Tell your voting story
If you voted today, we are curious how the experience went for you. Where did you vote? How long did it take you to vote? What do you think can be done to improve the voting process in Ohio?
Share your thoughts here.
If you voted today, we are curious how the experience went for you. Where did you vote? How long did it take you to vote? What do you think can be done to improve the voting process in Ohio?
Share your thoughts here.
Ohio Political News is proudly powered by
WordPress
Entries (RSS)
and Comments (RSS).
November 4th, 2008 at 8:53 am
It was a little crowded when I showed up at 6:35, and there was a line stretching around the building. I got to vote at 7:20, but by then the line was about half as long. The poll workers got things moving efficiently by sending folks with the list of names to make sure everyone in line knew their precinct (a tip: Know your precinct before you get there), and when lines for each precinct were getting short they sent folks out to round up people from outside. In hindsight, the absentee ballot would have avoided the line, but I was in no hurry.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Voting went great..arrived at polling location at 6:15am and we were out the door by 6:45….There were only 9 ahead of me! Those seniors who run our polling place had been doing it for so long, they have it down pat…and they have chains attached to the pens so there are no 'missing black pens'.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:59 am
My husband and I vote at the Goodyear Metro Park and we arrived at 6:05 am this morning and we were done around 7 am. The only problem was the scanning machine that reads your ballot jammed on the very first ballot put into the machine. The rest of us had to put our ballots into a different slot, which will not be ran through until someone from the board of elections comes out to fix the machine and run the ballots through. First of all, shouldn't these machines be tested? For it to jam on the first ballot ran through is ridiculous, and an undue problem for the poll workers. That was my experience, and I just hope and pray that they do honestly run all of those ballots through. I would suggest to improve this that each voting place have an extra machine that can be programmed for which ever precinct needs it so you do not have this kind of problems in the future.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:03 am
I got in a fairly long line at 6:20AM in Goodyear Heights. When I got to my precint line, I heard one of the poll workers on the phone stating that the scanner had jammed and was not working! We had to drop our ballots in a slot on the front of the machine, and someone would be there 'later' to scan them!
November 4th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Left just after 8, got out just before 9. Lines weren't too bad, although the voting place, and so far it didn't look like there would be any issue with running out of paper ballots as the electronic voting machine seemed to be more popular, but I still used the paper ballot because I don't trust that machine.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Went in at 8ish… I had 4 people in front of me.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I voted this morning at Akron Baptist Temple. I arrived at 6:25 a.m., with a decent line. A gentleman was counting the people (I was number 105). Everyone seemed to be in good moods and no altercations. They had women asking if you knew what precinct you were in - if you did you could move ahead. There was also workers saying which precincts had no line. If it was yours, you could move up. I went up to mine (I was number 11) and the workers were very friendly and helpful. I was out the door by 7:00 a.m. Very happy I was able to vote before going to work.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Voted at 8 this morning, there was no lines
November 4th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I requested an absentee ballot by mail and voting was EASIER than ever. After I filled out my ballot and sealed it in the envelope, I took it to the early voting location. Since I had my ballot in hand, I did NOT have to wait in line. I walked past hundreds of people and went right to a poll worker to submit my sealed envelope. IT TOOK 3 MINUTES to walk past all of the voters in line. My mother stood in the same line and it took 3 hours. 3 MINUTES vs 3 HOURS it was worth it either way! ABSENTEE BALLOT IS THE WAY TO GO!
November 4th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I was in line at 6:15 and out of my polling place by 7:00. There were about 40 people in line ahead of me, and about 75 still in line when I left.
Get out there and exercise your right to vote!
November 4th, 2008 at 9:38 am
The lines were not very long at 9am, but it took some people over 25 minutes to cast the electronic ballot. I resent the fact that a mentally impaired person can vote with someone looking over his shoulder telling him how to mark the ballot.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I voted at 8am at North Springfield Presby Church. No line, staff was great. Was in my car at 8:11. Can't complain at all:)
November 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am
It took a little over an hour to vote this morning in Westerville. The volunteers were really pushing the paper provisional ballots, but most people waited to vote electronically anyway.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Voted this morning at Tallmadge Library. Arrived at 7:10a and was out by 7:50. I was #61 for my precinct. There were 2 precincts voting and there was some confusion over the line (everyone was in the same line). Once that was cleared up it took no time at all to vote. I'm glad I waited until today to vote instead of waiting in a 3 hour vote early line.
