How long did you wait to vote?

@Taskr36 (13963)
United States
November 11, 2012 12:47pm CST
I'm just curious about this. I've heard horror stories about people waiting hours to vote, but personally, the longest I've ever waited was 30 minutes and that was in Orlando, FL in 2004. In this election, there was no wait at all. I walked in, told them my name (that's all it takes to vote in NJ), and voted. Also, did you vote on election day, by absentee, or did you do early voting? In Florida, early voting is ridiculous. I was going to vote early when I lived in Miami in 2008, but the line was literally down the street and around the corner. I would estimate that was a 3-5 hour wait versus the 5 minutes I waited in line voting on election day that year. Do you know anyone personally who chose not to vote because of the wait, or what they thought the wait would be?
2 people like this
6 responses
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
12 Nov 12
I vote in person because I have no idea what they do with those mail in ballots, there is too much room for fraud there. I did not wait at all at my polling place. There was steady traffic but while I was there no more than 2 of the 6 little stations were occupied at any one time. I guess that's another advantage of living in a town of less than 100,000 people.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
11 Nov 12
I waited maybe 5 minutes at the most and, despite all the worries about the attempted voter suppression in PA all I had to do was give my name. My husband went earlier than I did and he was asked if he had ID and he said he didn't have it with him and was told he'll need it next year. That's what I'd intended to do too, just because. I've heard some stories, which I'll admit had me worried before the results came in, about people being told they couldn't vote without a photo ID despite the law having been blocked by the courts. I saw some of the lines on TV from Florida and Ohio in particular both before and on election day and I really, REALLY give those people a huge amount of credit for sticking it out until they'd gotten to vote no matter for whom they voted! To answer your question, I personally know of nobody who chose not to vote because of the wait or fear of a long wait. I do know of some who weren't aware they didn't need a photo ID in PA this year to vote and ALMOST didn't vote. By the way, these were elderly folks, of whom there are plenty, who had give up their drivers' licenses and had no other photo ID. Even if an expired license photo left positive no doubt of a person's identity, it wouldn't have been accepted in my state. Annie
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
11 Nov 12
Heard about all the democrats out to get people to the polls, I have to wonder why the effort to get these elderly to the DMV to get an ID wouldn't be appropriate? Oh well, Obama won, and big time in FL, what with 153% of the people voting!
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
13 Nov 12
You're right, Debbie, Obama DID win, decisively. It's fine that you're using, to paraphrase Fox's Meghan Kelly, "Math that makes you feel better as a Republican," but we all know it's impossible for 153% of the people to vote. Maybe you can explain why elderly people who have been voting in some cases for over a half century and who showed proper ID when they registered to vote should have to go through in some cases a long drive and in almost EVERY case standing for a long time in a huge line when there is no in person voter impersonation problem to begin with? Annie
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
11 Nov 12
Didn't take me but about a 5 minute wait. It would've been shorter except that the people in front of me thought the polling place was a place to talk and socialize with the poll workers. The guy was in a wheelchair and his wife was chit chatting away with everyone. Then when they got their ballot they blocked the aisle to the voting booth by doing more yakking with some people who were in line behind me. I think I spent one minute at the actual vote process.
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
11 Nov 12
I live in a very small town now, it took me about 20 minutes from start to finish.
@stary1 (6612)
• United States
11 Nov 12
Taskr36 Seriously I do not see why everyone doesn't vote absentee...No doubt it could raise other problems, but it surely would save a lot of money not having polls and workers...
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
13 Nov 12
I would never vote absentee unless I had no other choice. I don't trust the post office one bit. Also absentee ballots make voter fraud so much easier. In New York a bunch of democrats were literally robbing people of their right to vote by forging signatures on absentee ballots and making it impossible for the actual voters to vote at all. That's not even getting into voter intimidation. How do you protect someone from voter intimidation when they are voting absentee? There aren't any poll watchers at their house.
@mikyung (2232)
• Philippines
12 Nov 12
In my country, the waiting issue is a normal phenomenon. Good thing in the US, the results are so fast to derived though. But that 3-5 hour wait is also that long for us here. I hope our election board here could do something about these delays for time is of the essence. Thanks