November 4, 2008
Morning Voting Experiences Across D.C.
Your tweets are still rolling in to our #dcistvote Twitter feed, but first here's some dispatches from the DCist staff on their polling place experiences this morning.
- My wife and I voted at Precinct 87 (Payne Elementary) this morning on Capitol Hill. We got there a little before 9 a.m., and the line was not that long, not even outside the auditorium (not all that much longer that it has been in previous presidential elections). We heard that the line at Precinct 91 (Watkins Elementary, also on the Hill) was two blocks long outside the entrance. As we drove to work after voting we saw a line that wrapped all the way around the block (over two block lengths long, several people abreast) at Precinct 72 (Langdon Park Recreation Center, 2901 20th Street, NE). -Charles Downey
- Voted at Powell Elementary in Ward 4, got in line around 6:45, and made it inside in about an hour. The line started near 14th and was wrapped around 13th by the time we got there. Smooth process, friendly poll workers, friendlier crowd. Everyone had a friend in line, everyone was smiling and making conversation, very cheerful, very excited to be voting. Most people were given paper ballots, but there did seem to be a touch screen machine on hand. One woman left the school and yelled to the line, "Don't worry, it's worth it!"
Also notable - the number of people who brought folding chairs to wait in line, and many, many people kept turning around to take pictures of the line with their cameras and cell phones. No presidential signs, lots of signs for Kwame, Michael Brown (also had a table), and Carol Schwartz. A few signs for Sekou Biddle, someone was handing out materials for Ted Trebue (SB at large) and Muriel Bowser had people there. - Rachael Brown
- My polling place is the Wilson School in Rosslyn. Swung by at 6:45 - the line was snaked around the building and down to the fire station. Went to the gym - same story at around 8:10. Went back at 10:26. Voted: 10:32. I love working and living in Rosslyn. -Missy Frederick
- Voted at the 14th and U Boys and Girls club. The entire process took a little less than 2 hours. No problems outside of the wait for me, but a good friend of mine was forced to fill out a special ballot because his name was not on the rolls, even though he voted at the same precinct in the primary. He also has an unusual name (with an apostrophe in it). -Sriram Gopal
- A Red Bull rep just donated a bunch of Red Bull to give us energy to vote. The head voting guy just paused all registrations to announce it. Unreal. This was at 16th and P NW. In and out in 70 minutes. -Eric Denman
- My polling place is at the AME Zion Church at 16th and Meridian. I got there at 7:30 and the line was already wrapped all the way around the church. Jim Graham came through and shook hands with everybody. Several folks running for ANC Commissioner were also talking to folks in line and handing out fliers. I'm in ANC District 5 and several people were handing out fliers for a Herb Price, who is running for write-in. Some enterprising person also set up stand across the street and was selling coffee and tea. Once I got inside the building, voting was a little chaotic because the room was very small but otherwise very efficient. It only took a few minutes to get my ballot, vote, and have it scanned in the machine. All in all, a pretty smooth process. -Alicia Mazzara
- At 7:20 a.m. this morning the line outside the precinct at Shiloh Baptist Church on 9th Street in Shaw snaked around the block and down Q Street toward Rhode Island Ave. People in line were in good spirits, commenting that they'd never seen a line of this size in this neighborhood. The line moved at a decent clip. -Sommer Mathis
- Got to my polling place in Falls Church at about 7:30. There were maybe 75-100 people in line, but oddly, all of them were A-L. So I went to the very front of the M-Z line, got my paper ballot, filled in the bubbles, and put it in the scanner (I was the 154th person at my polling place to do so). A handful of people were choosing electronic voting instead. There were Republican and Democratic representatives out front handing out sample ballots, but the Republican table was getting a lot less activity. -Amanda Mattos
- I was in and out of Stuart-Hobson Middle School, ward 6, precinct 84 in under 10 minutes at about 10 a.m. Campaigners for Mara, Long, Schwartz and 3 for Michael Brown were outside, doing a whole lot of standing around doing nothing. Everyone was very jovial and the whole process was like a well oiled machine with many poll workers standing and directing in addition to the people handing out ballots. This was very different from the last vote where poll workers seemed like they hand no idea what was going on.-
Kelly Rand
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Wishing my last name was I-Z at the Metropolitan AME Church at 15th and M. It took me an hour 45 as a G but my friend about 30 minutes as an L.
