How long are the early voting lines in your area?

[JTsMom]

We just waited 2.5 hours! And that was at the least busy location. :dizzy: From what I've read, some areas had 8 hour waits. Luckily, most of our wait was outside, and Jason was able to run and play while DH stood in line. There is no way I could have taken him without DH, so this was our one shot. At least we're done!

[Ceepa]

Fortunately our school is closed Election Day so we have no where to go and can stand in line all day if we have to (though no one wants that!).

[Octobermommy]

I walked right up, no waiting at all. This was on the 3rd day of early voting. There were long lines the first day.

[brittone2]

Here in NC early voting has been going on for a while now. DH voted during the day w/ minimal line, and I voted at a different location that was open into the evening (most of the early voting places close by 4pm which is lame IMO). I pretty much walked right up.

eta: one of the big issues here in NC is that even if you vote a straight party ticket, you have to vote for President separately. This was explained to me verbally at the polling place, but from what I've been hearing, it hasn't always been explained consistently. Apparently it has been this way in NC for a long time, but NC has tons of transplants (like me!) and this year will have lots of first time voters. There has been some speculation that the confusion surrounding the ballot could actually impact who wins this state. Right now it is *very* much a dead heat.

[kijip]

I voted by mail. No wait, got to vote while curled up my couch. Mailed in my ballot last week.

[ellies mom]

I voted by mail. No wait, got to vote while curled up my couch. Mailed in my ballot last week.

No line at the coffee shop where I filled in my ballot either. My ballot was in the mail Monday. While I do miss the tradition of voting in a booth on occasion, mail-in voting is awfully convenient.

[babystuffbuff]

Two hours here in the District today, about the same for my coworkers who live in NOVA. I'm voting in person on Tuesday, both because I enjoy it and because it's the only way I can ensure that DH, who does NOT enjoy it, will actually cast a ballot. ;)

[LD92599]

But I'm in NJ and they are in TX.....we don't have early voting in NJ as far as i know (except absentee of course).

I will plan to be at the polling place as close to 6am Tuesday as is feasible!!

Laura

[WatchingThemGrow]

Yay! We went out on a date tonight and .... voted at our new swanky Senior Center! DH looked up the locations today and on our way to dinner we stopped by, walked right in, then took a tour of the building named after a well-loved community couple who are friends with the IL's. OT, but gosh, this place was cool. There was an art room, a bridge room, a sewing class, a flower decorating class, a gym, a cafeteria, Kettler ping pong tables, a pool table. It was all a perk for casting our votes early! Soooo much easier than rolling in with the stroller Tuesday afternoon.

[Tinkerbell313]

No early voting in Virginia unless you are absentee (which is by mail or fax). We have to wait until Tuesday. Fortunately, I live in a town of 3000...no voting lines...no lines at the DMV, no lines at the post office, no lines at the bank, etc.

[american_mama]

I'm also in Virginia, but in our area, many many people are doing absentee voting that is really more like early voting. The registrar has been on the TV news, there have been at least two newspaper stories; they are all but telling people to vote absentee to avoid lines. 150 people voted on Monday alone and on Tuesday when I went in, there was a steady flow of people (but no line). There are about a dozen reasons, many of which are pretty specific, but they don't seem to be enforcing it in any way. DH checked he was voting absentee due to business reasons, I checked I was doing it due to the care of an ill dependent whose illness was (fill in the blank). I wrote "childhood." Nobody in the voting office cared.

In my area, you can vote absentee on paper or on a computer voting machine, just like on Election Day. We can do absentee voting until Saturday.

If you are nervous at the prospect of waiting in a long voting line, especially with children, call your board of elections and see what your alternatives are. I waited about 45 minutes to vote in the primary, and neighbors waited 4 hours to vote in Ohio in 2004, and that is untenable with 3 children in tow. I am relieved to have my vote in.

[pb&j]

No early voting in Virginia unless you are absentee (which is by mail or fax). We have to wait until Tuesday. Fortunately, I live in a town of 3000...no voting lines...no lines at the DMV, no lines at the post office, no lines at the bank, etc.

In my county in VA, you can indeed vote absentee in person. There was a big crowd in the voter's registrar's office, but I was in and out in minutes. Luckily, pregnancy qualifies you to vote absentee here in the Commonwealth.

[CiderLogan]

2.5 hours here too - suburban Atlanta.

[mecawa]

We don't have early voting here. On election day the lines are never really too long, the town I live in has at least 13 different polling places and as long as you don't go late it's usually quick.

[kayte]

Here in Texas we have 14 days of early voting--during the week and weekends. There has been tremendous turnout--according to the news.

