Line or No Line for Voting

There were a hundred in front of me at 5:40 this morning. The people at the front of the line had a tent, I didn't ask.

I got out of there at 6:30 and there were over 200 in line.

I voted a week and a half ago on a Sunday in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and had to wait about 45 minutes. I didn't mind waiting. I'm glad to see so many people voting.

I live in a small city. The longest line prior to today was about 4 people in front of me, which is not really any kind of a wait.

This time, I arrived at my polling place a little after 7am. I was in line for 15 minutes. Usually, there is one line, but this time there were 2 lines, broken up by alphabetical order. There was also a third shorter line of people waiting to register. By the time I left, the lines had reached the entry door. The poll workers knew what they were doing and things were operating smoothly.

My husband went in to vote around 9:30am and said there was a line but it was quick.

My state also broke it's record for the number of early/absentee votes by more than 130k.

I live in Minnesota. I went to vote early yesterday afternoon because I was worried there would be long lines today. Between my work schedule, my husband's work schedule, and my kids' gymnastics schedules today I was worried we would't be able to both vote. So I went yesterday and stood in line for two hours! Today my husband went after work. He walked in, voted, and left. I should have waited until today!

I early voted and waited about 20-30 minutes. I have NEVER waited before this time though.

I am a Texan and we voted early. We did not experience a line. The early voting turnout has hit record highs as well, especially in our county. In the beginning of early voting, there were some lines but usually less than an hour.

I have waited in line in the past over an hour to vote when I failed to take the early vote option.

I would wait in line all day if I had to in order to cast my vote.

I'm near you and will be going in about an hour and deal with whatever line there is. I prefer to vote on the actual date.

In previous years, the longest line was maybe 10 people. The primary election for this year was outrageous, very disorganized. We were told to wait in one line, then told we were in the wrong line and then told to wait in another. At that point, we left. After working, I was not going to wait yet another 20 minutes or more. This time, we voted Saturday morning. There were maybe 12 people ahead of us. The woman that was advising those in line told us there were over 500 people on Friday (most dressed in Cubs clothing).

We had to wait about 5 minutes, maybe more.

in 2008 and 2012? I had to wait over 30 minutes to vote. very sad how those elections turned out.

We are a battleground state but my area is split into many small voting precincts. So, the line is never more than 15 min or so during a presidential election and I usually walk right in with no line at all in the off years.

This year I heard it was about 20 min which is long for us. I am traveling so sent in my absentee ballot a few weeks ago.

We vote by mail here in Oregon. It is the BEST! Reasons why:

No lines. Unless you didn't get receive your ballot, no need to go to a polling place unless you really, really want to drop it off there. There are secure drop boxes in every library in our county and other ones stationed in various neighborhoods. Easy for commuters. Other counties have secure drop off sites. Mailing it in is easy, too, for those who don't want to bother with going out.

We have Motor Voter registration, which means anyone coming through the DMV for a license or ID is registered unless they choose to opt out, which means...

.... no one gets a ballot unless they are registered. Period. Voter fraud in our state is nearly non-existent. Something like 13 cases since the 2000 election. Paper ballots can be counted and stored for recounts if necessary, not subject to computer viruses or tampering, etc etc.

And the best part: my husband and I have a tradition of taking our ballots to the pub for a meal and a drink, discussing the measures, reading the voter's pamphlet and then dropping our ballots off at the nearest box. Win! Our entire nation should convert to this. Really. Think of all the time and headaches saved.

A few years back the line took close to an hour to get through the line, the parking lot was full and you had to park on the grass and walk a bit to get there.
This year at 10am-ish there were 5 people in line and we got out in less than 5 min.
I'd heard it was more crowded as people were going to work - and they expected some would come during lunch and many would come on their way home from work.

I live in Fort Lauderdale - voted early - on Saturday about 6pm. No line unless I count my two kids - not old enough to vote - or stay home alone! My husband was behind me. No waiting at all.

Our polls open at 7 AM. I went at 7:30 and there was no line. Plenty of people there for sure, but the process is very quick and efficient where I vote.

I'm so glad that my state (Washington) does all absentee ballots so that we can vote early and have no lines in which to wait on election day.

Voted before work in PA. Line (maybe 12-15 people) but still in and out in under 10 minutes. No lines at all in 2008 or 2012.

