USVI-On-Line

Can you good folks in those states that I see on TV with the long lines and big time early voting process enlighten me on how this works?

In little ol' New Jersey, I think the only way you can vote early is by absentee ballot or similar. I don't think there are actual polling places open. I haven't even gotten my sample ballot yet. And, when I do vote on election day, I have never stood on line behind more than 6 people. Ever.

Is this because we have 566 towns in a state with only 8 million people that is obsessed with home rule, local town and county propositions, and NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)? There is practically no regionalization of services, every little town has its own school board with its members making 6 figures, causing the highest property taxes in the nation, but on the bright side (!) maybe this makes every little town have plenty of polling places. My town of about 40,000 must have at least 8, and when you go into the firehouse, there are 4 machines, one for each district over in our corner of town.

How does it work elsewhere?

check your mailbox - got mine today

In some states, like here in TN, you can actually go to a polling place and vote early. Unlike on election day, there are several around your county and you can choose whichever one you want. On election day, you have to vote in your precinct.

My first election voting here was the primary on Super Tuesday. I went after work, and the line was pretty long.

In Ohio, my family tells me they do early voting by absentee ballot. It used to be you had to have a legitimate reason to vote absentee, but now you can just do it if you want to get it out of the way.

In VA (the new battleground state --- I never thought that day would come), you can vote absentee or early in person if you have a reason. Commute & workday exceeds 12 hours, you will be out of town, getting to the polls would pose a hardship, etc.

To absentee vote you have to request a ballot that is then sent to you for you to return. It must be postmarked by election day. Many students vote this way when away at school. To vote early in person you just have to meet the criteria (Many states have early voting for any reason). It is thought that early voting eases the burden on hourly workers who would have to forfeit pay to vote. I am lucky enough to get 2 hours of admin leave to vote.

Our earling polling places are in satellite government buildings - for example in Fairfax Va there are 7 I believe. The one closest to me is only a few miles away, but it is not my regular polling place.

At least in VA, voter suppression efforts are in full effect. Someone changed the hours at one of the satellite offices near me just this week.

Exactly how all of these votes are counted is not clear to me and it still worries me enough to wait until election day to go and wait in line. The longest I've ever waited is about 30 minutes, we'll see how it goes next week.

I voted today in Virginia after I picked up my daughter from daycare. I put down "Travel to US Virgin Islands" as my reason for not being able to vote in person. This is my third absentee ballot in a row for President.

The process worked okay. They still have to call each person in on a telephone to get them marked off the voting roles. The poll was the same as for a regular election - electronic voting terminal.

This was the most crowded I've ever seen the absentee voting station. The biggest reason seemed to be a large number of people working the election that day, either as poll workers or as proselytizers. My wait was 45 minutes. This is less than my usual wait to vote in person for a primary or an off year election.

Sweet Christine is voting by mail and the process is actually slight more convoluted. Virginia makes this harder than it needs to be.

Cheers, RickG

Like Lulu said, in TN you can vote early for any reason at either your election commission office or a designated satellite office. In TN, early voting begins 20 days before the election and ends 5 days before the election. I am going to vote in the morning to avoid the long lines on election day. When I vote early, it is usually just me and a couple of tomato farmers.

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What States have mail-in voting? I sat at my home and filled the ballot out and mailed it in last week.

Now I worry that snail-mail will make it there in time.

How many of you feel that your vote doesn't really count in with electorial votes. Does our vote really count? I thought so when I learned about it in 6th grade, but I'm not so sure today. Believe me, I want to think so...but.....

Does anyone else have this doubt?

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And we're still hearing about Acorn...

I have this sinking feeling that elections are not won by individual voting any longer. The Robin Williams movie about voting machines still hangs in my head.

Let this next 7 days go by fast!

Terry wrote:And we're still hearing about Acorn...

I have this sinking feeling that elections are not won by individual voting any longer. The Robin Williams movie about voting machines still hangs in my head.

Let this next 7 days go by fast!

Ohio 2004

Jorge wrote:That's sweet. You ride in and vote along side of your sisters. lmao

Speaking of my sisters, Jorge, Raylene would like to know when you guys are going out again. She shaved her mustache like you asked. Oh, and she wants her sheep back.