Where Do You Vote, Etc...
Since this is election season in the USA (November 7th is the big day), I'm interested, not in who and why you vote the way you do, but the situations you encounter. First, where do you vote? I vote in a nearby church, specifically the gymnasium of this church. I have always wanted to vote in a fire department but it's always been a church or a school as long as I've been a registered voter. Second, do you vote on the actual day of the election or do you opt for early voting? Until last year, I always voted on the actual election day but decided to early vote and I find that I really enjoy that much more. What about you (and I hope, whoever you are, that you always vote. That's what makes our country strong...)

I vote in the local firehouse. Living in a rural area, its never much of a wait, and mostly older people....farmers and older people that always seem to know me. I get at least 2 "Arent you Benjamins girl?" or if I take my mom, she gets, "Is this one of yours?" We dont have the option of voting anytime but election day. Unless you do absentee voting and they get mailed in here.

We don't have any early voting here either, as far as I know. I used to vote at the firehouse up the street til a couple years ago, they moved us to the local goodwill office which is only a block away, but ever since they fenced around the shelter that the Y built down there I now have to drive about 15 blocks to come around the other side of the parking lot. There is always a long line. I was bringing Ozzie (my elderly neighbor) in previous years and it gave me a great excuse to go.do. Now that he's passed, I don't honestly know if I'll make the effort to do it. I know voting is a privilege and I'm blessed to have choices at all, but gah, the choices I have are between the lesser of two evils and I don't feel good or honored about helping put any of these jerks (Massholes) in office.

I vote, for all but local elections, at the civic center of the suburb next to ours. I think its kind of weird to go to another municipality to vote for county, state, and federal elections...but I don't have much in put on the sites. The lines tend to be long when I go...since it is usually after work. And I always go. If nothing else, there is ALWAYS some lunatic running for office in Alabama that needs to be kept out of office or they'll drag us kicking and screaming into the next Dark Age. (Example...Judge Roy Moore ran in the primaries for a shot at Govenor. *shudder*) :crazy2:

Hey, everybody! We vote in our town hall -- there's only one polling place in our town, so it makes it really easy for us poll workers to do the elections. We don't have early voting in CT -- I think our state is just too small to justify that. I love Election Day, though -- you see a lot of your neighbors and friends in town that you don't normally see, and there's always a kind of festive atmosphere at the end of the day when the votes are tallied. This year, we're getting new voting machines (good-bye to all our good old lever machines!) -- we're going to be using Optical Scanners. It should be interesting to see if it affects turnout for better or for worse!