November 4th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Live in Chardon, voted at the Munson YMCA @ 7:15. Busy, but no lines. VERY efficient, friendly polling folks.
Took us a total of 15 minutes from start to finish.
November 4th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Voted today a little bit before 8 this morning at Jennings Middle School in North Hill. Took 15 minutes. Everyone there was very helpful and I felt my whole voting experience went smoothly. I was a little taken away by two women who were standing right by the entrance of the parking lot. One woman was holding an Obama/Piden Sign and the other was holding a Vote "yes" for issue 8 sign. I didn't think they were allowed to stand so close to a voting area. Does anyone know what the appropriate distance is? These woman did not approach me in the parking lot I just thought it was odd they were standing so close.
November 4th, 2008 at 11:46 am
We voted this morning at the church on Chestnut Blvd. in Cuyahoga Falls. It was long lines and it seemed the seniors were getting confused. There were 3 differant sections for our ward. They need to break this up and move some of this voting to the Quirk Culture Center on Grant Ave. We arrived at 6:35 and got out at 7:30. The one man who was working the table got the ballot numbers mixed up, so there was a bottle neck in section 2C. I was getting very frustrated with this whole process and the line wasn't moving fast at all. It makes you want to turn around and not vote. Falls needs to do a better job of dividing the voting into several sections. There is not enough workers to make the voting run smooth.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I voted at a retirement home in Kent at 6:45 this morning. There was a small line, but things went generally smooth. The touch screen systems worked well and the workers seemed well trained and comfortable with the process.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Went to Grant St. Teamsters around 715. There were 15-20 people ahead of me in line. There are 3 precincts that vote there, and the line I was in was the only precinct that had a line. This was because the person that was checking ID's was the slowest, most forgetful person I've met. She couldn't navigate through the alphabet in her book, and it took at least 5 minutes per person just because she couldn't find names quickly. Maybe she should be handing out ballots instead of doing the one job that requires comprehensive thinking. Took me an hour because of her.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Very disappointed, was forced to cast a provisional ballot (with no real reason given). Waited for an hour. Had an audience as I colored in the bubbles on the ballot, which was disconcerning…
November 4th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Voted at Goodrich Middle School about 12 noon. No lines and no waiting! Very easy and simple.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I voted at Schrop Intermediate School in Springfield Township this morning. I arrived at 6:55 AM and left at 8:10 AM. It took over an hour, however everything was orderly and everyone waiting seemed to be patient. In all my years of voting (29 years)…I have never seen the large amount of voters that I saw this morning voting at Schrop School.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
voted this morning at 10 am at st andrews chusrh norton. only three people in line. took less than 20 minutes to vote. the only disturbing fact is that in 2008 we are still coloring circles like a second grade achievement test. in the days of incredibly fast main frame computers and all the existing touch screen technology why are we still stuck in the 1970's with voting technology
November 4th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I went at 8:00 a.m. on Hudson Drive in Cuyahoga Falls and there was no line. It took me about ten minutes to get in and out. The poll workers were very friendly.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I went last week and was pleased with all choices for President. No red or blue for me. What color is the Libertarian Party? McCain and Obama had showed they are the same when they embraced socialism to bail out the Wall Street crooks. Mc-Bama showed that the Commie GOOPers are RED, and the Socialist DEMs are blue, and the Greens are green. But what color is the LIBERTARIAN PARTY? White?
Save us, BOB BARR, save us!
November 4th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I'am registerd to vote in the city of Norton at a church , we went there about 7:15 and did not have to waite at all i walked torwards a lady and she asked me do you know what section you are in ? and i said i believe that one right there and i pointed to the table and she said go ahead , and there were 3 nice elderly lady's sitting there ,and one asked my name the other my ID,and the other gave me my ballod and I signed to vote and it might have taken us a whole twenty minutes to get in and get out ,we have been voting in that area and we really like it there !
