[The Final Dakar]

Or well, as the case may be. This isn't about who we're voting for, or fraud or suppression or registration or the electoral college. This about how every presidential election year since I became engaged (2004) I see reports about how certain counties or cities have incredibly long lines and waits. That polls close 7 pm, but they'll allow anyone already in line to vote (taking hours past close). Yesterday, Florida didn't have early voting, but the simple act of just issuing and accepting absentee ballots overwhelmed an office.

It's my understanding that voter participation in the US is apathetic compared to most countries. Coupling that with what seems to be the quadrennial stories about overwhelmed polling places makes me wonder why we're underprepared to serve citizens trying to exercise this right. (Myself, I'm leaving an hour early from work just to avoid the post 5 pm rush).

So what should we do about it? (Assuming you accept the premise)

Do we need to make election day a national holiday? (This assumes polls are mostly underwhelmed during working hours, lunch excluded)

Do we need to just add more machines and workers?

Do we need to move the date to a weekend? Or an entire week?

Thoughts?

[OAW]

A national holiday would be good. A weekend would be better. Holding elections on a Tuesday in the middle of the work week is stupid IMO.

OAW

[The Final Dakar]

I read somewhere Tuesday is the most productive day of the work week, so from that viewpoint it actually could be worse. (Like Monday)

[Atheist]

My sister lives in Oregon. She says they've been doing voting by mail for years and it works just fine.

[reader50]

I've only occasionally had a long wait at a polling place, usually it's a short line. And we can vote by mail here, but I put off my research until the last minute. In part because many candidates are cagey with their issue positions - refuse to return votesmart.org questionnaires. Waiting lets more positions slip during interviews and speeches.

[andi*pandi]

The voting process itself seems smooth to me; rarely is there a wait for me. Today was the first time I can remember all the booths being taken and being directed to some hastily set up "voting chairs", there was actually a line and it took about 1/2 hour to vote and check out. I take this to mean that there is greater turnout this time, curious to see if I'm right or if I just hit the "before work" logjam.

That said, the electoral college kind of bugs me. I want my vote to directly count with no chance that someone else will override me.

the electoral college


part II

[The Final Dakar]

15 minutes seems reasonable, I could deal with half an hour, but after that it seems like as a voter you're getting DMV quality service. Not a good barometer.

[subego]

It's not brain surgery.

Here in Chicago we have 50 wards. Each ward has about 40 precincts. Each precinct has a polling place with five booths.

Three million people, divided by 50, 40, and 5.

That's 300 people per booth.

50% of those people vote (which is highballing it) at 5 minutes per booth, that's 12.5 hours.


It does get stuffed before 9 and after 5, but we generally don't have problems unless there's a ****up. One year, when I was a judge, no one brought the key to the ballot box, and it took us awhile to make an executive decision to rip the thing open with a hammer claw. That made us start late, which double-stacked the morning rush.

As an aside, my fave election judge story was when we had three more ballots than signed affidavits. The election board told us to put all the ballots in a hat, take out three, and don't count those.