 12:04 AM on October 24, 2016 [19 favorites]
I mailed in my overseas ballot (Oregon from France) three weeks ago. Clinton! DeFazio! (woooooo homegirl votin' DeFazio ever since I first registered to vote 22 years ago woooo) Wyden! Been wearing my Hillary buttons since.
I drew a big old X on top of a pair of candidates I'm sure you can guess, which is the first time I've ever done anything of the sort on a ballot. That was before the dumpster firestorm of misogyny broke out; where before I felt like maybe I had given in to the grar? now I'm like, damn I'm glad I drew that big thick X that I traced over several times.
Do be careful with ballot and polling station pics – in some states they can invalidate a ballot. Check your state laws first. In any case taking a pic of an envelope is OK!
posted by fraula at 1:36 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I drew a big old X on top of a pair of candidates I'm sure you can guess, which is the first time I've ever done anything of the sort on a ballot. That was before the dumpster firestorm of misogyny broke out; where before I felt like maybe I had given in to the grar? now I'm like, damn I'm glad I drew that big thick X that I traced over several times.
Do be careful with ballot and polling station pics – in some states they can invalidate a ballot. Check your state laws first. In any case taking a pic of an envelope is OK!
posted by fraula at 1:36 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I took a deep, abiding pleasure in not only voting FOR our first woman President but AGAINST the festering boil on the ass of democracy. As well as the orangey guy with the funny hair.
A new wrinkle this year was that the California vote-by-mail ballots are postage-paid, which is a nice touch.
Thank you to all of the Mefites in various threads who have taken the time to dive into state and even local issues: California was unusually Byzantine this time around, and it was helpful to have opinions I could trust in the eleventy billion sometimes conflicting propositions, measures, initiatives, amendments, zeppelins and hippopotami.
posted by scrump at 1:43 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
A new wrinkle this year was that the California vote-by-mail ballots are postage-paid, which is a nice touch.
Thank you to all of the Mefites in various threads who have taken the time to dive into state and even local issues: California was unusually Byzantine this time around, and it was helpful to have opinions I could trust in the eleventy billion sometimes conflicting propositions, measures, initiatives, amendments, zeppelins and hippopotami.
posted by scrump at 1:43 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
My ballot came on Friday, sent it back the same day. It was fun taking as much time as I wanted to fill in the little circles just perfectly. The city was very thoughtful, telling me I needed TWO stamps on the envelope and highlighting the line on the outside of the envelope that you have to sign otherwise your vote don't count.
posted by JanetLand at 5:18 AM on October 24, 2016
posted by JanetLand at 5:18 AM on October 24, 2016
I anticlimactically but successfully voted by absentee ballot. I wish that that had entitled me to a giant blinking neon sign that followed me everywhere and showed up on all the places where candidates can get ads past adblocker, and also screened my inbox for me, because I've already voted and you're wasting your money/bile/time canvassing on me!
posted by ChuraChura at 5:57 AM on October 24, 2016
posted by ChuraChura at 5:57 AM on October 24, 2016
I was the first person in my hometown to cast my ballot. Since I'm running late to work I didn't get to linger over voting (so this feels unreal), but one of the guys running the voting recognized me from when I volunteered at the (now-defunct) public access station. I gave him the most cathartic high-five ever.
posted by pxe2000 at 6:00 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by pxe2000 at 6:00 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Hello from London, where I voted BY E-MAIL for the first time in my life. It's not perfect -- I had to message a random @dcboee.org email and waive my right to secrecy -- but it worked, and I got a phone call from a nice American confirming my ballot had been received.
Things I didn't realize I'd miss: getting a little sticker to wear around (I wish they'd send me one in the mail!), grinding the pencil down to aggressively fill in the little bubble.
posted by harperpitt at 7:13 AM on October 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
Things I didn't realize I'd miss: getting a little sticker to wear around (I wish they'd send me one in the mail!), grinding the pencil down to aggressively fill in the little bubble.
posted by harperpitt at 7:13 AM on October 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
I sent my request for a ballot as an overseas voter, called an FPCA, in early January.
I'm what some Americans overseas call a "trailing spouse" -- my spouse has the job that gives us the permission (and the means) to live here in Europe and I don't have the right to work. So I spend most of my time helping Americans here stay politically engaged while living overseas.
Once every four years, that means the first quarter of the year is devoted to running a primary to help determine the Democratic candidate for President. After that, I work nearly full-time finding Americans in their expat-y hidey-holes and telling them that they can vote, that they should vote, and that my organization is happy to help them request their absentee ballots.
I had my Illinois ballot sitting in my email inbox until this weekend, when I finally decided how to vote on a really messed-up referendum to the state constitution. (Illinois state-level politics. Ugh.)
Now I'll go back to helping people who haven't received their absentee ballot -- usually because they goofed a step in the process but sometimes because a well-meaning county clerk's office made a mistake.
I'm exhausted but I only get a chance to make this big a difference in the USA every two years. Forward!
posted by willb2 at 7:48 AM on October 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm what some Americans overseas call a "trailing spouse" -- my spouse has the job that gives us the permission (and the means) to live here in Europe and I don't have the right to work. So I spend most of my time helping Americans here stay politically engaged while living overseas.
Once every four years, that means the first quarter of the year is devoted to running a primary to help determine the Democratic candidate for President. After that, I work nearly full-time finding Americans in their expat-y hidey-holes and telling them that they can vote, that they should vote, and that my organization is happy to help them request their absentee ballots.
I had my Illinois ballot sitting in my email inbox until this weekend, when I finally decided how to vote on a really messed-up referendum to the state constitution. (Illinois state-level politics. Ugh.)
Now I'll go back to helping people who haven't received their absentee ballot -- usually because they goofed a step in the process but sometimes because a well-meaning county clerk's office made a mistake.
I'm exhausted but I only get a chance to make this big a difference in the USA every two years. Forward!
posted by willb2 at 7:48 AM on October 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
I plan on bringing my four-year-old daughter into the booth with me and holding her hand as we fill in the bubble together. (Wrinkle: she's left-handed and I'm right-handed.) New York doesn't allow photos of the filled-in ballot, but damned if I'm not going to document the moment we voted for a woman.
posted by Liesl at 7:50 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Liesl at 7:50 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
On October 12, the first day of early voting in Indianapolis, I turned in my early voting ballot and collected my sticker. The polls were busy but steady, though the poll workers said the morning was more of a crush.
posted by Gelatin at 7:57 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 7:57 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I posted this in one of the election threads but I voted by mail 💙
posted by phunniemee at 7:58 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 7:58 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
We're visiting family in North Carolina and my hospitalized cousin was pissed that she wouldn't be able to vote. Mrs. Wallflower immediately said "No problem! Johnny, sign her up online for an absentee ballot!" Turns out one has to download a form, fill it out and return it to the Board of Elections. "No problem!" says Mrs. W. "Johnny, get the nurse-receptionist to print it out!"
We filled it out and my cousin signed it, all the while relating how she's not a Hillary fan but she'll be damned if she doesn't get to vote for her and begin the payback for all the misogyny she's personally experienced, e.g, that time she was the breadwinner while her husband finished school and the bank required him to co-sign the loan because they wouldn't lend to a woman.
She's terminally ill and I probably won't see her alive again, but it's going to feel awesome to hand-deliver her ballot application to the Board this morning. Jackie, thanks for letting us help.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:59 AM on October 24, 2016 [36 favorites]
We filled it out and my cousin signed it, all the while relating how she's not a Hillary fan but she'll be damned if she doesn't get to vote for her and begin the payback for all the misogyny she's personally experienced, e.g, that time she was the breadwinner while her husband finished school and the bank required him to co-sign the loan because they wouldn't lend to a woman.
She's terminally ill and I probably won't see her alive again, but it's going to feel awesome to hand-deliver her ballot application to the Board this morning. Jackie, thanks for letting us help.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:59 AM on October 24, 2016 [36 favorites]
I've been an overseas voter in the past 2 elections, and prior to that I had absentee ballots, so got to make my first vote by machine during Indiana's early voting last Thursday.
Aside from someone's dumb comments about Democrats registering dead people, it was a positive experience, and I enjoyed the hell out of casting my vote for Clinton and not voting for any of the unopposed Republicans in down-ticket races.
Even though I was pretty sure I could figure out the voting machine, I had the poll worker go through the whole how-it-works thing just so I could feel like I was getting the full experience.
Then I slapped my sticker on my shirt and wore it proudly the rest of the day.
posted by minsies at 8:33 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
Aside from someone's dumb comments about Democrats registering dead people, it was a positive experience, and I enjoyed the hell out of casting my vote for Clinton and not voting for any of the unopposed Republicans in down-ticket races.
Even though I was pretty sure I could figure out the voting machine, I had the poll worker go through the whole how-it-works thing just so I could feel like I was getting the full experience.
Then I slapped my sticker on my shirt and wore it proudly the rest of the day.
posted by minsies at 8:33 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm planning on voting Tuesday night, but I took my dad to vote early when I visited him in Columbus last week, and even though they only have one early voting center, it is well-equipped and the staff there was doing a great job keeping everyone moving through at a good pace. I always want to hug all of the poll workers, but this particular location now holds a special place in my heart because they had an ASL interpreter.
I also helped my mom with her absentee ballot last week, since she was worried that she would somehow invalidate it. It was a good thing she did, because I stopped her from starting to fill it in with a pencil while I read all three sheets of instructions that came with it to learn that it should be filled out in blue or black ink.
posted by amarynth at 8:36 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I also helped my mom with her absentee ballot last week, since she was worried that she would somehow invalidate it. It was a good thing she did, because I stopped her from starting to fill it in with a pencil while I read all three sheets of instructions that came with it to learn that it should be filled out in blue or black ink.
posted by amarynth at 8:36 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I voted early in Minneapolis. It was a very efficient and pleasant experience staffed by very friendly poll workers. They told me I could have two I Voted! stickers, one for today and one for election day, and then got to pose in front of a comically large I Voted! sticker. It was a very solid civic experience. Two thumbs up!
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:39 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:39 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I helped my mother in NC with her absentee ballot. She told me she didn't want to vote for that narcissist liar who is up to no good behind the scenes. I said, "Which one are you referring to? I need more information than that to fill this in."
