October 20, 2008
Early Voting: Good Idea or a Huge Pain?
You may have read in the Washington Post this morning that today is the first day that District residents may cast "in-person absentee" ballots, up until Nov. 3. All you have to do is show up at the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics headquarters at 441 4th St. NW, Suite 250N, to request an absentee ballot and vote right then and there. Sounds great, right? Especially if you think you might be out of town or say, busy covering the election on Nov. 4.
Well, from what we're hearing, not necessarily if you went in to vote today. Reason magazine reporter Dave Weigel (who, full disclosure, is also my new roommate) went down to the elections board at lunchtime today only to discover about 70 people waiting in line before him. He tells DCist the entire line-waiting and voting process for early voting took him an hour and a half, though once he got through the long line, the act of voting was virtually painless and problem free.
Granted, today is the first day early voting was offered in the District, and lunchtime is surely the busiest possible time to go. But 90 minutes is far too long. If you end up going in to vote early on a different day and/or time, be sure to let us know if you have an easier time of it.
Voters in Virginia may also cast in-person absentee ballots, but only up until Nov. 1.
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sounds like any other kind of "opening day", i have to say. it always draws a big crowd at first. you're right, though, that waiting 90 minutes to vote is a pain in the ass.
BTW - who does a libertarian vote for in DC local elections?
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Granted, today is the first day early voting was offered in the District, and lunchtime is surely the busiest possible time to go...
If it hurts, stop doing it. It's like the people who complain that there are long lines in airports during Thanksgiving and Easter, or that the Half Street inspection station is busy on Saturdays. If he wanted to vote, take your lunch at 2:00 or 3:00 or any other time of the day.
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I volunteered at the absentee-voting-in-person polling place in Arlington over the weekend, the line was pretty long but people there were saying it only took 20-30 minutes total to get through.
[shamelss plug] Virginians, if you live on a different county than where you work, or if you live & work in the same place but have business or personal stuff that takes you out of your county on Election Day for any reason, you can vote absentee either in person or by mail.
And you only have to say where you're going, you don't have to say why. I have a lunch meeting on Election Day, so I voted last week. And absentee ballots ARE counted on election day in Virginia. [/plug]
At any rate, 90 minutes is NOTHING compared to what Nov. 4 is going to look like. I waited in line for 2.5 hours to vote in 2004. I waited for 90 minutes in 2006, for pete's sake.
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A co-worker and I went to early vote. We work right next door and thought it'd be quick and painless. We expected a rush at lunch time, but when we showed up, there were only about 30 people in line. It still took us OVER 2 hours to vote. By the time we left, there were probably 70-100 people waiting in line at 2pm.
Anywho, I voted!!! This is my third presidential election, but this was by far the most emotional I have ever been when voting. Even though I vote in DC, it was still an awesome feeling to cast that vote.
Don't forget to vote! And be an informed voter!!!
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I think that absentee ballots are only counted if the race is close. So you are right about VA, but I doubt they will be counted in DC. I am just going to wait until election day so I can see my vote on CNN.
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"I think that absentee ballots are only counted if the race is close."
Not counting absentee ballots is an old urban legend. All votes cast are counted.
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To add: spreading the rumor that they don't count absentee votes is a common voter suppression tactic. It was started to discourage absentee voting and voter registration.
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It may just seem like they're not counted because absentee votes get a lot of attention during close races, and not so much during blowouts. But they're always counted, assuming you mail them in by the deadline and it's properly signed, etc.
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the only races that have scrutiny are those that are close. and that's certainly where people pay attention (rather than the blowouts). but to say that absentee votes aren't counted is just wrong.
it's the democratic votes on diebold machines that aren't counted, duh...
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it's the democratic votes on diebold machines that aren't counted, duh...
It's on The Simpsons, so it it must be true.
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I meant to say that your vote won't count on election day so you won't be able to see it on CNN. It will be counted some other time for official records.
sorry for passing suppress the vote rumors.
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understood, mandarinzazz. but don't they start counting the absentee ballots as they come in, so they can have a feel how those votes are trending (and are they counted as a separate precinct for counting purposes?)
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depends on the state. Some count the absentee/early ballots starting before election day, some count starting on election day.
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I recently moved back to DC after 3 1/2 years in Maine which has early voting. It rocked. It was open for many days before the election and made the process so much easier. It should be the norm everywhere!
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Maryland, get this passed already! I'm feeling left out of the fun . . .
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re: absentee ballots....ALL absentee ballots counted. Most are actually the first votes counted as elections office wait for ballots and/or electronic transmissions to make it to the county offices. Deadlines for absentees vary as well. Some are due in advance of ED, some are due at certain times on ED and others must just be postmarked by ED. But they are ALL counted. Overseas ballots often have more time to arrive and are still counted....elections are officially certified till usually about week after ED to allow for the final counting of overseas ballots, confirming of provisional ballots, etc.
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What kind of imbecile thinks voting during lunch would only take 30 minutes, when there are lots of people likely doing the same thing. I love the blind ego-centrism of most gLibertarians and Ayn Rand cultists.
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I voted in DC today too! It took a little over an hour -- I got there about 3:30, and I was out by 4:45. I'd definitely recommend bringing a book. It feels great to be done though. :)
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"BTW - who does a libertarian vote for in DC local elections?"
Whoever he or she wants.
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MandarinZazz -- As others have mentioned, you've been misinformed. I think you're confusing absentee ballots with provisional ballots (which are not counted on Election Day and must be verified by the Electoral Board).
In Virginia, all absentee ballots (both paper and electronic) received by 7 p.m. on Election Day are counted just like all the other votes. It counts as a separate precinct for reporting purposes.
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BTW - who does a libertarian vote for in DC local elections?
Damien Ober in the Shadow Senator race against Paul Strauss, I guess, since I think Ober is the only Libertarian who picked up enough signatures to get on the ballot.
I suppose there's the write-in campaigns of Dick Heller (versus Eleanor Holmes Norton -- *snerk*) and Bob Barr too, but Ober seems like the best shot to pick up enough votes to get the Libertarians recognized as a real party. (The down side for Libertarians is that Ober, whose big issue is annexing Arlington, is pretty moderate as Libertarians go -- he's said that Heller is a single-issue nutcase -- and he may not be doctrinaire enough for a lot of Libertarians to feel comfortable with as their lead voice in the nation's capital.)
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I voted yesterday over lunchtime at Falls Church city hall and I was the only one there. It was a very pleasant experience, and I thought it was a nice touch that the clerk made a point of giving me two "I Voted" stickers, one for yesterday, and one for elections day, "so all your friends know you voted". I think the real rush is going to be this Saturday when the weekend voting starts there. Either way, it beats the crazy lines that there are going to be on election day.