If there are lines of 1000+ they're probably elsewhere. The largest precincts in Norfolk will only have about 2,500 voters total even with the turnout boost.

In a location where there is NEVER a waiting line, it was 30 minutes before I voted, and I was the 55th person to do so.  One gentleman in front of me wondered aloud whether there was only one voting machine (there were two...).  Another commented that he was going to be late for work, but that was O.K.  As he was leaving the voting area with a smile on his face, a third person said he was glad to see this level of interest, finally...

As is so typical in this part of Virginia, this morning's whole voting process was patient, quiet, respectful and efficient, and there was very little conversation amongst those of us waiting in line.  While we waited, no one approached us promoting any one party's candidate or another, and there was absolutely no discussion about the various candidates.  

It is my continuing observation that rural people seem to have a greater respect for other people's privacy and to expect the same from them.  Anything else would have seemed out of place to me, especially here in my home precinct.  

Based upon my many years of experience as a campaign worker, political activist and, on several occasions, as a candidate myself, I would suspect that this year's vote totals here in southwest Virginia will break all recent records.

And I will predict that, while some of our Democratic candidates may not carry much of this part of Virginia, they will do considerably better here than they have in the recent past, and that increased voter participation will help turn Virginia blue, at long last...

Thanks again!

Steve  

BTW -  from what I am hearing from around the country, reading the voting thread at the Great Orange Satan, I think we may see over 140 million by time all votes are counted.  We have incredibly heavy lines, but we also had incredibly heavy early and absentee voting.

Our youngest son - a Navy helicopter pilot currently stationed in Norfolk - just called last night to say that he was coming in to see us on Saturday, so my plans for that day will depend upon his schedule, etc.

I will respond to your two e-mail messages off-list later today...

Thanks again!

Steve  

Thanks!

Steve

Though interesting about Cave Spring. I would expect good turnout there.

However, our Democratic Ninth District Congressman, Rick Boucher, is unopposed, Mark Warner may very well win there, and I think our overall percentages at that location will be much better than in previous years...

Thanks!

Steve

I wore my Redskins sweatshirt, which gave folks in line something to talk about. Can't believe I had to cheer against my Redskins last night, but it's the first time I'm glad they lost.  

It looked like there were a lot of younger voters, but of course that's just anecdotal.

Haven't checked since, but I should be getting an update soon.

Note this is a (huge, 4000+ resident) precinct that normally goes around 65% D, and I can only imagine that more excitement and turnout is from our side.

Now it is a steady trickle.

Good luck today everyone!

According to the Obama guy at the precinct 30 min. was the longest the line has gotten.

Go paper ballots!

Go heavily Dem precincts!

G'Obama!

When I arrived at 6am on the dot, there was a line about 200 yds long with approximately 300 people snaking outside the school - pretty unusual and indicative of high voter turnout.  I brought some reading material, but unfortunately I was outside and it was still dark so it didn't do me a lot of good until I got inside after about 20-25 minutes of waiting.

As I arrived in line there was a sharply-dressed man in a suit and fedora hat hustling to pass out sample ballots.  He didn't advertise them as Democratic or Republican, but I was very pleased to see that they were democratic.  Also, outside the school there was a sea of Democratic lawn signs and not a Republican one in sight.  Clearly, this gentleman had arrived WAY early and was out-hustling the competition.  

After about 15 or so minutes, an obese, angry-looking man who looked like a heart attack waiting to happen began shuffling through the line passing out Republican sample ballots - and advertising them as such by saying "Stop Socialism - Republican Sample Ballots here".  As he passed I very loudly said "NO THANK YOU".

Once I got inside we were split up into three lines by last name.  After another 25 minutes (at about 5 minutes 'till 7) I got to the check-in desk.  I was #117 in the A-E line, so there were approximately 350 people in line ahead of me when I arrived (they divided the last names up into 3 lines).