She eventually told me the name of the person for whom she wanted to vote. Other than the 10 minutes with a wonderful lady with the tough combination of strong opinion and early dementia, it was a simple and painless process. I think the over 55 community in which she lives facilitated her getting her absentee ballot.
posted by AugustWest at 8:58 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
She eventually told me the name of the person for whom she wanted to vote. Other than the 10 minutes with a wonderful lady with the tough combination of strong opinion and early dementia, it was a simple and painless process. I think the over 55 community in which she lives facilitated her getting her absentee ballot.
posted by AugustWest at 8:58 AM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
My wife, baby, and I stood in line for early voting for about 20 minutes in swing-state Nevada, a very orderly and pleasant process. It was the first day for early voting this Saturday, I'd imagine the wait won't be so bad going forward.
The early voting station was in the front lobby of a grocery store, so afterwards while waiting in line to buy a drink I heard a funny and hopeful conversation:
(two white guys in their very early 20's, lots of visible tattoos, piercings, multi-colored hair, looking toward the voting booths):
1: " . . . but all politicians are garbage. It's just a waste."
2: "No, but you really should vote. I mean, yeah, politics is bullshit, but Donald Trump is like a special case, he's really just looking to fuck everyone over."
posted by skewed at 9:15 AM on October 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
The early voting station was in the front lobby of a grocery store, so afterwards while waiting in line to buy a drink I heard a funny and hopeful conversation:
(two white guys in their very early 20's, lots of visible tattoos, piercings, multi-colored hair, looking toward the voting booths):
1: " . . . but all politicians are garbage. It's just a waste."
2: "No, but you really should vote. I mean, yeah, politics is bullshit, but Donald Trump is like a special case, he's really just looking to fuck everyone over."
posted by skewed at 9:15 AM on October 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
Sadly I cannot vote (currently a citizen of England) so I can only pretend to be an American for now, but if I could it would be 100 percent for Hillary as POTUS, Democrats in the Senate and House, then be researching who would best fit my leftie, pro-literacy beliefs at local level.
Am envious of those of you who do get to vote in this election (especially as I've been on the losing side of the last five elections/referendums I've voted in here in Albion).
posted by Wordshore at 9:18 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
Am envious of those of you who do get to vote in this election (especially as I've been on the losing side of the last five elections/referendums I've voted in here in Albion).
posted by Wordshore at 9:18 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
Just voted this morning -- dropped it in the big blue mailbox on the way to work. Got the ballot a week ago, but needed to research the school board and judges, and last night realized that not getting to the latter was a piss-poor reason to not get it done already. So I skipped the judicial confirmations and did the rest and now I'm done.
posted by Quasirandom at 10:02 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Quasirandom at 10:02 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I slogged through the CA ballot last night. The East Bay Express voter guide really helped.
Does anyone know the proper amount of stamps for this brick??
posted by waitangi at 10:17 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Does anyone know the proper amount of stamps for this brick??
posted by waitangi at 10:17 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Postage Prepaid, waitangi. No stamps.
posted by the Real Dan at 10:27 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by the Real Dan at 10:27 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I used two stamps for my California ballot. I always use two stamps. One might fall off!
posted by SPrintF at 10:44 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 10:44 AM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I just voted! The sticker I got looks like the regular one but says "I Voted Early." I did not know they made that kind!
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:48 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:48 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I also filled out my California vote-by-mail ballot this weekend, and I could have sworn it said you still needed to put a stamp on it (LA County, fwiw). I'd go check, but it's already in the mail. Anyway, thanks again to Sophie1 for her California ballot FPP! I sat down with my ballot and laptop, and went through each proposition one by one, reading through assorted links, and I felt pretty well-informed about my votes on the propositions. It took over an hour, but it was worth it.
I didn't feel particularly emotional about filling in my bubble for Hillary, I think mostly because vote-by-mail with such a long list of things to vote on feels more like homework than anything else. I could barely stop smiling after I voted in person and filled in my ballot for Obama in 2008. This time around, I mostly felt a sense of profound, almost vicious satisfaction. I think I'm going to be buried in an avalanche of emotions come November 8 and 9 though.
posted by yasaman at 11:24 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I didn't feel particularly emotional about filling in my bubble for Hillary, I think mostly because vote-by-mail with such a long list of things to vote on feels more like homework than anything else. I could barely stop smiling after I voted in person and filled in my ballot for Obama in 2008. This time around, I mostly felt a sense of profound, almost vicious satisfaction. I think I'm going to be buried in an avalanche of emotions come November 8 and 9 though.
posted by yasaman at 11:24 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
As mentioned upthread I voted two weeks ago, but it is amazing how many people are shocked --- shocked! --- to find out this is an option. I've been doing my best to let them all know that here in Virginia, folks, you have a choice between
1) voting on election day itself,
2) absentee voting by mail, and
3) absentee voting in person.
The difficulty with election day is that it's pretty well guaranteed there will be massive lines; on the other hand, there's an awful lot of camaraderie too. Absentee voting by mail requires requesting (before a deadline) that a ballot be mailed to you, that you complete and mail back.
Absentee voting in person is easiest of the three: google the early voting times & locations from your city hall, walk in and bam, done! Took me all of about four minutes, from the time I got out of my car to getting back in it. This is really handy for people who might be out of town, or having surgery, or just can't get to the polling place in time because of your work schedule.
posted by easily confused at 11:27 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
1) voting on election day itself,
2) absentee voting by mail, and
3) absentee voting in person.
The difficulty with election day is that it's pretty well guaranteed there will be massive lines; on the other hand, there's an awful lot of camaraderie too. Absentee voting by mail requires requesting (before a deadline) that a ballot be mailed to you, that you complete and mail back.
Absentee voting in person is easiest of the three: google the early voting times & locations from your city hall, walk in and bam, done! Took me all of about four minutes, from the time I got out of my car to getting back in it. This is really handy for people who might be out of town, or having surgery, or just can't get to the polling place in time because of your work schedule.
posted by easily confused at 11:27 AM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I live in a formerly blue state with a governor and legislature hellbent on disenfranchising as many people of color, students, low-income and indigent citizens, and would-be Democrats as possible.
Though our damnable new-ish photo ID requirement remains intact, a handful of their other mass disenfranchisement attempts were struck down as unconstitutional earlier this year, so I was able to waltz into City Hall last week and proudly vote to sendthe most qualified Presidential candidate in American history a nasty woman to the White House and return the most courageous living Senator a bad hombre to the U.S. Senate.
Fingers (and arms and toes and legs and eyes) crossed!
posted by amnesia and magnets at 12:12 PM on October 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
Though our damnable new-ish photo ID requirement remains intact, a handful of their other mass disenfranchisement attempts were struck down as unconstitutional earlier this year, so I was able to waltz into City Hall last week and proudly vote to send
Fingers (and arms and toes and legs and eyes) crossed!
posted by amnesia and magnets at 12:12 PM on October 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
Got my WA absentee ballot last Friday, mailed it in on Saturday. Nothing much to say about that in particular, except that I have never felt so relieved to vote.
Also, I'm really grateful for the Metafilter community through all of this, because I really need to be around non-deplorable people for times like these just to remember the entire world isn't horrible.
Big hugs to anybody who wants them.
posted by mordax at 12:14 PM on October 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
Also, I'm really grateful for the Metafilter community through all of this, because I really need to be around non-deplorable people for times like these just to remember the entire world isn't horrible.
Big hugs to anybody who wants them.
posted by mordax at 12:14 PM on October 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
Voted today in Raleigh - it took an hour, most of which was waiting in line. Fortunately I was able to entertain myself watching people pointedly ignore the man at the sad little Republican kiosk so it wasn't totally dull.
Someone in the election thread had remarked that the campaigns get an updated list of all the voters who do early voting and I can confirm that less than three hours after I voted the NC board of elections website shows my vote.
posted by winna at 12:31 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Someone in the election thread had remarked that the campaigns get an updated list of all the voters who do early voting and I can confirm that less than three hours after I voted the NC board of elections website shows my vote.
posted by winna at 12:31 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is probably not the kind of story I'd want to repeat if I was teaching a civics class, but I mailed in my ballot last week after having
* jungle primary FTW
posted by psoas at 1:07 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
- voted my obvious picks,
- made a spreadsheet of the endorsements of various organizations I follow, to help guide my choices on our various referenda/initiatives/questions,
- finally come to a decision on all the ballot items except one locally high-profile race,
* jungle primary FTW
posted by psoas at 1:07 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have actually never voted on election day, despite voting in every election since I think 2012. (I was just barely eighteen in 2008 and foolishly registered my address at my parents' house.... where my absentee ballot got mailed, meaning I didn't get it in time to use the damn thing. I can't remember if I voted in 2010.) I always vote early, because otherwise I worry I'll forget.
Today has been a fuck-awful week for reasons having nothing to do with the election, but it was also the first day of early voting. So I hauled myself up to the campus polling station, realized I couldn't find my drivers' license, located it in the morass of my purse, handed it with my little card to the nice lady taking voter info, and then walked through the little line of polling staff and cast my ballot.
Delightfully, even at 8:30am on the first day of early voting, there was a line at the polls. That's never happened to me before. I am so excited, and I even got to prod a more apolitical friend of mine to get his ass in gear and go vote now.
posted by sciatrix at 2:27 PM on October 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
Today has been a fuck-awful week for reasons having nothing to do with the election, but it was also the first day of early voting. So I hauled myself up to the campus polling station, realized I couldn't find my drivers' license, located it in the morass of my purse, handed it with my little card to the nice lady taking voter info, and then walked through the little line of polling staff and cast my ballot.
Delightfully, even at 8:30am on the first day of early voting, there was a line at the polls. That's never happened to me before. I am so excited, and I even got to prod a more apolitical friend of mine to get his ass in gear and go vote now.
posted by sciatrix at 2:27 PM on October 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
I just faxed my vote back, it was incredibly satisfying to vote for HRC. I took a photo of my ballot and I'll keep the ballot itself to show my kids some day.