No lines that I can see. We used to have 3 different polling places to cover my town's 5 precincts, but a few years ago they were combined in one location. I voted early this year and there were 20-some booths set up at the town hall, plus 1 booth for wheelchairs and 1 that appeared to be for the visually impaired (I'm not sure how it worked, but there was a large computer screen). We have a lot of regular poll workers on Election Day who move things quickly - it sounds dumb, but just knowing the names of the streets and the odd spellings helps them find people on the rolls more quickly. I held signs today outside the polling place and the traffic was steady all day, but people seemed to be coming out within 5-10 minutes of going in.

I've seen lines today on the news - CT had malfunctioning voting machines (they showed repair people trying to fix them), other places had 2 few (like 8 booths on election day, while my town of 18,000 people had 20 just for early voting), and lots of delays in swing states especially in precincts with high minority make-up.

I'm disgusted by the intimidation I'm seeing and the attempts to interfere with the election officials. I'm horrified that the Dept. of Justice has had to send out far more officials than ever before just to police the polls. What has happened to us as a country that we cannot be civil?

My husband and I did early voting which had a short line, maybe 20 minutes. From other early voters I heard one of two things - a similar story (little to no wait) or a significant wait (one to two hours). In the previous election we waited two hours which I recall vividly as I was eight months pregnant and carrying my 18 month. It was a long, grueling wait. Thinking back on my voting experiences in Houston, I expect a wait (30 minutes to one hour) but brace for a longer one because I don't know which I'll get.

illinois, did early voting around 1pm, and no line. i was the only one in the room too.

Took me about an hour. Line was even longer as I left

Not a huge line today - we went around noon-ish. It was busy but things were moving. Last presidential election I remember being stuck in a very long line, at least 45 minutes. They've changed the voting location so perhaps that helped improve efficiency. Everyone was very pleasant and no problems.

Oregon has mail in or drop off ballots. WE can drop them off at different places. I took mine to the libray. MCDonald's has a drive through box. IT's so easy to vote.

However, it one waits to the very last minute there is a short line of cars.

I did early voting last Friday with my daughter who drove back from college to vote for the 1st time. No line at all. My husband voted today around 3:00 p.m. and he was gone about 15/20 minutes. He said no line at the polling place. I am going back tonight at 6:00 p.m. to be with another one of my kids for their 1st time voting and to take my mom to vote - that is kind of a prime voting time, so I will be curious if there is a line.

I have lived here the last 3 presidential elections and I've not encountered a line other than maybe one person ahead of me (which I don't consider a "line"). The primary was a different story . . . that was a mess!

After everyone has finally voted tonight, we are having a family dinner then sitting down to watch the election results come in together. No, we did not all vote for the same person to be president, but we are excited to see what the future will hold for our country. As a Military Mom, it means finding out who my kids' boss will be for the next 4 years :)

I live in a rural area in the south. GA. I vote during business hours, and there is rarely any line for any race. Today, there was no line, but it started to queue up a little (like 4 people) as I was voting/before I left. 4 more cars pulled into the parking lot as I was leaving. Again... very rurally located. When I lived in this same county, small town America, but in a more populated area, I had to stand in line for over an hour, when I was very pregnant and nauseated, in order to cast my vote.

When I lived in north Florida previous to that, I waited in lines typically up to 30 minutes. That was after work hours, not during the daytime.

My son voted for the first time today (he's 18) and he went around 1:00 pm and had 3 people in line in front of him at the same polling location I walked into with NOBODY in line at 3:45 pm.
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I heard one of the poll workers say that 40% of our county voted during early voting.

I had to wait in a very long line to vote in the primaries. I did early voting last Friday - I'm in contra costa county. That's the only time I recall having to wait in a line. There are many other very important issues on the ballot that may be causing the lines.

I've never had to wait in line ... ever. And I do vote every time!

In our area, the county clerk takes great pride in be efficient. We had some issues during the primary with precincts running out of ballots because so many people were voting, and the county clerk was very apologetic. He was determined that things would be smooth this time around.

I do wonder, though, if it's mostly that after work crowd that faces the long lines and any possible issues at the polls.

Here in the Sacramento area, I've never had a line. In fact, it's rare that I run into anyone other than poll workers when I go to vote. Now I'm a permanent mail-in vote, so it's even easier. :)

My husband voted this morning and said it was quick.

I went, parked close to the door, walked right up to the sign in with my driver's license, signed my name, went over to fill out the ballot, walked up to the machine, slipped it in, walked out.

Maybe 7 minutes out of my vehicle total.

went in late afternoon in a suburban area, no line.

i had two young women ahead of me, and waited less than a minute.
went after work, around 4pm, in a rural county of MD.
khairete
S.