When I went to go get my voter permit I noticed that they were having some people vote using optical scanner 'bubble sheets' and some using the voting machines they had been using for quite some time (ever since I moved to NOVA in 2001).  This was a bit puzzling.  I can understand why they would want to use optical scanners because it greatly increases the capacity and the number of voters they can push through in an hour, but if you are looking to create a paper trail then they should't have any voting machines involved because those machines don't produce a paper receipt (a pet peeve of mine).  I guess Virginia is confident enought in the voter machines that they are really only worried about increasing capcity and don't care so much about a paper trail.

I was assigned to the optical scanner side and sat down to fill out my bubble sheet for Obama, Mark warner and Judy Feder (VA-10 congressional candidate).  I did so and then, personally, went up to the scanner machine, inserted the ballot and watched the 'processed' counter increase.  Apparently they had about about 1/3 of voters using the voting machines and 2/3 using the optical scanners and bubble sheets.

After I got my sticker and went out of the building I noticed that the line outside the school was only about 30 yards long - so apparently I was a part of the initial early-bird rush.  Probably should have waited a bit before coming in, but hey - I've been waiting 4 long and hellish years to cast this ballot - so why not do so as soon as you can?

As I left I went up to the sharply-dressed man, shook his hand and thanked him for his efforts. He asked me if I wanted to sign up for volunteering for the next election, and I mentioned that I'm on the list of just about every Democratic list out there so it wasn't necessary.

I'm really, REALLY looking forward to sitting down in front of the TV with my laptop and drinking in all the election results tonight.  

Go Obama/Warner/Feder!

It is such a weird feeling to have people actually care about what happens in Virginia - in previous elections you really had trouble getting this level of interest for people to go out and do this sort of stuff.

Note: These two precincts are in Fairfax County.  Bucknell went 67% for John Kerry in 2004, while Groveton went 86% for Kerry!  

I'm greeting voters at Arlington Central Library this morning. I just heard from a Democratic polling monitor that the McCain campaign plans to challenge the votes of anyone not physically inside the Library at 7pm when the polls close. Apparently they claim the rules are they have to be inside. The Democratic polling monitor is working with elections officials to make sure the letter of the law is satisfied and that everyone in line at 7pm gets to vote.

But it's a pretty clear example of McCain's strategy -- disenfranchise as many voters as possible. Guess that whole "Country First" thing only goes so far, huh?

John McCain and the Republicans: disgraceful until the bitter (emphasis on BITTER!) end.  Blech.

The fact that 300,000 have already voted in the state means that things should move along a little more quickly today.  Hopefully that allows everyone who wants to cast a vote to have a chance.

Voting went smoothly, once inside, I was in and out in 15 mins.

Students were also coming in on buses sponsored by SGA. The student turnout is amazing.

I can see from the pics that a lot of folks have the blue sample ballot -- plaudits to the Arlington County Dems volunteers and staff -- great work.

Blacksburg precincts are known for voting Democratic.  Turnout is brisk.  At one (I worked at thee different preincts today: a shift and a half at F-2, Blacksburg Middle School; a a shift-plus at F-1 Luther Memorial; and a shift at G-1 Gilbert Linkous Elementary (in the rain).  Gilbert Linkous had apx 75% turnout by around 3:30 PM.  This is very good because this precinct typically votes 59-70% Democratic.

One flipped vote at Blacksburg Middle School.  The voter didn't' leave till his vote was correct.  A voter at Blacksburg Rec Center was turned away and told to vote at the "Luteran Church, but there are two.  That directive was wrong.  They told her name wasn't there, while her husband was able to vot).  We contacted the Obama HQ and we were able to resolve the problem (voter's first and last name reversed in the books at her correct polling place).  The voter went back to the polls.

We have lawyers at Democratic leaning and African American precincts.  (THANK YOU TO LAWYERS from all over who traveled to help us.) I think their mere presence reduces some of the mischief. I personally have been hassled at the polls in a previous election--by GOP district chair--for no legitimate reason.  So I was apprehensive about today.

This is a surreal election.  The first time in my life we mattered electorally.  