November 4th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Bless their hearts, but there should be a cut-off age for poll workers. I know the elderly community wants to help/assist however, they unfortunately slow down the poll lines, etc. I just moved to the other side of town and boy, what a change. Also, it didn't help that there are only four voting cubicles. Yicks…I haven't ever missed voting in the 17 years, but at this rate, I think I had better consider early voting.
November 4th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
The staff at the 7L precinct in Akron was wonderful. I saw them correct issues with a voter who circled the wrong bubble and wanted to change her vote, someone who had moved and needed to file a provisional ballot, and they even let one person know that their loved one could vote while a patient in the hospital because there were people there with blank ballots. Some of my neighbors were grumpy because they had to wait but I would rather know the the staff is taking care that every vote is submitted and able to be counted. I arrived at 7am and it took an hour to vote. There was a Voter Rights staff member overseeing the voting. It was a very good experience.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
There was a long line out the door and the parking lot was full at my site off SR 619 in Green. However, the line was for other precincts and I got right in to vote with no wait. Also, I walked, so I didn't have to worry about parking. Rock on, America.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I voted in district 1B at around 10am. There was a steady stream of voters but the wait was less than five minutes. The workers were helpful for me.
But there were two voters there who had come to the wrong voting location (because their street was split in half). The first one was only told she could vote provisional and was not told her correct voting location. The second one was given the address of her correct voting location.
I don't understand why the workers cannot just look up voters and addresses on the Secretary of State website and find the correct location for voters who come to the wrong polling place. The website can be used by anyone wanting to check where to vote and can give directions to the polling place also.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I arrived at Seiberling at 6:15AM. There was a long line already. Things went very smoothly, there were plenty of voting cubicles. I was out of there by 7:05AM.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I arrived at Garfield HS at 6:35 am… they were lined up around the building. Fortunately, the line moved fast. Someone was inside checking names and directing people to their correct precinct table. I thought I would be late for work, but I was pulling out of the parking lot by 7:20.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I voted absentee ballot Saturday in Summit County but when I went with my husband today they had no proof or record that I voted on Saturday. Good thing I'm an honest person and didn't try to vote twice. The BOE claims it would have gotten caught and my absentee ballot wouldn't have counted and I would only get credit for one vote. Anyone else skeptical?? Also someone else came in the polling station and said someone signed in their place. Again BOE claims it would get caught because they match ballot number to ballot number and again no cause for concern! ANYONE THINK FRAUD?
November 4th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I had registered to vote through motor voter when I moved to a different county in Ohio. When I went to my polling location (and I was at the right one) they did not have me on the books, nor did the main BOE office. Even though my drivers license had my correct and current address I had to vote with a provisional ballot -I am NOT happy about this. I have to wait 10 days to find out if my vote even got counted! I was told that my registration probably got "lost". My husband voted early b/c he is out of town on business - he had no issues.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
My husband voted today- not a long wait and no line. I had an experience that made me question FRAUD. I voted on Saturday at the BOE and when I went today with my husband they showed no record of me voting. Only when I questioned why it wasn't showing did they research it and say it just wasn't marked that I already voted. I questioned it at the polling station and the BOE and they said it would get crossed referenced and only one of my votes would count. WHY DO I NOT BELIEVE THIS??
Also someone came in to vote only to find out another person had signed in their place. Again the BOE claims this will all get cross referenced and everyones vote will only count once. CAN WE SAY FRAUD?
November 4th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
My husband went to the polls this morning @ 6:30 on the East Side of Barberton & he said that parking was 2 blocks away & the line was down the block! I went right after work & waited for maybe 5 minutes. No problems @ all!
November 4th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I voted at Fireston Park Comm Center around noon….took me 15 mins tops to vote. No line…no wait. Perfect!!!!
November 4th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I voted today @ the old Gold Circle on Tallmadge Ave and the first thing that irritated me was the HUGE sign on the left side of the building that said VOTE HERE in BIG RED LETTERS. I go over there along with other voters who drove by and looked as confused as I did because the place looked closed. I went over to the other side of the building and there were NO signs saying that was where you were supposed to go. That really irritated me because I almost left because it was so confusing.
