Hi everyone,
Please use this post to tell us what your Election Day experience was like. I’ll stick this to the top of the blog and let’s see where it takes us.
I’ll go first: I live in an eastern suburb of Pittsburgh. I voted in the basement of the church just down the hill. The church parking lot was crowded but the line wasn’t too long. Only a few people in front of me. The poll workers were numerous and efficient. We vote on paper ballots and feed them ourselves into a scanner. The poll worker at the scanner glanced briefly at my ballot and looked most seriously displeased. Meh.
There were more young women voters than I’ve seen before and at least one mother-daughter pair. Sooo… there’s that.
Some observations: Fetterman has an EXCELLENT position on the ballot. The US senate race is first and he’s the first name. That might push some wishy washy undecideds to just pick his name and be done with it. Mehmet Oz is underneath. I hate to say it but it looks foreign in more ways than one. I guess if you’re committed to vote Republican, you’ll pick him but it might give other people a reason to go with the local boy who lives in Braddock about 6 miles from here.
In and out in a jiffy in spite of the crowded parking lot. I live in a nice little neighborhood. Demographically it’s diverse but still mostly white. They’re working class and middle class voters. Mostly Democrats but sprinkled with occasional Reagan-Tea Party-probably MAGA types, though it’s rare to find Trump, Oz, Mastriano signs in my neighborhood. There weren’t any noticeable hostile poll watchers and except for the scanner poll worker who gave me the stink eye when I scanned my ballot, nothing out of the ordinary.
Und now ve vait.
Your turn. Put your experience in the comments below.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
I voted early on Friday. There was a line but I didn’t wait long. The area I am in this election cycle leans a lot more conservative that what I am used to in liberal Seattle. So I was a bit discouraged and felt I was among the enemy. I went into vote and was greeted by a very hip & funky senior woman poll worker in a gingham jumper, brooch and beret who cheered me right up. Same paper ballots that are self scanned as you, RD. Also overheard another older woman voting Democratic on my way out. Felt good afterwards! Hope the rest of NY pulls through for Hochul!
Yay!! Keep your fingers, feet, eyes, lips crossed. 👍
I took the easy way: Mail in ballot dropped off on the first day it was available, Saturday, Oct 29. New procedure: the box was locked and unlocked by a county worker in a neon yellow vest. There were four women about 20 ft around the box perimeter, unarmed, unmasked, casual dress, one woman had a clip board. The man at the box asked if I had put the sealed smaller envelope in the bigger one and signed and dated the outer envelope. I said yes, he unlocked the box, I dropped in the ballot and he relocked the box. No waiting, no confrontation, no stink eye.
I did contact the county on the following Monday, because this was not the same procedure as the last election (slotted box, like a mail box, you just drop it in). They confirmed the new procedure and when queried about the other people around the box I was told they were likely poll watchers from either a campaign or party and they were not allowed to speak to or approach voters, just watch. On Monday, I received an email saying my ballot was received and recorded.
I told the county I was thrilled with the convenience and security of mail in ballots and drop boxes, they were very pleased.
I live in SE PA, suburb NW of Philly. I saw both Dem and Repub signs pre election, but not many.
You must live in one of the swingier counties in this swing state.
Thanks for the experience.
My No. 1 child reports an easy election experience. She lives in the city of Pittsburgh. No issues at local school. The voted straight ticket D’s.
It’s a good thing your Dropbox guy asked you about the envelope and the date. Making tiny little errors like that will get your vote sequestered until you “cure” it.
I know! Yesterday I saw that red states were looking for any reason to toss out mail in and absentee ballots, including those of the military, even if the state’s election laws said minor errors were acceptable.
The county web site had an asterisked note after each drop box location that said, “Staff will be present at each drop box location to help educate voters on proper ballot return practices.”
I dropped of my ballot, yesterday morning, at one of the many available drop boxes.
There was a line of cars, to drop off. I hadn’t seen that, before.
Got my text, saying my vote had been counted.
We have issues, here is Colorado, but ease of voting isn’t one of them.
I am in the newly formed, 8th congressional district, so it really meant more to me, than usual.
Yadira Caravero, MD (pediatrician), is the Democratic candidate, for this new district. She’s within the margin of error, against the R candidate.
I voted early two weeks ago at the voter registration office in Roanoke County, Virginia. I was the first one there around 9am. After checking in using my driver’s licence, my ballot was printed based on my address, and I proceeded to the voting room, a spare setting attended by one person. After filling out my ballot, voting against the horrid J6 enthusiast Ben Cline, I fed the ballot into the scanner myself, at the far corner of the room right next to the exit door, and I was out of there.
So today’s excellent lunar eclipse was an auspicious start, followed by getting the Wordle in 3 at 6:56am, early for me. That was probably the best lunar eclipse I can remember. Heather Richardson’s letter this morning was also encouraging.
I got the Wordle in 3 guesses at 3am this morning. I had only been awake for about 5 minutes. The full moon lunar eclipse (in the north node in Taurus) is a time of rebirth. The north node represents the new era we are moving into (the south node in Scorpio represents the past). Taurus is a sign of stability. All that, and the ‘splendid’ Wordle scores, are good indications for the future. (Beat that, Nate Silver!)
In the upscale suburbs north of Indianapolis (a Republican area), abortion rights and school board races are reportedly foremost on voters’ minds. One man, who identified himself as a Republican, said he voted Democratic today because he has five daughters who should have control over their own bodies. Other voters are concerned that extremist right wingers are trying to take over school boards. The weather is really nice today so that should help turnout.
I voted by mail a few weeks ago. I live in the city which is very Democratic.
Thanks, for posting this Beata. I hope there are millions more voters still clinging to their republicanism but see the long term ramifications on their lives and the lives of the ones they love if they don’t vote Dem this time around, and probably 2024 as well. Some stains are just really hard to get out….