Saw a statistic that said .... "there are 2,800 polling sites statewide .... and given Webb's margin of victory, it equates to 3 extra people voting for him per site". Pretty amazing what GOTV can mean .... and team Obama is running GOTV in an incredibly efficient manner.

I got an email with five names on it .... to call on to vote.... One of whom is my own daughter.  That's crazy nats ass detail if you ask me.

So GOTV to victory!!

I am terribly impressed with the changes I saw; the Chesterfield registrar & people have done an awful lot to make sure that the mess of the primary doesn't happen again.  There were perhaps 20 or more people to direct voters to the next step, and the check-in process was smoother and faster than it's ever been.  I asked about three of the poll workers how their day was going so far and all were enthusiastic, saying everything was going smoothly.

Too bad we didn't have this turnout in 2005, Creigh Deeds could have been Attorney General.

  There was no delay whatsoever.  There was a steady stream of people, yet when I arrived the check-in tables were all open.  I quickly got my ballot.  I walked directly to the booth to fill it out.  At least 2 of the 6 or seven booth were free, and at no time (that I saw) were all booths occupied.
  Once finished I deposited my ballot into the machine.  I think my paper ballot was #586 for the day. (Touch-screen ballots are not included in this tally.) I looked at my watch.  It was within a couple of minutes of 9 am.

  When I looked over my shoulder the only voters that were actually having to wait were those who had opted to vote via "touch-screen."  There were five people in that line.  I would estimate their wait would have been at least 10 minutes.  Paper-ballots were by far the faster of the two options.

 This is a rural county.

There was an older, black couple (probably at least in their 80s) there voting ahead of me and they just seemed so happy to be there.  They stopped and said hello to just about everyone in line.  This couple is probably the decendants of the freed slaves who owned some of the land in this area and passed it down to the current generations.  They've been offered tons of money for their land from developers and they keep holding out.  Good for them!  Anyway, it probably felt really good for those people to vote this election.  They probably didn't think they'd ever live to see a day like this.  I got a bit verklepmt in line!

Thanks, you two!

Steve

Oh, and although I live near Virginia Tech, my polling location is NOT where a lot of students would vote.  These are locals...

***10 a.m. DEVELOPING STORIES FROM ELECTION PROTECTION***

As of 10am, Election Protection has received over 27,000 calls to the 1-866-OUR-VOTE Hotline since the phones opened at 5:30am this morning.

VIRGINIA
We have seen the situation on the ground in Virginia change drastically over the past hour. Election Protection is calling for the courts to keep the polls open an additional two hours.

MICHIGAN
There are widespread reports of line lines, lack of ample poll workers and general disorganization, resulting in waits as long as two hours. Machine malfunctions are also contributing long lines and in some cases poll workers administering polling through paper ballots. Some voters are expressing concern over the security of their ballots in these situations.

FLORIDA
We have received multiple reports that optical scanning machines are broken in Tallahassee, Tampa, Broward County and Miami-Dade County.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Breaking news: at 10:30, Election Protection - the nation's largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition - will call for the voting hours in Virginia to be extended by 2 hours.

Virginia is emerging as a major hot spot, with tens of thousands of voters at risk. Check out some of the reports here. If you are voting in Virginia, please do not get discouraged and leave the polls.

We've received hundreds of calls to the Election Protection Hotline - 1-866-OUR-VOTE - from Virginia voters reporting a variety of problems:

   * Massive machine failures across the state
   * Over 2 dozen precincts opening late
   * Voters turned away from the polls
   * Reports of voter intimidation

Stand by for more info...

Overview of E1 - major precinct for Virginia Tech:

5,598 people are registered to vote there.  That is nearly double what the State law allows for a polling location.  

The polling place is 6.5 miles away from campus, there is no street sign marking the turn off to the road; it is a tiny church located off a one lane road with approx. 30 parking spaces.  Not only will students have to drive there, but they won't be able to park when they do.  The police department is doing nothing to direct traffic or block off the road; the nearest parking lot is .5 miles down the road, and students will have to walk along a busy highway to get to the church if they park there

This morning:

Long lines - 45 min-1hr

Tons of traffic

Street is getting clogged and is not easy to access

Any students out there?  Get the shuttle @ Cassell, at the bus loop.  Also, BT Transit will take you to your polling location -- just ask the driver and he'll help you out.  