My first two elections in the USA were Gore v Bush which crushed my spirit and then Kerry v Bush which crushed it further down still. However while overseas I've been able to vote for Obama, Obama, and now Hillary. Living abroad I'm sort of always toggling between the emotions of "aw, my home!" and "fucking FOR REAL you guys?!" I'm proud to be feeling closer to option one than two today, let's keep it that way yeah? #imwithher
posted by supercrayon at 2:53 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
My first two elections in the USA were Gore v Bush which crushed my spirit and then Kerry v Bush which crushed it further down still. However while overseas I've been able to vote for Obama, Obama, and now Hillary. Living abroad I'm sort of always toggling between the emotions of "aw, my home!" and "fucking FOR REAL you guys?!" I'm proud to be feeling closer to option one than two today, let's keep it that way yeah? #imwithher
posted by supercrayon at 2:53 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Just moved to the Atlanta area from Seattle less than a month ago. Registered immediately. And then last Tuesday, the second day of early voting, I drove to one of the early voting sites to vote in Georgia for my very first time. There wasn't a line but there were a LOT of people there to vote, with about half an hour left in the voting day. There were a ton of voting machines, though, so no one had to wait.
It was weird to vote on a Diebold machine. I'm not used to that. And the whole process, with a little yellow card you have to plug into the machine, was just really foreign to me. I felt kind of dumb. But I told everyone it was my first time voting in GA. :)
At the end I got a peach sticker that said "I'm a Georgia voter!" and I have never, ever been so happy and proud to have a voter sticker. Except maybe in 2008.
I emailed the King County elections department to cancel my registration there -- it made me sad. Ah, well.
posted by litlnemo at 3:04 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
It was weird to vote on a Diebold machine. I'm not used to that. And the whole process, with a little yellow card you have to plug into the machine, was just really foreign to me. I felt kind of dumb. But I told everyone it was my first time voting in GA. :)
At the end I got a peach sticker that said "I'm a Georgia voter!" and I have never, ever been so happy and proud to have a voter sticker. Except maybe in 2008.
I emailed the King County elections department to cancel my registration there -- it made me sad. Ah, well.
posted by litlnemo at 3:04 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I shed a little tear when voting for the first woman president! Then it was all smiles
posted by raisingsand at 3:04 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by raisingsand at 3:04 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I slogged through the horrible California ballot (which does require postage if you're mailing it back) and then dropped it off at the courthouse. Glad to have it done so I don't have that tiny nagging worry at the back of my mind: what if I get hit by a car that morning and can't make it to my polling place? What if aliens abduct me? I don't want to be pounding my fists on the rear window of the flying saucer and wailing "but I need to VOOOOOOOOTTTTTEEEEEEE" as Earth retreats in the distance…
Instead, I have the comfort of having checked the Registrar of Voters' website and confirming that they've already received my ballot.
posted by Lexica at 4:42 PM on October 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
Instead, I have the comfort of having checked the Registrar of Voters' website and confirming that they've already received my ballot.
posted by Lexica at 4:42 PM on October 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
The deed is done. I voted for humane cages for livestock, for legal weed, for one more slot parlor and a big hard FUCK NO against charter schools. My Congressman was running unopposed but I voted for him anyway. I even voted for a Republican! Just not THAT Republican.
posted by briank at 5:08 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by briank at 5:08 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Colorado is all mail-in ballots and I got mine on Tuesday and I turned my ballot in to the box at the library on Thursday. Filling it out was emotional, I had to take a couple of running starts at filling in the oval, putting the pen down and looking at her name, wiping the tears out of my eyes, letting the realness of it sink in. Putting it in the box felt decisive and final and really cool. I checked the secretary of state website later on Thursday and again on Friday and again today and finally saw my ballot has been accepted by my county and will be counted. Someone came to my door today to try and persuade me about one of the ballot initiatives and I really enjoyed cheerfully telling him that I had already voted.
posted by danielleh at 6:45 PM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by danielleh at 6:45 PM on October 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I've voted by mail before, but this is the first time where I could go online and confirm that my ballot had arrived and would be counted. That was a nice feeling and made the whole thing feel more real somehow.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:50 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Dip Flash at 6:50 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
my fourth book comes out on election day!
it's about the end of the world! (or is it?)
so random. being angsty about the election has totally eclipsed any book release angst, which is... a silver lining? also, some of my friends are preordering their copy so they can bring it along to the polls, which is pretty cool.
posted by changeling at 7:10 PM on October 24, 2016
it's about the end of the world! (or is it?)
so random. being angsty about the election has totally eclipsed any book release angst, which is... a silver lining? also, some of my friends are preordering their copy so they can bring it along to the polls, which is pretty cool.
posted by changeling at 7:10 PM on October 24, 2016
I've voted by mail before, but this is the first time where I could go online and confirm that my ballot had arrived and would be counted. That was a nice feeling and made the whole thing feel more real somehow.
Oh, neat. Being slightly worried about my ballot getting lost is one of the main reasons I've avoided voting absentee.
posted by lazuli at 8:12 PM on October 24, 2016
Oh, neat. Being slightly worried about my ballot getting lost is one of the main reasons I've avoided voting absentee.
posted by lazuli at 8:12 PM on October 24, 2016
I've been counting down the days til early voting in Massachusetts and now it's here! I've voted, my ballot has been marked as received on the website, and I am as content as I'm going to be until this whole election is over.
One not-so-fun fact: I am closer to the town offices of four towns near me than I am to my own town office.
And a story: while I was filling out my ballot, a couple people in the room were complaining about how terrible the pens provided to sign the outer envelope were. Another guy jokily shouted "It's rigged!"
posted by smangosbubbles at 8:19 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
One not-so-fun fact: I am closer to the town offices of four towns near me than I am to my own town office.
And a story: while I was filling out my ballot, a couple people in the room were complaining about how terrible the pens provided to sign the outer envelope were. Another guy jokily shouted "It's rigged!"
posted by smangosbubbles at 8:19 PM on October 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I know this is an historic American moment folks but the number of people reporting that they cry while voting make the polling booths sound like pretty miserable places to be. No wonder people don't like going.
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:25 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:25 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I can only pretend to be an American for now
Nice try Wordshore but you forgot the screaming eagle you Commie bastard
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:25 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
Nice try Wordshore but you forgot the screaming eagle you Commie bastard
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:25 PM on October 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
insectosaurus, your baby is soooooo cute! Off the charts adorable, that smile!
Babies make elections better. I once had to line up for ages and we were all standing there watching a little kid running around the school playground with a paper plane. He felt bad for all of us bored adults trapped in the line and started handing it to people to have a turn throwing it. It was very democratic, one throw each (he ran around chasing and catching it) and then on to the next person. It was so awesome and got us all chatting as we eagerly awaited our turns.
posted by kitten magic at 11:58 PM on October 24, 2016 [9 favorites]
Babies make elections better. I once had to line up for ages and we were all standing there watching a little kid running around the school playground with a paper plane. He felt bad for all of us bored adults trapped in the line and started handing it to people to have a turn throwing it. It was very democratic, one throw each (he ran around chasing and catching it) and then on to the next person. It was so awesome and got us all chatting as we eagerly awaited our turns.
posted by kitten magic at 11:58 PM on October 24, 2016 [9 favorites]
So, I thought I didn't have much of a voting story, since it was basically -- my spouse and I got our overseas absentee ballots a month ago, printed them out, and mailed them in. But I just realized that, since the ballots were (1) e-mailed to us, (2) sent out earlier than in-person early voting or non-absentee mail-in voting starts pretty much everywhere, and (3) got printed out and mailed just about the moment we got them, that means that we had to have been among the very first U.S. citizens marking our ballots! Woo!
posted by kyrademon at 4:42 AM on October 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by kyrademon at 4:42 AM on October 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
As I have in the last two Presidential elections, I cast my absentee ballot late last week. I have to admit feeling a little disappointed at not getting to vote in the actual polling place for either Obama or Clinton; it doesn't seem as dramatic, somehow, to fill in the ballot at home and mail it. But hey, a vote is a vote, right?
posted by holborne at 8:27 AM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by holborne at 8:27 AM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I just voted on my lunch break! I live in a very red county in South Carolina. SC only allows early voting for very limited categories of people, so the line wasn't as long as pics I've seen of places with true early voting, but it was still busy and there was a short line. (I qualify to vote early because I am a certified Poll Watcher.) I forgot to get a sticker on the way out, which saddens me greatly.
Also, I got a bit emotional in the car on the way back to work. I am so proud and happy to vote for a woman for president, particularly one so highly qualified and with a platform that aligns pretty well with my political beliefs. What a time to be alive.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:07 AM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Also, I got a bit emotional in the car on the way back to work. I am so proud and happy to vote for a woman for president, particularly one so highly qualified and with a platform that aligns pretty well with my political beliefs. What a time to be alive.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:07 AM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
My 76-year-old mom and I voted yesterday for Hillary Clinton in East Tennessee. Literally nobody is predicting that TN will go blue this year, but it won't be because we didn't try.
posted by workerant at 11:43 AM on October 25, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by workerant at 11:43 AM on October 25, 2016 [11 favorites]
Huh!
so I just checked out about early voting in New York State, only to find that New York actually doesn't allow early voting. The argument is that "early voting might prevent people from having as full an understanding as possible about the issues, and they'd vote before being fully informed".
Granted, I don't think many people are expecting New York to be a contest, but I think we've pretty much already made up our minds this time around.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:45 AM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
so I just checked out about early voting in New York State, only to find that New York actually doesn't allow early voting. The argument is that "early voting might prevent people from having as full an understanding as possible about the issues, and they'd vote before being fully informed".
Granted, I don't think many people are expecting New York to be a contest, but I think we've pretty much already made up our minds this time around.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:45 AM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Also - lemme pour one out for the old-style voting machines with the levers, that we used to have here in New York up until about 2012 - I miss those things, because you had to pull one big lever to finalize all your choices and clear the deck for the next person, and it made this really satisfying "ca-CHUNK" that felt like it was punctuating your choice.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:47 AM on October 25, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:47 AM on October 25, 2016 [13 favorites]
I never vote without thinking of those machines.
posted by mikepop at 12:13 PM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by mikepop at 12:13 PM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Those machines were my introduction to voting, going with my parents to our polling station as a kid.
