Comments on: Tell your voting story

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:53:19 +0000

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.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:21:16 +0000

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.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:31:17 +0000

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.

By: Debbie Miller

Debbie Miller — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:56:50 +0000

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.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:25:58 +0000

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

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:25:25 +0000

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.

By: rich

rich — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:05:22 +0000

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.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:20:30 +0000

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.

By: Marc Dusini

Marc Dusini — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:17:41 +0000

Walked in, no line, 5 minutes later I was completely done.

By: Rosemary Dremak

Rosemary Dremak — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:47:41 +0000

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.