I was really surprised to see some of you say that your state doesn't have early voting. But then I saw an article on early voting in USA Today from Friday, October 27, 2006 and will reproduce it here, along with this map. We don't have early voting in CT -- I think our state is just too small to justify that. Champagne, I was stunned that other major states like New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts don't offer their citizens early voting, at all, when a much smaller, less progressive (in many ways) state like Tennessee does. I have never thought of a conservative state like Tennessee as being a trend-setter but this is no doubt a trend which will grow exponentially as it is so convenient. The article heavily features Tennessee (probably because of our hotly contested Senate race), along with a picture of an early voter in Nashville(see the link below) (Oh, welcome to Politics, Champagne. Now I know it's really, really you!) Also was a little surprised to see that some states require a citizen to have an "excuse" to early vote (Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia and Minnesota. I early voted this past Tuesday, October 24th. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-26-early-voting_x.htm More Voters Aren't Waiting For Election Day Posted 10/26/2006 By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — State officials report that in-person early voting appears up before the elections Nov. 7, as campaigns across the nation put new emphasis on turning out voters before Election Day. Election officials and voting experts say it's unclear whether the jump in early voting reflects a high degree of voter enthusiasm or is an extension of a gradual increase since 1980. "These kind of growth rates are not unprecedented. ... It does not surprise me," says Paul Gronke, director of the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College in Portland, Ore. "Two things are happening here — voters are learning more about early voting and, over time, campaigns are learning more about targeting these voters." Some trends: •In Tennessee, which has one of the most hotly contested Senate races, 218,385 people voted in the first five days of early voting, which began Oct. 18. That's compared with 159,520 in the 2002 midterm election — an increase of 37%. •In Texas, home to a governor's race and several competitive House contests, 125,719 voted in the first two days of early voting in the 15 most populous counties. That's compared with 100,834 in 2002 on the first two days when all 15 counties voted — a 24.7% increase. •In Nevada, which has a competitive gubernatorial race and an open House seat, early voting has averaged 14,430 people a day this year — an 18% increase over a similar period in 2002. Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia allow some kind of in-person voting before Election Day — either at a voting machine or by absentee ballot at county clerk's offices or polling places. Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri and Virginia, plus the District of Columbia, require an excuse for in-person absentee voting. In 2004, about 22% of the vote was cast early, either in person or by absentee voting by mail, according to Gronke. That jumped from 14% in the 2000 election, he said. No early voting totals are available for the last midterm election in 2002, though selected states compiled data. Gronke said the only fair comparison for this year's early voting would be with other midterm elections. Voter turnout in general is much higher during presidential elections. Many states don't tally early voting until after the election, or don't have 2002 data for comparison. Practice 'entrenched' In Tennessee, state election coordinator Brook Thompson said his state's jump in early voting probably is due to a combination of growing familiarity with early voting and the widespread publicity about the Senate showdown between Democratic Rep. Harold Ford and Republican Bob Corker. Since early voting began in Tennessee in 1994, "it's become kind of entrenched in this state," Thompson said. In 2004, 45% of the state's total vote was cast early. "The campaigns are clearly working real hard to get people out to the polls, too." Thompson said. "And this election has obviously had a lot of publicity." Corker spokesman Todd Womack said the campaign, in conjunction with the state Republican Party, contacted 150,000 voters by phone or in person to urge them to take advantage of early voting. "Some of the ways we've reached out to people in the past, such as the time when you start knocking on doors, has changed because of the early voting factor," says Chris Devaney, executive director of the Tennessee GOP. "We've been knocking on doors all summer long." Other campaigns follow suit. "The parties have become more sophisticated about identifying their core voters and encouraging them to vote as early as possible — to essentially lock in their votes in case something prevented them from voting on Election Day," says John Fortier, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute who recently published a book about early and absentee voting. Campaign appeals •In Northern California, Democratic challenger Jerry McNerney's campaign hits potential early voters — as well as those who have asked for absentee ballots — with special messages, spokesman Yoni Cohen says. "We're not waiting until the last minute to make our appeals," Cohen says. McNerney is trying to unseat GOP Rep. Richard Pombo in a district east of San Francisco. California does not compile pre-election early voting data. •In Colorado's gubernatorial race, Democrat Bill Ritter's campaign has blanketed the state with thousands of leaflets offering information about early voting. Ritter faces GOP Rep. Bob Beauprez. Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said the campaign has an added incentive to push early voting because of fears about confusion on Nov. 7. Denver has switched from a precinct system to using voting centers. "We're concerned about people showing up at their neighborhood elementary school, where they've voted for decades ... and then not having the time to get to their new vote center," Dreyer says. Colorado also does not compile early voting data from all counties. •In Florida, Attorney General Charlie Crist's gubernatorial campaign is one of many to feature early voting information prominently on its website. "These voters are very important to us," says Crist spokeswoman Erin Isaac. Crist, a Republican, faces Democrat Rep. Jim Davis. Florida saw more than 100,000 people vote in the first two days of in-person early voting this week. The state has no 2002 early voting figures, as it began the practice in 2004.

I wonder if the decision to have early voting in a state has anything to do with having to employ more poll workers for a longer period of time? I know that the finance people in my small town can barely stand havingto pay us for the one day -- they'd go ballistic if they had to pay us for a week or so. So it might be a fiscal decision on the part of state legislatures. Or maybe it's concern for the security of the ballots over a period of time. The shorter the votiing time, the less likely a machine or a ballot is to be tampered with? Out of curiosity, what happens if you vote early, and then information comest out about a candidate that would have made you change your mind?