I did get to throw a few of the smaller levers to "help" my parents vote, but but by the time I was old enough for my first election, I was living in Ohio with butterfly ballots and their hanging chads. I'm still a little bitter about that.
posted by audi alteram partem at 12:23 PM on October 25, 2016
I did get to throw a few of the smaller levers to "help" my parents vote, but but by the time I was old enough for my first election, I was living in Ohio with butterfly ballots and their hanging chads. I'm still a little bitter about that.
posted by audi alteram partem at 12:23 PM on October 25, 2016
We have voted here in Oregon. Vote by mail but I always like to drop it off at our local library. Make sure it's safe and sound in a box. Our five-year-old daughter hung out with us while we voted and I let her help me fill in the oval for Hillary. She is excited for any woman role model and her president has only been Barack Obama (who she and we also admire). She watched the debates with us, I had to mute a few parts. We each had coloring books and colored together while watching/listening which is a zen method that I highly recommend. At the end of the first debate with our daughter pausing to say, "He seems so rude!" and "That's Hillary, we like her, right?" she went, "Wait...that was DONALD TRUMP?!" I guess she had overhead lots of his name without much seeing of his face. Pretty funny.
She is pretty excited but I haven't really played up the "first woman president, OMG!!" angle too much because it seems so lame. It's so lame that she is the first. Not that she is lame but that we have plodded along pretending at Democracy without a woman holding this leadership position in our country. I was delighted to vote for Obama, even as I got laid off on inauguration day, 2009, and then sat out from my brand new career in Architecture for two years. I've finally worked my way back around to it, after having my daughter, freelancing, dabbling with a cheese industry career (was yummy while it lasted), moving back into tech as a project manager and now working for myself as a residential designer. I feel this sea change acutely and I'm desperate for her leadership, personally and for our country. I'm kind of shocked how deeply entrenched is our gender essentialism even as we've moved past our homophobia and elected our first black president. The time must be right and it must be right now.
"Mama, why is she the first?"
"I don't know, but I do know that she is very qualified and she is very excited to be the president and I think she'll do her best to do good."
posted by amanda at 12:25 PM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
She is pretty excited but I haven't really played up the "first woman president, OMG!!" angle too much because it seems so lame. It's so lame that she is the first. Not that she is lame but that we have plodded along pretending at Democracy without a woman holding this leadership position in our country. I was delighted to vote for Obama, even as I got laid off on inauguration day, 2009, and then sat out from my brand new career in Architecture for two years. I've finally worked my way back around to it, after having my daughter, freelancing, dabbling with a cheese industry career (was yummy while it lasted), moving back into tech as a project manager and now working for myself as a residential designer. I feel this sea change acutely and I'm desperate for her leadership, personally and for our country. I'm kind of shocked how deeply entrenched is our gender essentialism even as we've moved past our homophobia and elected our first black president. The time must be right and it must be right now.
"Mama, why is she the first?"
"I don't know, but I do know that she is very qualified and she is very excited to be the president and I think she'll do her best to do good."
posted by amanda at 12:25 PM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Mr. Bear and I voted together at the kitchen table on Sunday. We pulled our ballots out of the envelope from the county, opened up our local and state voter's pamphlets, checked that we each had pens with black ink, and made sure my iPad was up and ready for additional internet research. Then we worked our way through the initiatives and candidates together, researching things we knew less about as we went. (For example, we looked up the text of some proposed tricky law changes.) We didn't vote identically on everything, but we were mostly in sync, as we mostly see eye to eye politically. We had particular fun laughing at the ridiculously vapid DJT writeup in the voter's pamphlet, and sharing some stunned admiration for the detail and deep resume in the Clinton/Kaine writeup. At the end we each checked to make sure we'd gotten every oval properly filled in, put our ballots in the security enclosure, inserted them in the return envelopes, and sealed and signed those. My husband dropped them off yesterday at a local ballot box.
I miss the days when we used to go to a local school polling place, sign in with the volunteers, and punch holes in ballots in voter booths, then put them into the ballot boxes, and finally buy a brownie from the kids at the bake sale they always held on election day. But our kitchen table voting feels pretty cool too, and in many ways it makes checking on and applying useful information much easier.
posted by bearwife at 4:44 PM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I miss the days when we used to go to a local school polling place, sign in with the volunteers, and punch holes in ballots in voter booths, then put them into the ballot boxes, and finally buy a brownie from the kids at the bake sale they always held on election day. But our kitchen table voting feels pretty cool too, and in many ways it makes checking on and applying useful information much easier.
posted by bearwife at 4:44 PM on October 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Also, I am beyond happy to have gotten to fill in the oval for HRC. Beyond.
posted by bearwife at 5:07 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bearwife at 5:07 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I voted at San Francisco City Hall this morning, on my way to counting migrating hawks. Everyone was friendly and helpful and I might have cried just a little when I completed the arrow for Clinton/Kaine.
By the time I was done coloring in the million arrows for all the state and local propositions, I might have been crying a lot. But I got a sticker!
posted by rtha at 5:09 PM on October 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
By the time I was done coloring in the million arrows for all the state and local propositions, I might have been crying a lot. But I got a sticker!
posted by rtha at 5:09 PM on October 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
I don't get to vote 'til election day but I'm excited that my polling place has moved somewhere that's more accessible to my lame knees. (The old one was approximately a hundred yards away as the crow flies but quite a hike on foot because of train tracks.) It's like they want me to go vote for the first woman president of the US or something.
posted by ferret branca at 6:07 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ferret branca at 6:07 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes!! the nostalgia over the nys voting machines! Weren't they so old and out of date that by the end, parts for any repairs had to be cannibalized from other machines? And they had to fly engineers in from Switzerland to get them going again....or maybe that was the Roosevelt island gondalier...Anyway. Those machines were definitely my first understanding of voting, when they'd get wheeled into my elementary school, and I'm psyched I got in just under the wire to use one just once. Filling in a bubble with a Sharpie just isn't the same....
posted by Tandem Affinity at 7:33 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Tandem Affinity at 7:33 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm working as a humanitarian in a super remote place that is only accessible by boat. I’m based here so I only get to leave every three months, but we get visitors from technical advisors periodically. I downloaded my ballot the moment it was available and spent the weekend hooked up to the satellite internet to research the judges and ballot measures, etc. Then I scrounged up two moldy old envelopes (one for the secret ballot to go inside and the bigger one for mailing), taped them into serviceable condition, inserted my signed declaration, sealed them up, and placed my ballot into the hands of a French technical advisor to carry with her on her way out. Hers was the only visit that fell within the timeframe of accessing my ballot online and the deadline to get it to the embassy for mailing. She accepted my envelope with great flourish and said, “Zis is zee most precious thing I carry. If ze boat sinks I weel ‘old it over my ‘ead as I sweem for shore!” She carried it to the capital city. Then my partner, who works in the capital for a different NGO (and is Canadian) came and picked it up from the French technical advisor (while also dropping off some Nutella and coffee to be sent to me with the next visitor, because she’s amazing). And the next day my partner took a cab to the U.S. Embassy to put my ballot in the consular box, and the embassy mailed it back to the U.S., and then the postal service delivered it to my local election authority.
My vote was an international collaboration.
posted by philotes at 7:46 AM on October 26, 2016 [51 favorites]
My vote was an international collaboration.
posted by philotes at 7:46 AM on October 26, 2016 [51 favorites]
Philotes, your story tickled me in a place I can't reach. (You saw where I work, yeah? We have an office in the country where you are...)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:32 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:32 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes, indeed, EmpressCallipygos! I have some friends who've worked for your org. Small world. :-)
posted by philotes at 9:01 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by philotes at 9:01 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Adding to my story above: the evening after I dropped my ballot in the mail, I read at request the Clinton picture book to the preschooler, and got to say that I'd just voted for her for president. It was an awesome feeling.
posted by Quasirandom at 9:22 AM on October 26, 2016
posted by Quasirandom at 9:22 AM on October 26, 2016
I walked over to the local early voting station, which happened to be just blocks from my office, with three coworkers. It was a sunny, cool day. We made a Thing of it.
One of them, like me, supports the candidate who is not a serial sexual abuser; one of them thinks that being a serial sexual abuser isn't as bad as...whatever the other major candidate is; and the third of them is a cipher.
I encouraged everyone to vote for "the candidates who are going to make the country, state, city, county, and judiciary a better place than the alternative candidates would have."
I stopped at Dollar General on the way back with the person whose vote I canceled out. We each got an energy drink, and she paid for mine in exchange for the promise that I would pay for hers next time. America(?)!
posted by radicalawyer at 10:33 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
One of them, like me, supports the candidate who is not a serial sexual abuser; one of them thinks that being a serial sexual abuser isn't as bad as...whatever the other major candidate is; and the third of them is a cipher.
I encouraged everyone to vote for "the candidates who are going to make the country, state, city, county, and judiciary a better place than the alternative candidates would have."
I stopped at Dollar General on the way back with the person whose vote I canceled out. We each got an energy drink, and she paid for mine in exchange for the promise that I would pay for hers next time. America(?)!
posted by radicalawyer at 10:33 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Louisiana has early voting open to everyone at limited locations from 14 to 7 days prior to Election Day, so I dropped by the State Archives this morning just after it opened. There were a couple hundred voters on hand with organizers speculating they'd see 2500 that day.
My Rep was not far behind me in line with his wife and children all done up in their Sunday Best. I didn't vote for him.
My "I Voted" sticker has a Blue Dog on it.
posted by rlk at 10:40 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
My Rep was not far behind me in line with his wife and children all done up in their Sunday Best. I didn't vote for him.
My "I Voted" sticker has a Blue Dog on it.
posted by rlk at 10:40 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Couple folks early-voting in North Carolina have commented on my fb; sounds like it's taken each of them (three people all in different counties) about 45 minutes to an hour of standing in line.
posted by easily confused at 11:29 AM on October 26, 2016
posted by easily confused at 11:29 AM on October 26, 2016
Last night I went in to my local office for the first time! I'm shy and awkward in person, and thus was a little apprehensive, but they gave me a cell phone so I could make calls to try to recruit door knockers for the weekend. The campaign manager said I had a great phone voice, which (if she wasn't just being kind) might come from the fact that I'm a teleworker and all my coworker meetings/interactions are done over phone ... eh, at any rate the phone calls were about as nerve-wracking as I was expecting, but still so worth it just to hear from folks who were really excited to be voting blue and who wanted to tell me about it ... And while mysteriously enough most of the people I spoke to are going to be out of town the next two weekends, I did manage to recruit myself - I'll be knocking on doors here in Pittsburgh this coming Sunday, god help us all!
posted by DingoMutt at 11:35 AM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by DingoMutt at 11:35 AM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
I voted at lunch, here in Houston TX. The news said that Texas continues to have record numbers of early voters. (Note for Houston Mefites: The West Loop location is rather quick, unlike the one hour waits reported at other locations.)