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All I know is that when I lived in Oregon my wait at the polling booth was about 30ft from my couch to mailbox. This time 15min, but I voted almost a month ago.
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My polling place 10th and V NW had only 1 working voting machine. All the others were broken.
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I feel kind of...let down that I didn't have to wait. Everyone in the photos looks so excited and happy.
I brought Luna bars and everything.
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I voted this morning in Precint 36, ward 1 at the Latin American Youth Center and it took roughly an hour. There were international observers at the polling place, and I was standing near them while they were asking an official questions such as, "did the polls open on time this morning." One observer asked about voter ID, and the official stated that everyone had to show government issued ID. When the observer pressed him further he said, how can they vote if they can't prove who they are? Meanwhile, they were standing about 2 feet from voters signing in, none of whom were asked for ID of any kind.
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Interestingly, in Arlington they've done away with the A-L/M-Z system for the first time.
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I don't think I've ever been asked to show ID when voting DC. Just tell them my name and address and sign on the line.
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The line at Falls Church Ward 1 was 2h+ starting at 6:15, but dramatically shorter at 8:30. One of the four machines for our polling place didn't work, but not too big a deal. I'm jealous of you, Missy Fredrick.
What's up with 90% of the population having last names that begin with the first 25% of the alphabet?
Also: When the guy came through the line offering Republican sample ballots everybody looked at him like he had five heads.
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Somebody save me a seat.
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The line in Alexandria was 3 blocks long around 7-ish, so I went back home and waited. Around 10 I went back and there was no wait. I walked right in the door!
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I voted at Metropolitan AME Church at 15th and M. There were zero people in the I-L line. Took me less than 10 minutes to vote. The poll workers were incredibly nice, people waiting were in very good spirits. My co-workers that take metro to work said that everyone was in very high spirits on the metro, chatty and giving (offering seats) and smiling. Yay! GoObama!
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i took 2 hrs at mt bethel church this morning. i got there at 6:40 and left just before nine. everything was orderly, but it took a long time. glad i brought a book, though people were friendly and chatting it up.
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@marigold: I was wondering how long it would take at that church. I walked by on my way to work this morning and saw the line was wrapped around down 16th Street. Nice to hear it went fairly smoothly.
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Don't know what is going on at Watkins with the long lines. The lines at Hine (another big Capitol Hill location - Precinct 89) were gone by 9.
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Voted at Reeves at 14th & U this morning around 9:15 and was out the door by 10:30 -- and that included getting my free flu shot at the clinic upstairs.
There was a little girl, about 2 years old, with her mom at the polling place running around, saying, "I vote! I vote!" Nice to see they're starting young :).
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should've been able to vote at shiloh, but dcboee screwed up (i.e. ignored and/or tore up) my change of address, so i rode the bus out to my old precinct, 69, at taft school in woodridge. 20 minute bus ride and less than a 30 minute wait.
lost my "i voted" sticker within 5 minutes :(
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The wait at Precinct 91 (Watkins ES) was 1:45 from line to sticker at 8:15-10.
The 3rd-4th graders doing "exit polls" made the day, though.
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Voted in Ward 2 Precinct 21 on R St...Was in and out in 10 minutes. I was pretty bummed that it was so anti-climactic. Oh well...
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The line at Shaed Elementary was totally shae-itty at 2 1/2 hours. One woman said this was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen: so many folks from her neighborhood voting. And the last time she had seen something comparable was when they reelected Marion Berry.
Really killed the vibe with that one.
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I voted at Lafayette ES in Chevy Chase, in and out in literally ten minutes. The only tricky part was navigating around all the confused elderly.