Breaking news: at 10:30, Election Protection - the nation's largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition - will call for the voting hours in Virginia to be extended by 2 hours.

Virginia is emerging as a major hot spot, with tens of thousands of voters at risk. Check out some of the reports here. If you are voting in Virginia, please do not get discouraged and leave the polls.

We've received hundreds of calls to the Election Protection Hotline - 1-866-OUR-VOTE - from Virginia voters reporting a variety of problems:

  * Massive machine failures across the state
  * Over 2 dozen precincts opening late
  * Voters turned away from the polls
  * Reports of voter intimidation

Obviously not acceptable, I presume the "powers that be" are on top of the situation?

At the minimum, we should start with optical scan machines which leave a paper trail and ditch the touch screen machines entirely.

I was dismayed at how many people were taking GOP sample ballots. But Dem voters may have already voted early, and those voting today may have declined the sample ballot, knowing how they would vote.

One rather obnoxious, sort of patrician woman wearing a red blazer declined a Dem sample ballot, saying, "He believes in abortion," and "it makes her very sad." WTF?

We only need 50.001% of the vote, right?

Thanks!

Steve

Young people were downtown waving Obama signs, and there were a lot of Obama stickers in the school parking lot. I made a point of thanking every volunteer poll worker I met --after all, they are not allowed to leave from the time they get there to set up until everything's packed up in the evening. Spirits were high.

was impressed by the increase in staffing and equipment; three  touch screens instead of two and at least 12 official poll workers visible.

also impressed by the diversity of the voters I saw in my brief time there. old, young, black, white, and some folks with obvious disabilities who were making the effort to get out there and exercise their suffrage. Definitely not the typical demographic for the precinct on election day.

only negative was that the Repubs had managed to position their sheltered info area so you practically had to run the gauntlet through it to get into the polling place. this doesn't seem "right" in terms of the spirit of election law but I'm not aware of any specific law this setup violates. Had never seen it before though for sure

hopefully I didn't violate any election laws when I let my two year old press the final vote verification screen

First of all, the lines are crazy long and the room is tiny and stuffed with 12 machines. People cannot move around each other, you can totally see how people next to you are voting, the people manning the books are very, very slow, and there doesn't seem to be anyone there who has had any training.

The machine would only let me vote for President. They had no idea how to fix it. They told me I could not vote for anything else bc the vote went through. I stood my ground and forced them to make another decision. They made me wait for 30 minutes and then they finally decided I could vote for everything BUT President on a provisional ballot. I said, NO, I want as paper ballot. They fought me, I fought back. I filled out a paper ballot, sans President, bc they informed me that my vote for President "definitely went through" on the machine. I finished the paper ballot, and they told me thanks. I said, don't you want me to fill out the envelope with my information? They said, oh yeah. Then, they took it away from me and told me I was not allowed to sign the back of the envelope. I immediately went and found someone else and she brought me back to the table and pulled my envelope out of a STACK of unsigned envelopes. So, yeah, great. Who knows how many people's ballots won't be counted bc of idiot poll workers?

Way to go, once again. Make this day a holiday already so COMPETENT people can work the polls.

At approximately 12:45 p.m. I drove past the polling place and saw no one out the door.  

Long lines and broken voting machines have been reported all over Virginia.

Urge the Governor to go to court if necessary to keep the polls open an additional two hours and to provide paper ballots for every voter.

CREDO (Working Assets cellphone provider) provides talking points on this phone number before connecting you with Governor's office.

Call now!

The guy who runs this precinct at every election is great -- he always does everything he can to help people get to the right polling place, etc. -- but in this case he said there was nothing he could do because the voter had already submitted his vote. Because the senate screen didn't come up after he voted for president, the voter thought it was asking him to submit the president vote, and then he'd go through the same process for the other two, but no. I know this guy, and we just lost solid Dem votes for Warner/Rasoul.