We are having beautiful weather too! Methinks the gods are on our side.
we voted absentee – registered in FL but spend our summers on the Pacific Coast Highway. my sister forwarded our ballots to us c/o general delivery to the post office in a small Oregon coastal town, we completed them in the parking lot and mailed them back. the local supervisor of elections website back in FL has provisions to see if your ballot was received and counted. ours were.
Awesome, campskunk! Your are as determined as you are adventurous. And in FL, too! I had lost hope for democracy in that state.
yeah, it’s pretty much hopeless in FL right now, but you gotta keep voting. we’ll be headed back there soon to spend the holidays with our families, but we’ll hit the road in February and be back out in the wide open spaces in no time. i’m a Floridian in exile – might as well pick a nice spot to be exiled to.
Yes!!
I haven’t voted yet; will go after any possible lunchtime rush. I’m recovering from surgery and can’t stand long. I thought I requested a mail-in ballot, but I never received one.
I moved in the spring from the far eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh to a near northern suburb. My immediate neighborhood has many Shapiro signs but few Fetterman. A few Oz, but no Mastroianno. As soon as I leave this area to the communities closer to Westmoreland County it is all Oz and a fair amount of Mastroianno.
Frankly, I think Fetterman is toast. I’m not fond of him, but have spent the past couple of weeks trying to convince my moderate Dem friends and family that they have to vote for him.
If It weren’t for the governorship some of my city friends probably wouldn’t even vote. They are also very unhappy with their Dem candidate for Congress, Summer Lee, who is a future Squad member if she wins. Frankly, I’m glad I don’t live in that district and can vote for my Dem candidate without too much angst.
I’ll post this evening about my experience at my new polling place.
Thanks for the update. Given your location, I’m not surprised at your lawn sign survey results.
The only thing that surprised me was the extent of the Mastroianno signs in places like Blawnox, Cheswick, etc. I thought his support was going to be more hidden, not overt.
Are you talking about signs along Freeport Road? Were they on the berms or on lawns? That stretch of road doesn’t have too many private houses. It’s mostly businesses.
Sorry, I overdid things on my first day out post surgery and wasn’t up to posting again yesterday. There are houses along Freeport Road in Blawnox and I did see Oz and Mastroianno signs there and on the street behind Freeport when I had to turn around there.
I also took Fox Chapel Road to, I think it’s Guys Run, in Cheswick and, while it was all Shapiro in O’Hara and Fox Chapel, once I got into Cheswick it was a real mix.
I just received this reply from my friend Susan regarding RD’s earlier post, which I had forwarded to her.
Re: THE CURIOUS ABSENCE OF DETAILS.
Love this letter! Love River Daughter – astute, clear, passionate!
Thanks, Carl! So happy you dropped in.
I dropped my ballot in a drop box last Friday.
This may be the shortest comment you have ever made, William. Are you okay?
I’m fine, though depressed about America’s, and all of our futures if we lose both chambers of Congress. I just wanted to add to the voting experience thread.
PHEW
One more time!
“despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.”
We will get through this, William. The Republic is an astonishingly resilient institution. Things may be ugly for a few years, but it will endure.
Because we are stubborn as those garbage bags that time cannot decay. (See my last song post)
Who is this “We” of which you speak, Propertius?
Me and my tapeworm, Beata.
Omg, call 911
Our polls close at 6pm. Like now.
It’s looking very bad here, because it is very bad here. It’s Indiana. I’m off to listen to cat purring videos on You Tube.
I dropped off my ballot last week. Colorado has had universal mail ballots for years – and before that we had a 2-3 week early voting period. I was startled that my Congressman (Joe Neguse) had an opponent this year. The Republicans usually can’t find anyone to run in this district. Had the usual assortment of referenda and initiatives on the ballot (Colorado suffers from the same disease as California in that respect). I really don’t that a specific limit on the number of liquor licenses someone can hold belongs in the state constitution. Basically no drama. Drove up to the box. dropped the ballot in, got an email a couple of hours later saying that it had been retrieved. Got an email this morning saying it had been counted. Easy. Simple. Civilized.
I voted back on October 27 (IIRC).
I don’t expect the Dems to do well here in the ruby-red Arkanshire, but I would not mind being wrong.
I remember in some races on the ballot, there was no Democrat running against the Republican, but there was a Libertarian, so I voted for the Libertarians in those races. My teen-aged dumb-ass Libertarian self would have been pleased. 🙃
So fantastic! She is such a strong and compassionate leader
This next song, from 1987, is not political, but it’s become my song to post whenever someone “shatters the glass ceiling” in American politics.
SING IT, LAURA! SING IT FROM THE HEAVENLY CHOIR!
More mood music.
My favorite! Thanks, IBW!
My observation from doomscrolling the results much of the evening: we may or may not hold one or both Houses when this is all over, but there damned sure wasn’t a “red wave”. Really disappointed at the Ryan and Beasley races, though. The thought of that slimy opportunist J.D. Vance disgracing the Senate with his presence disgusts me.
Looks like there might be a runoff in Georgia. I’m amazed that anyone would vote for Walker.
I don’t understand the mindset people have that says “Stacey Abrams? Hard pass. Warnock? Maybe.” Can someone in GA explain? Also why so close with someone like Herschel of all people? GA went blue just 2 short years ago. What is with the fickleness?
Good night.
At this point it Looks like I got 3 out of 4 of picks. Shapiro, Fetterman, and Wild… only my local legislature pick seems to have lost, but we are still in better shape than we were yesterday, Blue gov, another Blue Senator, and still (at the moment anyway) looking like Blue Rep is gonna be re-elected.