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Ward 8, Polling Place Birney Elementary. Got there at 6:45, line was about a block long. The room was a bit chaotic, b/c it was small. Everyone got paper ballots. I was out by 7:20, and the line was about 2.5-3 blocks long. I passed a few curbside elderly voters. The spirit was high, lots of cars driving by--honking, people yelling "Obama!!!" out the window. Lots of laughter, lots of picture taking. And I heard time and time again, that no one had ever seen a line this long when voting in Ward 8. I agree, in my four years, I'm impressed by the turnout.
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Boondoggle
She meant the old Marion Barry before he got caught.
Just like people like the old Elvis and not the come-back Elvis.
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At 11:45AM there was no waiting at Precinct 86 (Eliot Jr. High School). Earlier, voters started lining up a 5AM, so the wait was as long as two hours, with the morning average about 90 minutes.
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Also voted at Metropolitan AME at 15th & M. Got in line at about 7am, submitted my ballot just before 8:30am. Everyone was patient (except for the one guy who demanded to know why the E-H line wasn't moving) and in good spirits.
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I'm a DC girl living in Buffalo, NY for now. They don't hand out "I Voted" stickers anywhere in or around the city. I feel jipped.
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Suckers. I'm going to dodge the lines by going to the polls tomorrow, just like that poorly-spelled flyer told me to.
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I'm going to vote when the lines get shorter.
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We had a great experience this morning. Since last year's "Yes We Can", my five year old has been campaigning for Obama... even made his own Pre-K for Obama sign and marched it to DCPS one morning. As you can imagine, today was very important to him.
We got in line at around 7:30 and the line went around the block... two blocks long, and lengthening. We had breakfast already packed, and the first Harry Potter book -- my apologies to the folks in line around us if Sorcerer's Stone wasn't to their liking -- and the hour and a half it took for us to cast our ballot went by quickly. The poll workers were friendly, cheerful, helpful, and efficient. And the kid made sure I did indeed vote for his hero. We both got our I Voted stickers today, and I've never seen a prouder boy.
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@MikeB: Pretty sure there's no ID requirement in DC, so no reason for them to ask you.
Sounds like I was in the same line as Sommer. I showed up at Shiloh at 7am and cast my vote at 8am. I enjoyed the bus and garbage truck drivers that honked enouragingly as they drove by.
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Silver Spring came out strong....after a 3 hour wait in line I have my sticker.
A count put up by the judges as you streamed in showed that over 800 people (out of about 2,500) had voted in that precinct just between 7-10am. The line was just as long as I was coming out.
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I waited an hour to vote at the 15th St. Presbyterian Church this morning and as crazy as it may sound, I loved every minute of it. There was an energy and excitement throughout the line, everyone was friendly, and neighbors were greeting each other from one end to the other. The election volunteers were incredibly well organized and everything moved along smoothly. For a city whose electoral votes hang no where even near the balance, I loved seeing its citizens come out in droves to make their vote heard.
Can't wait for the returns tonight!
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Co-Worker- Temple Hills MD = 5hrs!....In line at 7 out at 12.
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Voted in the Courtlands District, in Clarendon, at the Clarendon Education Center. Went around 8:45am, and the wait was about 25 minutes. The volunteers were extremely efficient!
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Arlington did away with the letter lines this year so things would flow smoothly. Lots of election officials though - asking when people left if they had any problems.
I am worried that people will be waiting on line for hours tonight, so if you haven't voted and can go in the middle of the day please do that so someone else who has to go after work has a shorter line!
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The A-C and M-Q lines at the Latin American Youth Center on Columbia Rd NW were the only slow ones (out of six equally-sized books), but I was still out in just under half an hour. I think part of the slowness was a little difficulty the volunteer had with going through the alphabet upside down and backwards (P comes after O dear, not before it).
My "free" thing was a sandwich at Potbelly my girlfriend bought me in exchange for driving her to work, but she didn't extend that offer to anybody but me.
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Voted at MLK library this morning around 9:15. No IDs or registration card, just sign on the line.
I was the only one in my alphabetical section. The guy in the queue next to me was stifling a smile - I think we were both prepared for a long wait and patriotic voter camaraderie, all we shared instead was a nod about how warm it was in the lobby
No wait for paper ballot booths, about 15 people waiting for their turn at the machine. Long line at the Starbucks across the street for free coffee.
