Election day stories — Page 4

I live in Northern Virginia and I voted a little after 8 AM this morning. Like WOSQ, it's never taken me more than 10-15 minutes to vote in the past. This morning I walked over to the local school (our polling place) and there was a line coming out of the auditorium, down the driveway, and stretching down the sidewalk. While I wasn't looking forward to the wait, I have to admit that it was exciting seeing that kind of a turnout. One lady in line said that her husband had been there at 6:30 and he still had an hour and a half wait in line. Then a poll worker told me that people were already in line (for the 6 AM opening) when they got there at 5 to set things up.

Volunteers from each party were handing out sample ballots. White for Kerry and blue for Bush. Virginia is a HORRIBLY conservative state and it didn't surprise me to see a lot of blue sample ballots being held by those in line. Of course I took one of each and ignored them anyway since I already knew how I was going to vote and that was probably the same with most of those other voters.

It was around an hour by the time I worked my way up to the school. More campaign workers were there with tables set up that appeared to hold more sample ballots. One table of Kerry material did have a lot of campaign buttons on it so I reached over and grabbed one and put it on. Well, that seemed to open the floodgates! LOADS of people started running out of line to grab Kerry buttons and put them on. The volunteers had to keep digging into the bag to refill the tables. I was so thrilled to see this.

All in all it took about an hour and 15 minutes. No problems at all with checking in and actually voting. A very positive experience all around!

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"it amazes me how the rest of the world knows Bush is a moron, but America is still 50/50".

Yep, same sentiment in Asia as well. I've been bugging all my US friends (those who reside here as well as in the US) to make sure they vote... Let's hope for the best!

Updated On: 11/2/04 at 04:57 PM

glad to see this board for the most part isn't letting us foreigners down :).
Think of the big picture folks. It really is quite scary.
I mean, Michael Moore came up to Canada during our election (which was illegal) and said that Harper was the Canadian Bush.
The uneducated SOBs who listen to Moore's manipulation jumped all over that, placing Harper in the ranks of Bush, and yes, Hitler, and voted for Martin.
Just so you know, I don't personally have anything against the USA, but the reputation of your country on an international scale is dismal, and it's mostly thanks to Bush.
So lets hope Kerry wins this :)

Maime, not to turn into a stalker but where in Northern VA do you live? I live in Arlington.

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My school elected Bush by almost 70%...Nader came in second, because people did it just to be funny. Kerry was fourth, after someone else still...

My mom worked at a poll today and told me some really interesting stories. They had one person come in and try to vote for someone else who supposedly "couldn't get out of the truck", but was out in the parking lot. They never did find out if there was really another person.

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Wow...

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In my area (Orlando),Republicans were making phone calls saying that Republicans vote today and Democrats vote Wednesday. One of my dad's co-workers was targeted because English isn't her first language.

This is really, really disturbing.

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Mamie and other Northern Virginia-ites -- I grew up in Falls Church. (In high school, we called it FALLS GULCH.) After two decades in NYC, I'm in Jersey, now, but I'm fascinated to hear about how conservative your terrain is these days. I'm not surprised, but startled that it's so palpable. When I was growing up, my mom was quite active in Democratic politics. She toiled hard for one senator in particular -- who later in life became a Republican. All my classmates at a high school reunion seemed at best like ultra-reactionaries. But the area USED to be swarming with Dems, and we all protested Viet Nam together.

Here in northern Jersey, what has been compelling are the fights that broke out in the locker room at the "Y." This past week, several men got into screaming matches -- even in the shower (!) not exactly what the Village People sang about, but exciting, neverthless. I bonded with a towel-clad trimverate last night, younger than I, andimpassioned and very much breaking the burbs stereotype of the financial type who votes with his portfolio. Heartening, heartening...

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The gay marriage ban passed in Ohio . . . (enter profanity)

Edit: Oops, just saw the thread on it. My bad.

Updated On: 11/2/04 at 07:35 PM

First off, the people that quoted Louder Than Words - those are the EXACT quotes I was gonna use. Kudos. Though yes, it reminds me of 9/11 too. From Rent, “I’m a New Yorker . . . fear’s my life” also took on another meaning for me.