Second problem, I give the lady my name and she looks me up and someone had written an A next to my name and she told me that I had voted absentee. I never requested to vote absentee. They also had an A next to my dads name and he voted there YESTERDAY!!! He never requested to vote absentee either. They looked at another list and saw that I HADN'T requested to vote absentee and let me vote. At that point I wished I HAD requested to vote absentee since I was almost not allowed to vote because someone was careless by writing an A next to my name. I'm 29 and have NEVER had a problem with voting before today.
November 4th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Voted this afternoon. Arrived around 4:15pm at the Springfield Township administration building and was out the door about 4:35. It wasn't bad at all. The poll workers were doing a fine job of keeping things flowing smoothly
November 4th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Voted at the Portage Masonic Temple for Cuyahoga Falls 8-B. In and out in less than 5 minutes at around 9:30am. No line, no problem. The only line I saw in the whole place was the line to scan your ballot, and it was maybe 10 people deep. The three people at my table were very friendly and helpful.
The only thing I can see that would make this easier is if the PMT would pave the rest of their parking lot. No lines in a grassy area makes for people parking like idiots.
November 4th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Got to my polling place in Barberton about 4:50 pm was out by 5:30 pm. There were about 10 people in line ahead of me. There was some hold up because a gentleman ahead of me didn't have the same address on his drivers license as where he lived. That took 10 mins and a phone call by one of the workers to get an answer. All-in-all not as bad a wait as I expected.
November 4th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Voted at the Portage Lakes Branch Library. Went in at 9:00, was out by 9:20. Had one person in front of me. Always helps if people know their precincts and are familiar with thie candidates & issues to make the lines go faster!
November 4th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I voted at Goodyear Metro Park around 5:15 pm today. This was the exact time that the power outage hit the area. Not only was the traffic crazy from the lack of stop lights but we had to use flash lights to read the ballots as it started to get dark! It didn't take too long though and the poll workers were very friendly.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Voted at St Joseph's Church in Lake Twp, took about 25 minutes. Everything was quick and orderly!
November 4th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I was harassed by a city employee by the name of d_ick valle at patterson park today. he was RUDE and when i said I was voting no on issue 8, he said "FINE DON'T BELIEVE IN THE CHILDREN THEN".
and now since the results are coming in, it seems like quite a few don't believe in the children, eh?? or maybe they are smarter than king don gave them credit for!!!
YEAH VOTERS!!!
November 4th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
My wait was about 1/2 hour, which was not too bad.
What really bothers me is the election worker who tries to read everyone's ballot before running it through the machine. I had to refuse to hand it over and insist that I feed the machine myself. Isn't this supposed to be a secret ballot? The election worker should be present to help if needed. No more.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I voted about 10 a.m. and felt it went very smoothly..10-15 minutes max. I was curious to see local candidates there while we, the voters, were not allowed to wear any endorsements.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Walked in, no line, 5 minutes later I was completely done.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Voted at King School today and there was only one person in front of me getting his ballot. However, the elderly poll worker handing out the ballots was so very confused–she made 4 mistakes just while I was standing waiting for my ballots. She had torn off a ballot and put them in a folder, but never passed it out. Had to renumber. Then the ballot she provided to the gentleman in front of me, she gave him two back sheets. Another number issue. My first ballot had two front sheets, no back sheet. My FINAL ballot was correct. I KNOW how difficult it is to recruit poll workers and I also know how difficult it is to get them to resign. Maybe some observers at various polling locations would help. My husband was directly behind me, with his cheat sheet in his hand, and I had to wait several minutes for him to finish voting because he had also been held up by her confusion. By the time we had both scanned our ballots, there were over 10 people in line waiting.
November 5th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I went to the church in uniontown (came remember the name)- went directly to the table to find out my precint, they told me 14, which was an hour and a half wait, once I did make it to the table to sign in, they told me I was in the wrong place and had to go across the street, where there was no line whatsover, board of elections gets an "F" for making me wait 2 hours to vote for no reason and telling me twice to go wait in line in the wrong place.