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Takoma Park Elementary was moving smoothly, it took me about 5 minutes around 11. The wait was an hour when they opened and was growing again when I left.
Morning, Lunch, and Evening are going to be busy. Also there was a bake sale to support the school at the door, very cute.
A big part of the wait must have to do with pop. density, I think most of the precincts in the area are geographically divided.
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got to bell high school on 16th st a little before 8 am. very impressive turnout - line snaked around the parking lot and down the street. total time spent waiting and voting was a little more than 2 hours. people in line were friendly and excited, and, surprisingly, the people working knew what they were doing. checked IDs and everything. good job columbia heights!
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Got to the Reeves Center (14th & U) this morning around 8:30, was out by 8:55. My wife and I were among the lucky (and apparently rare) "A-D" voters and we got to cut to the front of the line. The main line seemed to be moving pretty well, though.
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"My polling place 10th and V NW had only 1 working voting machine. All the others were broken."
What are these voting machines you speak of? My polling place at 13th and Monroe had large paper ballots and little four-sided booths.
Oh yeah, I live in the ghetto. But so do you!!
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@jamie-
i'm referring to the electronic ballots.
there was also only 1 paper scanner that worked so that line was very long as well.
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Oh, I don't think we even had one of those. I folded up my ballot and put it into a large cardboard box with a slot on top. There was a sign on it that read "basura," they told me that was where the "special ballots" should go.
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I voted at the International Union of Operating Engineers at Wisconsin and Calvert. Arrived around 9:40am; voted and left by 9:50am. Didn't seem to be any problems at all.
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got to precinct 19 (dunbar high, ward 5, NJ and O NW) around 8:30. waited probably one hour and 45 minutes. if your last name was from T-Z, you got whisked to the front of the line (there was no one there with those letters the whole time, it seemed). conversely, everyone there had a last name that started with J.
a guy had a seizure in line, but luckily the EMTs were there quickly.
all in all, it was a long wait, but everyone was in good spirits.
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I went to 14th and U Reeves Center at 830 AM and had my sticker in hand at 915. For some reason, no one with the last name of A-D was voting at that time. Everything went smooth and the crowd as very excited. The staff volunteer was also very upbeat.
Go-Bama!
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Alexandria, Mt. Vernon Rec Center. Around 3PM, I was the only one in my alpha-line, and I was in, out, and done in maybe 3 minutes tops.
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I have a theory that the "A to K" line was so long because as children, we folks with surnames towards the beginning of the alphabet were used to having to go first, stand at the front of the line, be called on before anyone else. The kids with surnames in the rest of the lower 15 letters were used to going in later. That's why the "A to K" line was long in the morning and, theoretically, the "K to Z" lines will be longer in the afternoon/evening. Let's see.
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Same polling place, experience as spookiness:
No lines in Del Ray at 1:30.
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i vote at the GWU Marvin Center, I just voted at 3:30 there were about 2 people there, very pitiful!
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The next wave is comeing. Most Federal employees are allowed to leave work 3hr before the polls close...which starts now
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Voted at 11 this morning in Chevy Chase. I was in and out in under 30 minutes despite only 6 voting machines for 1000+ registered voters.
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Precinct 47, Powell School (Upshur Street, NW between 13th and 14th)
Got there @ noon. No line. Only saw paper ballots. All went incredibly smoothly. In and out in under 10 minutes.
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There was a bit of drama when several people in the long H-K last name line at Greenleaf had conniptions when a woman let her sister get into line in front of her (at the very front of the line). Thought a fight was going to break out - those folks were pissed at the line-cutting, and very vocal about it. The poll workers looked a little concerned as I signed in and the volume level got progressively higher.
The E-F-G line, on the other hand, was the only one there which was empty. I sailed right up to the #2 spot as soon as I got there.
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Man. I showed up to Precinct 75 (McKinley Tech) around 7:15 and didn't get my sticker until 9:00 or so. Well, actually, the precinct volunteer gave me three stickers. That was nice of her.
In any event, boo for waiting almost two hours, but yay for voter participation and getting to work late for a legit reason!