If Kerry won the MTV PRElection, it’s because the 18-30 demographic breaks heavily for Kerry as opposed to the other age groups. They have also consistently had the lowest voter turnout for elections. Hopefully that will change.


Okay, it's hard to explain why America is split (especially if you don't live here), but I'm gonna try it. ::cracks knuckles:: It's real easy to say, "War bad! Bush bad! Vote Kerry!" But it's not that clear cut or simple to many people here. I feel other countries see one issue - Iraq. There's just a lot more to it.

First, you’ve got the 2000 Bush-Gore election where Gore won the popular vote and Bush won the electoral votes. That left a certain amount of bitterness with Democrats and showed some real weakness in the system. However, the Republicans have the majority in the Senate AND the House of Representatives. There is quite a bit of conservatism in this nation, despite what people may think. Small town America makes up at least half the nation if not more. It’s not all bright lights big cities. Bush appeals more to the every man.

Now, there was a LOT of anger and a lot of pain after 9/11. I'm speaking as a New Yorker too. It's like someone ripped out your heart and stamped on it that day. The hole in the skyline is just a constant reminder. Terrorism became a very serious reality. I would walk around my neighborhood in Brooklyn and everywhere you turned, there was a street re-named for a firefighter that was killed that day. We needed a place to focus our revenge/anger on - Iraq became that place whether you wanted it to or not (a long time after 9/11 though). No, I do not agree with this war though.

There was a lot of false information about why we went into Iraq. Saddam was involved in 9/11, WMD, etc. A fair amount of people still believe in this war. My relatives in Florida are staunch Bush supporters. They have a son in Iraq. They still believe in it. They believe they’re being patriotic. That Bush can do no wrong and that force is always the answer. They believe if you don’t support the war, then you don’t support the troops. If my cousin dies, it would be an honorable death apparently. As parents, I would think they’d be more protective of their son. He just beat testicular cancer which he only got when he went to Iraq (as did 7 other guys in his unit, odd considering they‘re so young).

We know the world hates us for this. Many people still don’t care. We can be a bit egocentric, as we tend to feel the world should play to our wants and needs. Of course, what is our response when we hear people in other countries don’t support the war? “Freedom fries.” Ugh. I wish we would foster better international relations, but under Bush, it’ll never happen. He has his own agenda. It is hard for people to see and accept what our effect is on the global scale. The U.S. is a powerful nation, but Bush has not wielded that power wisely.

Then there’s the issue of civil rights, specifically gay marriage and abortion. Many people in this nation are still against both. Religious beliefs come into play a lot here. Bush played towards more Evangelical Christians. This nation is not as liberal as people think.

Other reasons the nation is split - the candidates themselves. The choice comes down to Bush or Kerry. It’s really about who is the lesser of two evils. I am a fairly liberal person, but I don’t like Kerry all that much. I am very unenthusiastic about my vote for him. The devil you know versus the devil you don’t. I may be against Bush, but I am not exactly for Kerry. However, Kerry picked up a lot more momentum with the presidential debates. He has had trouble clearly expressing his views on issues and policies. Bush has been fairly straight forward, though you may or may not agree with what he says. Under Kerry, I see our nation becoming less offensive to others, but still not where it should be. Under Bush, I see this country continuing in the wrong direction. I don’t agree with his domestic or foreign policies. Under Kerry, who knows where the hell we’re gonna go. There is not a whole lot of confidence in Kerry as a leader yet.

There’s more I guess, but I think that’s enough for now.

But wow, the whole world is watching.

I voted and volunteered today.

I always volunteer to help people with disabilities at the polls. My nephew is handicapped, and it's an issue that is near and dear to me. So, I make it a point to do what I can to help EVERYONE exercise their right to vote.

While I was there the lines were steady...great voter turn out!

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Updated On: 11/2/04 at 08:49 PM

Bush is winning Florida...

May I just say one more time how much I *hate* living here?

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Undi,
It is illegal in Canada for a foreigner to come into the country within thirty days of the election and do anything in public that could influence the outcome.
Which is EXACTLY what Moore did, and they had him up on charges for it.
.....little known facts......