I took my Venezuelan co-worker. He naturalized last year, so this is his first major election. I showed him how to get his sample ballot on-line. Then I explained how to choose among the judicial candidates in the many court districts. I showed how I use the local newspaper as a centrist source of recommendations, the LGBT list as a left-wing source, and the Right-to-Life source as the right-wing source. I told him that the newspaper is pretty good, that the LGBT list might be worth considering, and that I vote against everyone recommended by the Right-to-Life folks. I did not ask if he agreed with my method, but showed him how to make informed choices in obscure races.
We parked between a Maserati convertible and a dented Volkswagen. People lined up cheerfully, the poll workers were helpful, the machines were functional. I made my selections and cast my vote. Before leaving the voting station I composed myself, as I was getting emotional about the process and the long lead-up to this moment. Then back out into the sunshine, past the line of drivers going in to do their civic duty, too.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 12:00 PM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
I took my Venezuelan co-worker. He naturalized last year, so this is his first major election. I showed him how to get his sample ballot on-line. Then I explained how to choose among the judicial candidates in the many court districts. I showed how I use the local newspaper as a centrist source of recommendations, the LGBT list as a left-wing source, and the Right-to-Life source as the right-wing source. I told him that the newspaper is pretty good, that the LGBT list might be worth considering, and that I vote against everyone recommended by the Right-to-Life folks. I did not ask if he agreed with my method, but showed him how to make informed choices in obscure races.
We parked between a Maserati convertible and a dented Volkswagen. People lined up cheerfully, the poll workers were helpful, the machines were functional. I made my selections and cast my vote. Before leaving the voting station I composed myself, as I was getting emotional about the process and the long lead-up to this moment. Then back out into the sunshine, past the line of drivers going in to do their civic duty, too.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 12:00 PM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
I voted this morning, at City Hall, after spending two hours standing at a BART station holding a sign for my friend who is running for the local community college board while he handed flyers to voters, and before a meeting with a bunch of the progressive campaigns to coordinate GOTV for election day. I'm honestly really excited about all the candidates that I get to vote for this year. So many kick ass progressive women, in particular, are running for office here. Voting was easy - no lines, no wait, just 5 pages of ballots to fill out.
Also very happy to get to vote for Prop 64, which is our solid, progressive marijuana legalization initiative. I'm eager for this election to be over mostly so I no longer have to deal with self-involved idiots spreading disinformation about Prop 64 (and me and my colleagues.) We're collecting the craziest rumors about it -- it's secretly funded by Monsanto (and/or George Soros, who seems to be running the longest possible game to make money from it)! It will turn growing marijuana into a third strike felony and people will be in prison for life! It's retroactively creating felons out of teenagers! [FAKE, all of those]
posted by gingerbeer at 12:28 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
Also very happy to get to vote for Prop 64, which is our solid, progressive marijuana legalization initiative. I'm eager for this election to be over mostly so I no longer have to deal with self-involved idiots spreading disinformation about Prop 64 (and me and my colleagues.) We're collecting the craziest rumors about it -- it's secretly funded by Monsanto (and/or George Soros, who seems to be running the longest possible game to make money from it)! It will turn growing marijuana into a third strike felony and people will be in prison for life! It's retroactively creating felons out of teenagers! [FAKE, all of those]
posted by gingerbeer at 12:28 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
I also voted at lunch in Houston with co-workers, Midnight Skulker. We also saw the news about record turnouts (67,000 people voted in Houston on Monday) but I can recommend the Ripley House on Navigation.
It'very exciting to have (at long last!) voted. If you can do it, totally worth it.
posted by librarylis at 1:58 PM on October 26, 2016
It'very exciting to have (at long last!) voted. If you can do it, totally worth it.
posted by librarylis at 1:58 PM on October 26, 2016
I mailed my early ballot on Saturday. I just checked the status of it online, and my signature was verified on Monday and my ballot turned over to be counted. I feel very satisfied about democracy right now, and also feel properly deserving of a post-voting taco.
posted by mixedmetaphors at 3:08 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by mixedmetaphors at 3:08 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
As a WA resident, I'm used to vote-by-mail, and I love it. I did my research, filled in the ovals, signed the envelope.
I've always put a stamp on it and mailed it from work. This morning though... I felt compelled to stop at a ballot collection box and pop it in the slot. No way in hell I'm trusting this one to the postal service :)
I'll probably just make it a habit now, save a stamp.
posted by wallabear at 8:05 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've always put a stamp on it and mailed it from work. This morning though... I felt compelled to stop at a ballot collection box and pop it in the slot. No way in hell I'm trusting this one to the postal service :)
I'll probably just make it a habit now, save a stamp.
posted by wallabear at 8:05 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
My son got so psyched by it that he is walking around telling everyone to vote for Hillary Clinton and we're having to gently remind him that not everyone likes to talk about who they vote for and that's the point of a secret ballot.
Funny story about voting: the first election I can really remember was Bush/Clinton in 1992. I was super into it, and I asked EVERY adult I met who they had voted for, since I didn't really understand that was supposed to be private information. I was interested in the election, why wouldn't everyone be?!
So, I asked my mom's Republican friend who she voted for, and when she answered Bush, my mother quipped, "Well, someone had to vote for him I guess!" That was the instant I became a Democrat. Years later, I discovered that my parents had voted for Perot in that election! My whole life is a lie.
posted by chainsofreedom at 4:48 AM on October 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
Funny story about voting: the first election I can really remember was Bush/Clinton in 1992. I was super into it, and I asked EVERY adult I met who they had voted for, since I didn't really understand that was supposed to be private information. I was interested in the election, why wouldn't everyone be?!
So, I asked my mom's Republican friend who she voted for, and when she answered Bush, my mother quipped, "Well, someone had to vote for him I guess!" That was the instant I became a Democrat. Years later, I discovered that my parents had voted for Perot in that election! My whole life is a lie.
posted by chainsofreedom at 4:48 AM on October 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
June was pretty stoked to help me vote this morning.
posted by saladin at 6:36 AM on October 27, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by saladin at 6:36 AM on October 27, 2016 [10 favorites]
Ha! Checked the elections office webpage regarding my ballot and it says:
We have received your ballot, your signature has been verified, and your ballot will be counted.
Thank you for voting.
Take that, orange wannabe fuhrer!!
posted by bearwife at 8:02 AM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]
We have received your ballot, your signature has been verified, and your ballot will be counted.
Thank you for voting.
Take that, orange wannabe fuhrer!!
posted by bearwife at 8:02 AM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]
All the folks talking about how their elections offices had already confirmed receipt of their absentee ballots made me realize I had no idea how to confirm receipt of mine.
Et voilà, my fellow Wisconsin absentee voters: View My Absentee Ballot Request Status. (My completed ballot was received Oct 18, 2016, but my vote has not yet been recorded.)
posted by amnesia and magnets at 9:58 AM on October 27, 2016
Et voilà, my fellow Wisconsin absentee voters: View My Absentee Ballot Request Status. (My completed ballot was received Oct 18, 2016, but my vote has not yet been recorded.)
posted by amnesia and magnets at 9:58 AM on October 27, 2016
Today is the first day of early voting in Maryland. We went just before 5pm and there wasn't a line, but there were more people than I had ever seen there, and by the time we left, a line was forming. Only one person electioneering outside, with a sample ballot from the county democratic party. Three different people directed me to the sticker table as I was leaving. As if I would forget!
posted by amarynth at 3:53 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by amarynth at 3:53 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
I voted early this weekend. It was sunny outside and calm and nearly empty in the voting precinct, and they left the doors propped open for the breeze to filter through. A smiling older woman handed me my "I Voted Early!" sticker as I left, and tonight I folded it into a thank you note and sent it to Khizr and Ghazala Khan.
posted by sallybrown at 6:42 PM on October 27, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 6:42 PM on October 27, 2016 [13 favorites]
My mom early voted in Maryland yesterday. It took 45 minutes. She said there was a woman there wearing an "I'm a Nasty Woman and I Vote" T-shirt, and another who said she was there to cast her "deplorable vote". So, meh.
posted by chainsofreedom at 8:19 AM on October 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by chainsofreedom at 8:19 AM on October 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
I voted yesterday in Maryland, too. 9:30 am on the first day of early voting, and the line was out the door. I've never seen turnout like this. It took an hour to get to the booth, but in the meantime I was able to shake the hand of a woman who said she rarely votes, but was voting this year because we have to stop Trump.
I voted straight D, of course, because even though I did prefer Sanders for president and Donna Edwards for senator, now is the time for solidarity in the face of unprecedented assholery. The only exception was for my City Councilman, a Democrat whom I don't like who is running unopposed. I wrote in one of his primary challengers whom I do like.
Look out for yet another term of the almost always satisfactory Rep. Elijah Cummings, and our likely shiny new Senator Chris Van Hollen. He seems like a decent fellow.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:25 PM on October 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
I voted straight D, of course, because even though I did prefer Sanders for president and Donna Edwards for senator, now is the time for solidarity in the face of unprecedented assholery. The only exception was for my City Councilman, a Democrat whom I don't like who is running unopposed. I wrote in one of his primary challengers whom I do like.
Look out for yet another term of the almost always satisfactory Rep. Elijah Cummings, and our likely shiny new Senator Chris Van Hollen. He seems like a decent fellow.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:25 PM on October 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
I have an unwanted call blocking app on my phone that I have turned off for the past month because I felt that it was important that at least one Clinton voter show up in polling of my 99% Trump state. See that 1% there, that's me! I would usually get a call every day. Yesterday I voted on the first day of early voting and after my survey call that evening I happily turned the call blocker back on. Duty done!
posted by irisclara at 1:35 PM on October 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by irisclara at 1:35 PM on October 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
I voted! Got my kids after school today, went down to the city hall, cast an early ballot. After I sealed the ballot in the envelope and signed it, I kissed it and so did each of my kids, and we all held hands when I dropped it in the slot. The nice lady gave me a whole long ribbon of "I voted" stickers and I might just parcel them out aaallll the way to voting day!
posted by Sublimity at 2:24 PM on October 28, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Sublimity at 2:24 PM on October 28, 2016 [4 favorites]
I was so surprised to hear that you can vote early in other states. Then I read that surprisingly NY is one of the most restrictive states.
