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All of last week there was early voting at the Library just outside our neighborhood and I remember seeing huge lines and heard people waited 3.5 hours to vote.

I checked online yesterday to see where I was supposed to vote today and the online service said based on my address, I should vote at a Church about 2 miles away. So as I'm driving I come up on the Library and see they have signs pointing to the building that say "Vote here." So I pulled in and noticed people were walking up to the building, speaking briefly with a couple of elderly people, and then walking back to their cars. I got out and as I approached the building the old men said that I could only vote for one item at that facility and that the voting for the midterm elections was at the Church. So I figured I was already there, so I went in and voted on the one issue they had, which was the selling of alcohol on Sunday before a certain time. I voted yes, and then went to the Church to vote.

I pulled in and I could already tell this was going to be a long wait. Polls opened 15 minutes ago and there were already a few hundred people ahead of me. I had some good conversations with a few people in the line who were complaining about living in the 21st century and having to wait like this to vote. I then told them how in Brazil voting was mandatory and everything done online based on your social security #.

Anyway, as we make it into the auditorium there were 10 seats where people would sit down and fill out a registration form and sign it, at which point they would then wait in another line so some other elderly person could process it in the computer and give them a ballot card to use at the computer. This line forked into two lines about 10 feet away from the computers to make things run smoothly but one person processing the forms was having issues with their computer and we noticed a couple of elderly people frantically calling someone in charge to figure out how to get the computer system working again. In the meantime the people waiting in that line were getting frustrated because the line next to them was moving along so I told them to all get in front of me since they were waiting longer, and then the two lines merged into one until they could fix the issue.

We all noticed that there were only 16 ballot machines that could be used at the same time while there were literally hundreds and probably a couple thousand people standing in line behind us and outside, by the time it was our turn to vote. We also felt really bad for this old black woman who was at the wrong place. She had moved last year and it was clear she had no idea what she was doing. She brought them some kind of mail out flier about voting and she thought it represented her registration card. It didn't. She brought along two kids who were probably her grandchildren, and they told her she would have to go to the Carmel elementary school to vote, which was about 10 minutes away. If she did decide to go there to vote, she's probably still waiting in line.

I showed up when the polls opened at 7a. When I got there the line was already so long that it probably was over an hour wait. I had a meeting at 8:30a, so I left to come back later. I’m now waiting in an even longer line. Normally my voting experience is pretty easy, so turnout must be higher than expected.

I voted by mail so my experience this morning is laughing at those who didn't.

All sorts of young women getting registered here right now. Always interesting to see abstract data in real world experience.

EAllusion wrote:Normally my voting experience is pretty easy, so turnout must be higher than expected.

It is anecdotal but I've never had to wait in line for early voting in my area over the last 4 elections.... ever. Nearly an hour to early vote this year. My state isn't exactly well renowned for voter participation, all signs point to that improving.

In Washington state our ballots are mailed to us. I put mine in a local box a couple of days ago. No wait involved. In the past, some years ago now, we went to a local voting location on election day. There were always enough voting locations that one would have to wait for only three or four people or less to vote.

I think people who live in states with serious waits and problems should make a real fuss to push the state for better arrangements.

I didn't have to wait at all, easy peasy. I was quite impressed by the new voting machines, too. Flashed DL. Gave me a blank ballet. Insert into machine. Make my selections. It prints them onto my ballot, which I can visually check. I take my ballot and insert it into another machine which scans it and then drops it into a lock box. Cake. The only way they could maybe improve things and make it even more transparent would be to publish the results online so that I could double-check that the machine scanned it properly.

I can't help but wonder how many people won't vote because of long wait times.

Or how many people there are like that old black lady who was told she was at the wrong location.

I just think voting should be mandatory like it is in Brazil. Just log in online and do it with your social security number. You're registered to vote for life no matter how many times you move.

What would be the penalty for not voting?

Water Dog wrote:What would be the penalty for not voting?

In Brazil, I believe they give you a small fine if you cannot prove one of their excuses for not voting applies to you.

Not that things are rosy in the US, but Brazil's democracy is a complete mess and there's a plausible connection between it and mandatory voting.