I took my two year old on the first day. The first time we drove by our closest spot (in the morning) there was a significant line. We came back at 2:30 (when people were likely to be at work or the SAHM's in carpool line) and were in and out in about 10 minutes.

[tylersmama]

I can't believe these stories I'm hearing about how long it takes to vote EARLY! Another friend in the Atlanta area waited FOUR hours yesterday to vote. That's crazy! Isn't the point of early voting to avoid the lines?

I voted by mail, but I chose to drop my ballot off at an early voting polling place today. There was no line to speak of and the elections worker gave DS not one but TWO "I Voted!" stickers, so he was over the moon. :p

[Emmas Mom]

I only waited about five minutes here in the Vegas area.

[Tinkerbell313]

I 'm sorry. I thought the question was about early voting and not absentee voting. My bad.Thats what I get for not reading the question.

[ha98ed14]

No early voting in Virginia unless you are absentee (which is by mail or fax). We have to wait until Tuesday. Fortunately, I live in a town of 3000...no voting lines...no lines at the DMV, no lines at the post office, no lines at the bank, etc.

Wow! In a town of 3000, I am impressed that the town has a bank, post office and DMV located in it!

[JTsMom]

This is my first time voting in a presedential race here in Atlanta, so I'm not sure if it's always like this or not, but I think part of the reason for our long lines is that the race is a lot tighter here than you'd probably guess- Pollster has the 2 just 2.6 points apart! We are typically a very red state, but the Atlanta area has some very blue areas with tons of newly registered Dems. Every year my specific area gets more and more transplants- often from blue states. In my county, we're almost at 50/50, and we're about 45 mins from the much more blue area downtown.

The Obama campaign is encouraging early voting for a couple of reasons- to decrease the wait on election day, so as not to scare away said new voters (and established voters as well- from what I've read, the higher the turnout, the more likely a Dem victory is) and b/c if you've already voted, you can volunteer on election day.

Also, the way the early voting is set up in my county at least, isn't the most efficient, imo. Early voting started towards the beginning of the month, but only in one location, M-F, 7-4. Anyway, on Monday, they openened maybe 4 additional satellite locations for the entire HUGE county. They are open until 7. The location I chose is waaaaay out in the more rural area of the county, which I figured would be the least likely to have a big turnout, and that was the case, but I was flabbergasted at the sheer numbers of people waiting! There were easily several hundred people while we were arrived, and the line had just about doubled by the time we left!

[mommylamb]

No early voting in Virginia unless you are absentee (which is by mail or fax). We have to wait until Tuesday. Fortunately, I live in a town of 3000...no voting lines...no lines at the DMV, no lines at the post office, no lines at the bank, etc.

Virginia has in-person absentee, which is basically the same as early voting. You just have to have a reason, which can include being away from the house for 11 hours between working and commuting on election day. I'm in Virginia too and I voted last Friday (I'm a WOHM, and I commute into the city through the DC traffic, so I fit the 11 hour reason). The line wasn't too long to get in, maybe 20 minutes. However, once you get to the front of the line, they had folks in a little room and you had to fill out the application form (and check off your reason why you were voting early), and then they had to phone in the last 4 digits of your social to confirm what precinct you usually vote in so they could take you off the right list. That process took about 45 minutes, so all in all it took me just over an hour to cast my vote.

[Puddy73]

About 45 minutes, but our county only has one early voting location. DD#2 is due on election day, so I didn't want to leave and miss my chance!

[cmo]

DH waited 1.5 hours this morning. We're in Atlanta. Ours is an overcrowded district that always has big lines on election day, so he probably saved himself a couple of hours by doing it this way. Last month, we got a postcard from the county that offered absentee ballots with no excuse required, so I jumped on that.

[JTsMom]

I was kind of kicking myself for not doing the mail in thing, which is what DH wanted to do, but I'm really paranoid about doing it that way after living in FL. :shake:

[Fairy]

Haven't read thru the whole thread, but the line by me is insane. I went this AM and planned for a half an hour, and it is clearly a two-hour wait. I asked several people in line how long they were there, and most of them said 40 minutes to an hour, but they joined the line when it was half as long as it was at that point. Nightmare. I can't vote on election day. So, after my conference call, I'm going and just sticking it out. Ugh!

[Tinkerbell313]

Wrong forum

[fivi2]

No wait at 4:30 pm today!

[Twin Mom]

I'm in the Atlanta burbs and I'm going to go in the am. One of my friends waited just over 2 hours a few days ago. The lines are crazy here but I think they'll be worse on election day. DC are having a dress up parade at 12:30 tomorrow so I better be done before then or I'll have to leave.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Whoa! We don't have early voting but I have never waited more than 10 minutes to vote. There are so many polling locations that the # of voters registered for that specific site are just not that large. Even if every single voter turned up in my neighborhood to vote the line wouldn't be more than 2 hours, I bet.