November 5th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Voted in Norton, at the church on Johnson road, around 4:30pm and was in and out in 20minutes. There wasn't any lines at all. The booths were all full but by the time the ladies had figured out where my name was on the list, there were a few booths open. Was a good experience, even the poll workers were ok.
November 5th, 2008 at 9:25 am
i voted in Wadsworth and it only took 10 min to get to vote now thats fast wadsworth had a bunch of diffrant area in town to vote at so it didnt take to long
November 5th, 2008 at 11:56 am
November 5, 2008
I received this e-mail from my daughter Michelle Ricci who lives in Rome, Italy. She has been watching the elections with great interest as she has a Master’s Degree in International Politics from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She presently is employed by an Irish oil and gas drilling company and has watched as the stocks in her company plummeted after the fall of the U.S. Stock Market. She has first hand experience that this is a global economy we live in. She and her father and I have been closely watching the election process these past few years.
Today when I got up this morning and saw the headlines saying that Obama won, I felt so proud of my country. We have chosen an intelligent, brave and hard-working man who has shared the Audacity of Hope with our fellow Americans. Please read below what my daughter wrote:
“I just wanted to say that today is an amazing day! I almost can't believe Obama won the elections! It seems almost too good to be true.
It's funny because here in Italy all the journalists keep saying that nothing is really going to change with him as president, but what they don't understand is that things already have changed.
He is the first black president in the US and in Europe! Not only that, he motivated more people to vote than ever!!!! And he is the first American politician to talk about helping one another and those who have more helping those who have less like a modern day Robin Hood!! Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He has inspired hope in everyone for change and he has inspired hope in me.
So hears to hope and hopefully change!!!!!
Love you all!!!!”
Michelle Ricci [daughter of Debbie Miller and Giulio Ricci]
Rome, Italy
Sincerely,
Debbie Miller
Kent, Ohio 44240
Blog administrator's note: Debbie, I removed your street address. Never know who is out there.
November 5th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Bath Township.
All the people working this location had "slept at the Holiday Inn last night". They were organized and quick. Lines wre orderly and although I started off in a line outside at about 6:45. The line moved very quickly and I was back home by 7:30. I was so excited about voting I forgot it was my birthday. What a great day.
November 5th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Akron - Ward 3E
I went to vote at 6:45 a.m. and did not vote until 8:00 a.m. There were not yet 70 people who had voted. There were ten voting booths that were empty for more than fifteen minutes - when I could see that they were empty.
This is the second time I have voted here and it surely would be nice if the three poll workers were replaced or retrained.
Assuming this stoppage was a provisional issue, is it necessary for everything to stop?
Even worse, shortly after I got in line, three young women came in after me. Quote: "This line is too long I don't want to stand in line this long." The one girl with honor: "This is not school where you can cut in line in front of others."
Then, two of them walked ahead and did not come back. The girl with honor looked at me and shook her head. After five minutes I walked up to the line-jumpers and said, "Look, nobody wants to stand in line but we are and so should you. Either you come back to your original place or I will report you."
The people they knew defended them saying they did not cut in line, I said, fine, I get it, and went back to my place. After a few minutes the two of them came back.
A half-hour later as we get inside the poll area there is the same girl in a wheelchair voting at a computer. One of her friends said, "What is she doing in a wheelchair?"
I turned around and said, "She got over on all of us. She has my sincere sympathy as honor is a stranger to her."
The poll workers should have given her the wheelchair and let her wait in line. If anyone knows anyone at the Board of Elections it would be nice to know that in the future they will put up memos advising voters that let line-jumping will not be permitted.
November 6th, 2008 at 4:53 am
All I can say is WOW to the previous post. Barbara, you are magnificent and those line cutters should be ashamed. A wheelchair?!?! Not only was that an insult to those she cut in front of but also people who actually have no choice but to be in a wheelchair because they are physically disabled. What if someone came in the building who NEEDED that wheelchair but it wasn't available because "Miss I'm too good to wait in lines so I'll fake being handicapped and use this wheelchair to cut to the front of the line" was using it. Shame on her! Kudos to you Barbara for standing up to her.