I discovered this week that I won't be in town for Election Day and I didn't trust the mail to send in my application, wait for ballot and send it back in time. So I drove down to the bad part of town to a concrete building squeezed under a railroad bridge. The very nice young man had me fill out an application to vote then gave me my ballot. No ID required.
My biggest joy was the down ballot voting - the party of Trump is not getting away with "distancing" them selves. I'm in a red county in a blue state but hoping we turn.
Once I voted I felt so much better! Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories.
posted by SyraCarol at 6:58 PM on October 28, 2016 [5 favorites]
I discovered this week that I won't be in town for Election Day and I didn't trust the mail to send in my application, wait for ballot and send it back in time. So I drove down to the bad part of town to a concrete building squeezed under a railroad bridge. The very nice young man had me fill out an application to vote then gave me my ballot. No ID required.
My biggest joy was the down ballot voting - the party of Trump is not getting away with "distancing" them selves. I'm in a red county in a blue state but hoping we turn.
Once I voted I felt so much better! Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories.
posted by SyraCarol at 6:58 PM on October 28, 2016 [5 favorites]
I parked, walked in, waited in line (which was fast moving), and cast my ballot. A most mundane task, a boring story, but super important.
posted by Monkey0nCrack at 8:01 AM on October 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Monkey0nCrack at 8:01 AM on October 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
I voted early today here in Florida. Due to a quirk of scheduling, I'm going to a friend's Halloween party afterward, so I showed up to the polls dressed as Supergirl. It was great. At least three people asked me if I was here to save the day, and another asked if I liked the show.
posted by PearlRose at 12:00 PM on October 29, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by PearlRose at 12:00 PM on October 29, 2016 [11 favorites]
Voted this afternoon! Had my bar code, filled out sample ballot, and took less than 15 minutes.
posted by annsunny at 3:32 PM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by annsunny at 3:32 PM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
The handy SF Elections website has let me know that my vote was counted yesterday!
posted by gingerbeer at 12:03 AM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by gingerbeer at 12:03 AM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Waited in line for about 30 minutes on Tuesday at 4pm at my town's one early voting location in NC.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:50 AM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Rock Steady at 8:50 AM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was so surprised to hear that you can vote early in other states. Then I read that surprisingly NY is one of the most restrictive states.
Considering the number of NY-based MeFites, this thread is going to be NUTS in a week.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:20 AM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Considering the number of NY-based MeFites, this thread is going to be NUTS in a week.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:20 AM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Voted (by mail) in San Francisco. Given the enormous number of state and local propositions - over 40! - I took several hours filling it out, researching things along the way, and I'm glad I didn't have to stand in a ballot cubicle to draw my arrows. Ugh. Tuesday is going to be terrible in a lot of precincts.
An interesting thing I realize in retrospect. On my ballot, Clinton/Kaine were listed first for president/VP. My understanding is that they scramble the order on different ballot forms so as to avoid "first option" bias, but of course I've never seen more than one ballot so I'm not sure. Anyway, I drew the arrow for that one and... moved on to other offices. I have no idea who else was on my ballot for president. Was Trump? I guess probably. But I definitely didn't read his name, even for half a second. After everything that's happened in this election, I was ready to vote for Hillary and put it behind me. Her name was first, and that was that. No need to consider Trump as a realistic candidate for office ever again.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 12:15 PM on November 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
An interesting thing I realize in retrospect. On my ballot, Clinton/Kaine were listed first for president/VP. My understanding is that they scramble the order on different ballot forms so as to avoid "first option" bias, but of course I've never seen more than one ballot so I'm not sure. Anyway, I drew the arrow for that one and... moved on to other offices. I have no idea who else was on my ballot for president. Was Trump? I guess probably. But I definitely didn't read his name, even for half a second. After everything that's happened in this election, I was ready to vote for Hillary and put it behind me. Her name was first, and that was that. No need to consider Trump as a realistic candidate for office ever again.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 12:15 PM on November 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
I work the polls every election, so I always get an absentee ballot. Mine is all ready to go and I'll drop it off with Mrs. Thief's ballot Saturday. I wish all states at early voting.
posted by BobtheThief at 4:07 PM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by BobtheThief at 4:07 PM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
I finally did my research on the downballot stuff and dropped mine off at my beloved library yesterday in Portland. I was sad not to get a sticker, maybe the early vote states should give out Tshirts or pins or stickers to wear on the actual day so we can all smile at each other in recognition for doing our best. I miss the old days in NY and the satisfying mechanical noise when you pulled the lever and the feeling of community that you got at the polling place. I took all sorts of selfies, me filling out the ballot, the ballot and me, me at the library. Don't know what I'll ever do with them, but it felt so historic I wanted to memorialize it. It is such a communal thing we do, millions of individuals steering the ship--please baby Jesus and baby Buddha please let hope and compassion win over fear and anger. Please.
posted by eggkeeper at 8:57 PM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by eggkeeper at 8:57 PM on November 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am in the early voting line right now! It's the longest line I've ever seen to vote here.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:34 PM on November 3, 2016
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:34 PM on November 3, 2016
I looked into early voting here but apparently all of LA County has only a single early voting location, which is in Norwalk (almost in OC, and not even remotely central). I've never hit too big a line on Election Day here, so I'm going to assume the line will be less than the 3 hour round trip drive to early vote :P
posted by thefoxgod at 3:13 PM on November 3, 2016
posted by thefoxgod at 3:13 PM on November 3, 2016
Followup - I was done in under an hour, despite it being a long line. Process moved quickly, poll workers were businesslike, atmosphere of tension (significantly more so than in previous years IMO) but individual interactions were courteous. I did totally get the thrill that others have reported upon actually opening my ballot. Plus I got my sticker.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 3:20 PM on November 3, 2016
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 3:20 PM on November 3, 2016
There's actually a bill in the PA legislature to allow early voting here but I'm sure that it'll go exactly nowhere because it's Pennsylvania and you can't actually ever change anything here.
posted by octothorpe at 3:28 PM on November 3, 2016
posted by octothorpe at 3:28 PM on November 3, 2016
I'm a little late to the early voting party, but I made it! Oklahoma has really limited in-person early voting hours (part of a general unfriendliness toward early voting) so today [Saturday] was the first chance I had to go. I arrived around noon and the line was pretty monumental -- I couldn't actually get a shot of the full thing since it turned another corner down the side of the building. The line was fairly slow-moving so at one point they sent a sheriff's deputy down the line to reassure people that as long as they were in line they would get to vote. People were pretty cheerful about the wait, though. I heard one guy joke "the last time I was in a line like this it was for the original Star Wars!"
The poll workers were obviously worn out but friendly and were keeping things moving as best they could. Early voting is a little complicated here because you have to fill out an affidavit and present your ID so we had to be shuffled from station to station before we could get our ballots. Like a lot of people, I had a little moment when I got to fill in the box for Hillary -- voting for her in the primary was fun but this was the real thing, I was really casting my vote for a woman for president. I finished up my ballot, fed it into the machine, and two and a half hours after I got there, I had my sticker :-)
Count Oklahoma in as another state seeing record early voting turnout -- the elections board reported that so far, between mail and in-person absentee voting, over 234,000 people have voted early this year and that number is going to increase because of people who were in line when voting officially closed and mail votes arriving next week. In-person absentee voting broke the old 2008 record by over 30,000 votes statewide!
Now I get to spend Tuesday night on the sofa watching election results, drinking blue drinks and annoying the neighbors by cheering every time a state is called for Hillary :-)
posted by dislegomena at 10:39 PM on November 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
The poll workers were obviously worn out but friendly and were keeping things moving as best they could. Early voting is a little complicated here because you have to fill out an affidavit and present your ID so we had to be shuffled from station to station before we could get our ballots. Like a lot of people, I had a little moment when I got to fill in the box for Hillary -- voting for her in the primary was fun but this was the real thing, I was really casting my vote for a woman for president. I finished up my ballot, fed it into the machine, and two and a half hours after I got there, I had my sticker :-)
Count Oklahoma in as another state seeing record early voting turnout -- the elections board reported that so far, between mail and in-person absentee voting, over 234,000 people have voted early this year and that number is going to increase because of people who were in line when voting officially closed and mail votes arriving next week. In-person absentee voting broke the old 2008 record by over 30,000 votes statewide!
Now I get to spend Tuesday night on the sofa watching election results, drinking blue drinks and annoying the neighbors by cheering every time a state is called for Hillary :-)
posted by dislegomena at 10:39 PM on November 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Just made the Wisconsin early voting deadline on Friday. I had time earlier in the week, but wanted my husband to be able to come with me because I knew I would cry and I wasn't sure I could wrangle my toddler and my emotions. There was a small line, notable because I don't remember ever seeing a line for early voting before. I picked up my 6 yr old daughter and let her fill in the circle next to Hillary's name. When we left I told her she helped vote for the first woman presidental candidate and she should "lock that in her brain." (Her words for how she remembers important stuff.) She said, "I already did, Mommy."
I was already tearing up, but that definitely made me cry some happy tears.
posted by areaperson at 7:53 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
I was already tearing up, but that definitely made me cry some happy tears.
posted by areaperson at 7:53 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
My polling place is at a library 1/2 block away from the Hilton where cheeto Voldemort is having his election party; also across the street from moma, where I'm planning to see 2 films in their preservation series starting at 4 (2 years ago it was at a synagogue). Today barriers went up on 6th ave and I saw USaian people at the Hilton who were obviously NOT residents of NY.
I hope that voter intimidation doesn't happen here and that it's stopped where it's been expected.
posted by brujita at 9:20 PM on November 7, 2016
I hope that voter intimidation doesn't happen here and that it's stopped where it's been expected.
posted by brujita at 9:20 PM on November 7, 2016
Finally voted just now. There was a fairly long line at the senior tower where we vote but it still only took about twenty minutes including the time waiting for them to open. It's actually two precincts at one location so the lines look twice as long as they are.