GOP folks just arrived at this precinct at ~1:15 p.m. We've been there since before 6 a.m.

Also (tee-hee), they moved the voting to a different part of the high school (gym vs cafeteria), and the Repugs put up their signs at the former location (probably last night), where no one saw them. They just now moved them to where the voters are.

Add 1650 to 1677 to get 3317
subtract 3317 from 3700   to get 383

Only 383 votes left in my precint.

88% turnout so far

ELECTION ALERT: VIRGINIA AND PENNSYLVANIA VOTERS FACE SERIOUS THREATS TO THEIR VOTING RIGHTS AT THE POLLS

Voters can call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) to report issues at the polls

November 4, 2008 - Voters are reporting major obstacles to casting their ballot in polling locations across Virginia and Pennsylvania, which could disenfranchise thousands of [state] voters. Long lines, broken voting machines, ballot shortages and misused absentee ballots are just some of the problems that threaten to rob thousands of eligible voters of their right to vote.

In Virginia:

   * Dozens of polling places are experiencing varying degrees of machine malfunction. Some polling places are either completely closed or have been closed for hours.
   * Thousands of voters may have been turned away illegally by polling workers.
   * Voters have illegally been issued with provisional ballets where machines have been broken.
   * Students at Virginia Tech, previously the victims of misinformation, have seen their polling place suddenly and unexpectedly moved six miles to a location with little parking.

Thanks to Rob for this photo.

They got the flush list,  and they are stoked!

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/1...

And are the College Republicans really owning this?  If so, arrests need to be made.  Can anyone verify this?

One voter approached chief Election Judge Ellice Kark to alert her of a situation involving political paraphernalia inside the polling place, which is illegal in Virginia.

A woman wearing a pink "Team Sarah" T-shirt was told to remove it, but refused.

Calling Kark names like "crazy" and "psycho", she lashed out at some of the election judges and claimed her daughter's name was Sarah.

When she was asked, her daughter said her name was "Jordan."

The woman finally removed her shirt, cast her ballot and stormed out.

Kark said this was an isolated incident, and otherwise the day had been running smoothly. ...

http://www.loudountimes.com/ne...

By 1 p.m, some 3,000 people had cast votes in Purcellville, Va. - more than the 2,900 people who voted there in the entire 2004 election, said Robert Lazaro, the town's mayor.

Purcellville is just west of Leesburg.

However, right after voting this morning, I stopped by the grocery store and was surprised to see not only a lot of customers wearing the "I Voted" sticker, but Obama stickers as well. I was very happy to see that.

Television stations and Newspaper Reporters are there-plus Obama and Party Officials.

Looks like there will be legal problems for this Republican candidate...and not just from the Democratic Party side of things.

Otherwise- polls were very busy this Am but now----just walk in pretty much everywhere.  

http://www.vbdems.org/showDiar...

As Steve noted in his rural precinct, the atmosphere in our town office board room was very respectful and serious, but that is always the norm here.  This year, it felt almost church-like.  Folks greeted each other warmly.  The gentleman in front of me said that it looked like people were fed up with "what's going on".  We're still a very red region, but I'll be so interested to see what happens here in the Shenandoah Valley this year.

Regards!

After about 50 min -- I arrived back in the lobby -- and not long after was in the cafeteria and voting.  They had 4 electronic voting machines and about a dozen other stations where you could fill out a paper ballot. I chose the paper ballot; believing that one should also have some hard copy for traceablity (the Ziebold's have none). All in all -- despite the hour it took -- I was impressed by how quickly it all went (had an e-book to keep me entertained while I waited).

With respect to the folks outside -- both the Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin folks had their tables set up.  I took a sample ballot from the former; politely declined the other.

My husband btw -- arrived at 7:25 and he tells me that he was done in less than 25 min.  

Like others on this blog, I am looking forward to watching the TV tonight and anticipate with confidence a great sense of relief as we bid goodbye to the kind of government we've had the last 8 years.

GOP watcher looked despondent.  Dem watcher looked happy as hell.