Beth

[tarabenet]

I voted a week ago, and we (took both kids) waited in line about 20 minutes. But today there was a press release issued saying that this morning *alone*, from 7 until noon, 15,000 people voted! As of poll-closing yesterday, almost 40% of the county's registered voters have already voted.

I'm a huge poli sci wonk, and I'm just totally geeked about this. Roughly 30% of Texas registered voters have *already* voted, and that is even with the hugely increased voter rolls this year.

[Wife_and_mommy]

I went this AM and planned for a half an hour, and it is clearly a two-hour wait.

This is it for me too. I hoped to go with just DS. I'm going to check again after DD gets out of preschool. If it doesn't work then I'll have to get up at 6:30(horror of horrors for me) on Tues. and go as a family. DH has always gone right before they opened to wait and is in and out quickly. I spent several hours in line in '04 w/ a 6m old DD. Can't do that with 2 kiddos, let lone one who's 2yo....

[Mermanaid]

I went at 8am this morning was expecting a long wait but it only took me about 15 mins. I was surprised at how fast it went. The location I went to split up the lines into those who had their registration card (the VERY long line) and those who didn't (the very short line I was in).

[Fairy]

I did go back later, and the line was half as long, and sure enough, it was aobut 45 minutes. And easy as pie. Everyone was very fair and kind and made very very sure that you knew what you were doing and to double check that you voted for the person you really meant to vote for. I was very pleased.

[Melbel]

I initially tried on Wednesday, but after 35 minutes in line, we were advised that the printers were down and that it would take at least another hour which I did not have. I returned on Thursday, and was able to vote within 40 minutes. I have not experienced such long lines for prior elections.

[ohiomom]

In Ohio, each county has 1 early polling place. DH & I went today with DD2 at 11:00 and it took 2 hours total. The line snaked outside along 2 sides of the building plus the width of the parking lot. There was so much energy in the crowd and one of our U.S. Senators came through shaking hands and introducing himself. I wanted to see my ballot go into the ballot box instead of my mailbox and be part of this amazing electoral experience. I was not disappointed. Additionally, DS2 was over the top patient and only minimally fussed the last 20 minutes. I am glad I went and don't have to deal with the unknown on Tuesday.

GOTV!

[jamesmom]

Someone in my MOMS Club forwarded me this link. Hopefully it helps some of you who are planning to vote next Tuesday.

MamaVotes and Sittercity.com offer discounted election day babysitting

I want to vote, but I don’t have anyone to watch the kids..."

Election Day is approaching... and you're probably trying to balance your parental responsibilities with your civic duty. Daunting, isn't it? Let TodaysMama & SitterCity.com help!

As part of the MamaVote initiative, they will offer 2 free hours of babysitting on Election Day, November 4, 2008 to the first 50 people that join Sittercity. PLUS - from October 27 to November 3, all individuals who sign up for a membership* at Sittercity.com with the promotional code “MamaVote08” will be eligible for 50 percent off their membership fee.

TodaysMama joined with the League of Women Voters and Sittercity.com to launch MamaVote last year, a non-partisan, education and inspiration-based initiative that encourages mothers to get involved in the political process. By offering discounted, reliable babysitting, these organizations hope to get more women to the polls. Moms who still need to register to vote can visit Vote411.

*Visit Sittercity.com, click the “Join Now” button. Register for a “care seeker” and use promotional code “MAMAVOTE08”.

http://www.todaysmama.com/mama_vote-articles.php?view=422

[mdb78]

In FL, they extended the early voting hours from 8 hours to 12 hours. From what I saw on the news down here, the wait is still long. DH and I went yesterday, late afternoon, thinking and hoping it wouldn't be that bad since it was halloween and people would be getting ready for that. We were wrong. When we pulled up to the parking lot, the line was still pretty long. We end up leaving since we had to be somewhere in an hour. We're actually leaving in a few minutes to go stand in line. The reason why we're doing early voting is because we're going out of town on Monday. I'd rather stand in line than mailing an absentee. That's just me.

[JTsMom]

That is an awesome idea! As we were waiting, I was thinking some groups should set up play areas at some of the polling places- maybe a fenced in area with a couple of toys or something- where the kids could play while the parents stood in line. It makes me so sad that some people wouldn't get a chance to vote b/c of lack of childcare. Maybe it's something I could do for 2012!

[DietCokeLover]

I guess I have finally found a benefit to living in a tiny remote town. I walked right in and voted and walked right out.