I voted all D so I could have just hit the Straight Democratic Ticket button but I wanted to push them all individually.
posted by octothorpe at 4:33 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I voted all D so I could have just hit the Straight Democratic Ticket button but I wanted to push them all individually.
posted by octothorpe at 4:33 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
35 minutes, which is 30 longer than it has ever taken in my precinct.
posted by Etrigan at 4:57 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by Etrigan at 4:57 AM on November 8, 2016
I was number 57 (or something like that) at my district (Riverside Church in NYC). There were more people than usual at that time, but mostly it was because one of the two scanners was down. As I was leaving, the repair guy had his head inside the broken scanner. I hope they get it taken care of because the after-work voting is going to be hectic.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:00 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:00 AM on November 8, 2016
New polling site this year, less than a mile from my home. We were there before 7:00 AM and there was already a line of people to check in.
I wore white and blue. Blue skies socks, blue jeans, blue belt. White long sleeved t-shirt, white vest, my white spring raincoat. A white and grey scarf. Fingerless gloves in the muted colors of the rainbow.
A few older men side-eyed my appearance, but no one said anything. My son stood next to me quietly as I blinked away tears checking the box next to Hillary Clinton's name. I wished the poll worker who helped me set up a nice day, if this morning was any indication it will be very long for them.
More so then in past years I have felt like I was not only casting my vote for someone, but that by casing my vote this morning I was doing my part to protect the people I love - my college roommate married to a muslim immigrant. My coworkers from all over the globe, some of them naturalized, some of them permanent residents. My LGBTQ friends. My son's future.
Then we had breakfast at Eat N Park. Back to work now. Work and waiting.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:39 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I wore white and blue. Blue skies socks, blue jeans, blue belt. White long sleeved t-shirt, white vest, my white spring raincoat. A white and grey scarf. Fingerless gloves in the muted colors of the rainbow.
A few older men side-eyed my appearance, but no one said anything. My son stood next to me quietly as I blinked away tears checking the box next to Hillary Clinton's name. I wished the poll worker who helped me set up a nice day, if this morning was any indication it will be very long for them.
More so then in past years I have felt like I was not only casting my vote for someone, but that by casing my vote this morning I was doing my part to protect the people I love - my college roommate married to a muslim immigrant. My coworkers from all over the globe, some of them naturalized, some of them permanent residents. My LGBTQ friends. My son's future.
Then we had breakfast at Eat N Park. Back to work now. Work and waiting.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:39 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I got excited by the number of pantsuits I saw around work today and then I remembered I work next to two different courthouses.
Voted this morning, #23 in my precinct, after about a 45 minute wait in line (got there early but they didn't quite start on time). It would have been a little shorter if I either didn't preregister to vote - Minnesota has same day voting registration, but nobody who showed up when the polls open was using it. Also I don't think they took into account that last names aren't necessarily distributed evenly across the alphabet, because everyone was waiting for the N-Z line with me. Still, not too bad.
The two dudes behind me in line were totally chatting each other up. Good job dudes.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:15 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Voted this morning, #23 in my precinct, after about a 45 minute wait in line (got there early but they didn't quite start on time). It would have been a little shorter if I either didn't preregister to vote - Minnesota has same day voting registration, but nobody who showed up when the polls open was using it. Also I don't think they took into account that last names aren't necessarily distributed evenly across the alphabet, because everyone was waiting for the N-Z line with me. Still, not too bad.
The two dudes behind me in line were totally chatting each other up. Good job dudes.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:15 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I knew I had to be at a client meeting by 7:30, so I showed up 15 minutes before the polls opened. That put me #2 in line, which gave me time to explain to the woman in front of me why even though we are all in the same city ward we have two different potential ballots (our state representative boundaries are a completely separate overlay).
Our ballot listed alphabetically and Clinton was right at the top. Felt good filling in that oval. Honestly, I had to look for Trump (last of the four additional pairings that made the Vermont ballot), it just sorted blended into the background for me.
Vermont is an easy call, so I was just as excited to vote on some local ballot initiatives, but so proud as well to have been a part of this historic day!
posted by meinvt at 6:26 AM on November 8, 2016
Our ballot listed alphabetically and Clinton was right at the top. Felt good filling in that oval. Honestly, I had to look for Trump (last of the four additional pairings that made the Vermont ballot), it just sorted blended into the background for me.
Vermont is an easy call, so I was just as excited to vote on some local ballot initiatives, but so proud as well to have been a part of this historic day!
posted by meinvt at 6:26 AM on November 8, 2016
6:15 am, ~15 minutes from entering the building to skipping excitedly on the way out.
While i was waiting to vote, I heard one of the poll workers say something about photo ID and I was like 'what fresh BS is this' and getting my hackles up but they were actually talking about how they heard other counties are improperly asking for ID from everyone so I was forced to put my hackles back down.
posted by rachaelfaith at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
While i was waiting to vote, I heard one of the poll workers say something about photo ID and I was like 'what fresh BS is this' and getting my hackles up but they were actually talking about how they heard other counties are improperly asking for ID from everyone so I was forced to put my hackles back down.
posted by rachaelfaith at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh thank you everyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart for voting!
posted by eggkeeper at 7:02 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by eggkeeper at 7:02 AM on November 8, 2016
Wore white and took my daughters to vote! I let my older daughter press the button, even though strictly speaking I was not supposed to. But it felt good.
posted by cider at 7:13 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by cider at 7:13 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've been voting in the same precinct for 24 years. Normally at 10 AM on an election day, the place is a desert. Today, long lines down TWO hallways in the school. I went to the head of my precinct line because I'm visibly disabled enough to require a cane to walk.
No Hillary signs in evidence- I counted four Trumppence signs within a block of the polling place, well within the legal limits.
I live in a suburban Indianapolis precinct, what I'm sure most people would consider solidly Trumppence country. Guy in front of me in the precinct line (wearing a Chris Kyle t-shirt) was visibly disturbed at the number of minorities in line. He, assuming I was a Trumpie, apparently because I'm an old white guy, hissed "Where did all these [minority expletive] 'voters' come from?
Judges were randomly checking ID's (we have the vile Voter ID law), but I didn't see anyone turned away from the polls.
posted by pjern at 7:43 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
No Hillary signs in evidence- I counted four Trumppence signs within a block of the polling place, well within the legal limits.
I live in a suburban Indianapolis precinct, what I'm sure most people would consider solidly Trumppence country. Guy in front of me in the precinct line (wearing a Chris Kyle t-shirt) was visibly disturbed at the number of minorities in line. He, assuming I was a Trumpie, apparently because I'm an old white guy, hissed "Where did all these [minority expletive] 'voters' come from?
Judges were randomly checking ID's (we have the vile Voter ID law), but I didn't see anyone turned away from the polls.
posted by pjern at 7:43 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I got there 30 minutes early and voted about 40 minutes after the polls opened. It was generally peaceful and turnout was very good. There were people taking pictures of others voting because there was a banner above the booths that says "Jesus is Lord" and like, wow, man, Jesus is watching over our election. We don't have curtains or anything so you're just standing at a table with your back to the line when you vote. Eventually the election judges asked people to put away their phones. I live in the most R county in MN which made the atmosphere both calm (as in no fighting) and very unnerving. There were already people saying things like "did you hear about {state}?? I heard their voting machines all suspiciously stopped working this morning." There was also a lot of talk about where to go pray tonight.
There was a large poster for www.myfaithvotes.org/ in the church where the election was held. I'm sure it was there long before today but I asked about it. It was "outside the polling secrtion of the church" so it wasn't an issue. But it was clearly visible from the lines and poll booths. I don't think it likely changed any minds but it bothers me that each time I have voted in different places in this district - including the government center and courthouse - there has been obvious partisan activity right at the polling place.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 8:06 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
There was a large poster for www.myfaithvotes.org/ in the church where the election was held. I'm sure it was there long before today but I asked about it. It was "outside the polling secrtion of the church" so it wasn't an issue. But it was clearly visible from the lines and poll booths. I don't think it likely changed any minds but it bothers me that each time I have voted in different places in this district - including the government center and courthouse - there has been obvious partisan activity right at the polling place.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 8:06 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I voted by mail weeks ago (I always vote early, though this is the first year I've voted by mail) because I expected to be doing Voter Protection with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, but my polling place assignment process got borked (and I'm traveling out of the country later this week and swamped at work), so I'm not. I'm just at work and not even wearing an I Voted sticker. Obsessively watching the Election Day Emotion Tracker.
BUT I managed to find a pantsuit (90% of my clothes are vacuum-sealed or mothballs as we struggle to end a clothes moth invasion in my house, and I own very few pairs of pants anyway, so I was thrilled I managed!) AND I learned that my office building is a polling place (I've never been here on election day before). It's not crowded at all.
posted by crush-onastick at 8:10 AM on November 8, 2016
BUT I managed to find a pantsuit (90% of my clothes are vacuum-sealed or mothballs as we struggle to end a clothes moth invasion in my house, and I own very few pairs of pants anyway, so I was thrilled I managed!) AND I learned that my office building is a polling place (I've never been here on election day before). It's not crowded at all.
posted by crush-onastick at 8:10 AM on November 8, 2016
I really meant to wear a pantsuit today, but I just couldn't make myself go dry-clean-only on a day that will probably include fear-sweat. Also I have no white clothes suitable for November. And I didn't get a sticker when I dropped my ballot off yesterday morning (by bicycle, no wait.)
But whatever I'm wearing today, I voted, dammit. And tonight's opera (La Fanciulla del West!) should be amazing. And when the opera's over, at least some of the election results should be in.
posted by asperity at 8:37 AM on November 8, 2016
But whatever I'm wearing today, I voted, dammit. And tonight's opera (La Fanciulla del West!) should be amazing. And when the opera's over, at least some of the election results should be in.
posted by asperity at 8:37 AM on November 8, 2016
The building here at work is a polling place. Parking lot has been fairly full since 6:30am (I was doing my own voting until then so don't know what the first half hour looked like).
People seem relaxed and friendly and I'm hoping it stays that way.
posted by sciencegeek at 8:46 AM on November 8, 2016
People seem relaxed and friendly and I'm hoping it stays that way.
posted by sciencegeek at 8:46 AM on November 8, 2016
What a clusterfuck. Got to the polls at 5:45. Finally voted at 7:30. One precinct had its own line with two computers, the other two precincts had a single line with one computer. Which couldn't look up my name, even after I corrected the poll worker who put my first name in the last name spot and last name in the first name spot. Finally he noticed that I had already put my election notice on the scanner and scanned it...but who knows what would have happened if i'd not had the notice.
...and the gal walking up and down the line telling the other precinct people that they could just walk right up was also telling people they needed photo IDs. Which is not correct (although there's an amendment on the ballot to require it...)
posted by notsnot at 9:22 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
...and the gal walking up and down the line telling the other precinct people that they could just walk right up was also telling people they needed photo IDs. Which is not correct (although there's an amendment on the ballot to require it...)
posted by notsnot at 9:22 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sunny and optimistic & quick voting in my neck of Brooklyn. Over breakfast my wife and I got all choked up while showing one of Clinton’s wrap-up videos (“The Story of Us”) to our 5-yr-old daughter. Then we all got into character (kid in everything red and blue she could find: sparkly blue mermaid dress, red-and-white striped pajamas, blue and red disco ball necklaces, etc.; I’m wearing my belt buckle that’s an American flag and a guitar and a bottle opener and... um, a belt buckle) & went to our voting site together. There were no-photos signs everywhere so I didn’t take this picture but this is the image I would share & remember: the sparkly boots & mermaid fins of my wife & our daughter poking out from the bottom of the “privacy booth” while they voted for a woman for president.
Then I scooted to the office (to explain to my boss why I’m so behind on my work, without, er, *actually* mentioning these election threads) while my wife & kid wandered around the neighborhood handing out “I Voted” screenprints (theoretically nonpartisan, tho they’re in Hillary’s arrow font).
Good luck to all today--
posted by miles per flower at 10:28 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Then I scooted to the office (to explain to my boss why I’m so behind on my work, without, er, *actually* mentioning these election threads) while my wife & kid wandered around the neighborhood handing out “I Voted” screenprints (theoretically nonpartisan, tho they’re in Hillary’s arrow font).
Good luck to all today--
posted by miles per flower at 10:28 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Here's my mom and me voting in our pantsuits.
posted by CMcG at 10:33 AM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by CMcG at 10:33 AM on November 8, 2016 [5 favorites]
Left my place 4 blocks away at 9:30. Sidewalk bottlenecked se corner of 56th&6th, police setting more barriers up at 55th and 6th plaza blocked on east side of 6th between 54th &53rd. At polling place was asked for district card, never happened before. At 1st told my polling place was on 58th st (where it had been in previous years), then verified that I was at the right location . Was able to vote without any further incident. As I walked up 5th Ave to the Paris theater, the sidewalk was completely barricaded on w side of 5th between 54th & 55th, bottlenecked at 56th, double barricade across from Voldemort tower. Some of grand army plaza blocked off.
posted by brujita at 10:50 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by brujita at 10:50 AM on November 8, 2016
It was quiet with no line just after lunchtime at our elementary school voting place in Montgomery County, Maryland today. The volunteers were organized and super friendly. They announced a first time voter so we all got to cheer for her! And I barely held back tears as I cast my vote.
There's a lot of history in the making today. I hope record voter turnout is part of it.
posted by juliplease at 11:19 AM on November 8, 2016
There's a lot of history in the making today. I hope record voter turnout is part of it.
posted by juliplease at 11:19 AM on November 8, 2016
i was excited to openly brawl in the streets with anyone suppressing voters or illegally demanding IDs from voters but all my poll workers were tiny ancient black grammas who were all very nice and efficient and forgiving of everyone's inability to tell left from right at 6am this morning.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:38 AM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 11:38 AM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
also they did not make fun of me when i tried 2x to scan my blank ballot, again, bc 6am
posted by poffin boffin at 11:42 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 11:42 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Neckbeard in a Trump shirt outside of Paris theater ( which is showing Aquarius, a Brazilian film in which Sonia braga is being forced out of her home by an asshole developer). Fuck ton of motorcycle cops on west side of Grand army plaza, barricades at Union Square.
posted by brujita at 11:46 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by brujita at 11:46 AM on November 8, 2016
My aunt reports that she took her collection of presidential buttons (not campaign pins -- talking about buttons like for buttonholes, enameled decorative buttons from historical campaigns) to the polling place with her in CT "to keep away the evil spirits". :) It worked, she said it was a short line and no attempted voter-intimidation.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:17 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've been pretty ill for a while and driving is tough but I talked a couple people who needed a ride into letting me take them. Didn't feel comfortable taking the interstate so I took a bunch of rural roads. Saw a house with a flagpole and a Trump flag flying right under the USA one. A Trump Flag.
Anyway, I passed 7 polling places between 9 and 10 am and they were packed. So rural NC is turning out. Not sure that's a good thing.
Went to see my neurologist and he wasn't really listening and then he apologized and pulled out a salad and said he was really stressed out about the election and that he'd taken an ativan he was supposed to use for a dental appointment, don't tell anyone.
I won't. This is so much closer than it should be. Something seriously wrong with this country.
So we wound up talking about him and his fears for the future. He's got four kids and he's terrified that enough of the population in this country would be ok with fascism that they could take power.
A nurse knocked and came in and sat. She'd heard us through the vents and needed to vent. And then another nurse.
So we didn't get much done about why the left side of my body refuses commands sometimes, but they got a good listener and whatever happens tonight, I'm going to get really good care from that office because I took care of them today. Showed 'em this They are all younger and thought this was the first time but Thatcher, Reagan etc. laid the ground for this.
We are looking at armed struggle as our only way out if this happens and they have all the guns. Some people don't want to face that, but that was the conclusion of 3 other educated people today and they came up with it on their own as the only option. That's what I think, but I didn't prompt them, I was kind of on the spot being a mock therapist and asked them questions to help them think about their anxiety and that was the conclusion: We're going to have to fight.
Sorry to be so dark. This could go sideways even if Clinton wins and everyone is going to have to think about what they would be willing to risk and do. It's not like the FBI is going to help us.
Canada was placing full page come-hither ads in major US newspapers after Bush-Gore. I should have gone.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 1:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Anyway, I passed 7 polling places between 9 and 10 am and they were packed. So rural NC is turning out. Not sure that's a good thing.
Went to see my neurologist and he wasn't really listening and then he apologized and pulled out a salad and said he was really stressed out about the election and that he'd taken an ativan he was supposed to use for a dental appointment, don't tell anyone.
I won't. This is so much closer than it should be. Something seriously wrong with this country.
So we wound up talking about him and his fears for the future. He's got four kids and he's terrified that enough of the population in this country would be ok with fascism that they could take power.
A nurse knocked and came in and sat. She'd heard us through the vents and needed to vent. And then another nurse.
So we didn't get much done about why the left side of my body refuses commands sometimes, but they got a good listener and whatever happens tonight, I'm going to get really good care from that office because I took care of them today. Showed 'em this They are all younger and thought this was the first time but Thatcher, Reagan etc. laid the ground for this.
We are looking at armed struggle as our only way out if this happens and they have all the guns. Some people don't want to face that, but that was the conclusion of 3 other educated people today and they came up with it on their own as the only option. That's what I think, but I didn't prompt them, I was kind of on the spot being a mock therapist and asked them questions to help them think about their anxiety and that was the conclusion: We're going to have to fight.
Sorry to be so dark. This could go sideways even if Clinton wins and everyone is going to have to think about what they would be willing to risk and do. It's not like the FBI is going to help us.
Canada was placing full page come-hither ads in major US newspapers after Bush-Gore. I should have gone.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 1:19 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Just got back from dropping off my ballot. I'm vote by mail but didn't get it done before I left for vacation at the end of October. So I had to hope the plane wouldn't crash yesterday, and it didn't and so I have delivered my vote for Hillary (and so many propositions...)
posted by tavella at 1:23 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by tavella at 1:23 PM on November 8, 2016
Oh, and I had to go inside to drop it off, because the outside box was already full and sealed at noon.
posted by tavella at 1:24 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by tavella at 1:24 PM on November 8, 2016
Voted, had almost exactly the experience in that NY Times game thing as a literal white programmer from California (polling place a few blocks from house, no line, etc). I wish we could provide that for everyone.
posted by thefoxgod at 1:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thefoxgod at 1:36 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I voted at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of regular early voting in Bernalillo County New Mexico (Albuquerque). No line. Very smooth. Wish I still had my sticker.
posted by maurreen at 1:41 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by maurreen at 1:41 PM on November 8, 2016
I'm showing my solidarity with my pant suit today.
Unfortunately, due to a horrible chronic illness that has really bad timing (just my luck) - I wasn't able to register to vote in time. I'm heartbroken by it but I support everyone to get out there today!! I'm so glad I'm reading stories of everyone getting out there so I can experience this voting through you all today!
posted by Crystalinne at 1:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Unfortunately, due to a horrible chronic illness that has really bad timing (just my luck) - I wasn't able to register to vote in time. I'm heartbroken by it but I support everyone to get out there today!! I'm so glad I'm reading stories of everyone getting out there so I can experience this voting through you all today!
posted by Crystalinne at 1:45 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Three times today, I have burst into tears: I brought my little daughter with me to the polls, and we pushed those buttons together. She doesn't understand the magnitude of the day, but she will have that memory for the rest of her life.
I grew up on "Schoolhouse Rock," and today am standing here crying--again--at this. My daughter will grow up able to take the idea of a woman president for granted.
"Yes the 19th Amendment
Struck down that restrictive rule.
(Yeah, yeah!
Yeah, yeah!
Right on!
We got it now!)
Since 1920...
Sisters, unite!
Vote on!"
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I grew up on "Schoolhouse Rock," and today am standing here crying--again--at this. My daughter will grow up able to take the idea of a woman president for granted.
"Yes the 19th Amendment
Struck down that restrictive rule.
(Yeah, yeah!
Yeah, yeah!
Right on!
We got it now!)
Since 1920...
Sisters, unite!
Vote on!"
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:09 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Voted 30min ago in Woodside, NY. Voting was smooth despite the crowd, but state candidates were electioneering inside the 100ft no-electioneering limit! I called the NYS board of elections and reported it.
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 4:03 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 4:03 PM on November 8, 2016
Dressed in white and blue pants, since it's too warm today for a pantsuit, and went around lunchtime to my polling spot. There was a really delightful array of young pollworkers this time around, plus an inspector of some kind from a district level who checked in to make sure they had enough of everything. Apparently they'd already doubled their usual daily turnout for elections by noon!
posted by tautological at 5:28 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by tautological at 5:28 PM on November 8, 2016
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posted by insectosaurus at 11:51 AM on October 22, 2016 [69 favorites]