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Dunh dunh DUNH - Election Day is finally here. Expectations are that many people will head to the polls. New York City prepared for the possible surge by buying 400 used polling machine from Georgia ($731,000), for a total of 7,964 machines across the five boroughs. Some think that since New York is a blue state, the turnout won't be that high, Gothamist believes that many people are excited just to add their voice to the popular vote. And the NY Times reports people trying to through to the Board of Election website or phone line were faced with unresponsive websites or busy signals. Plus, there are many other local races to weigh in on. In Newsday's endorsement, they sum up most people's feelings about our local offices: "Because Albany is so dysfunctional, we have raised the bar for endorsing incumbents. But when challengers were inadequate, we made no endorsement."
Again, check out campaign coverage from the NY Times, Daily News, and CNN. Here's the NY Times' endorsement information for the Presidential, Senate, Congressional, and local races. The Post opinion pieces sway to President Bush (we couldn't find local endorsements). You can check NYC's Voter Assistance Commission or call 866-868-3692 for your polling site if you still don't know.
Let us know about your voting experience. And if you have pictures, trackback to this post.
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Greetings from Darjeeling!
(O.T.) I just saw the red panda at the zoo. The Indian food here is really better than anywhere in Little India. We visited a Tibetan refugee center; there's a hunger strike because China killed a Tibetan monk. I don't understand why no one can join me here.
I did not vote by absentee ballot. New York City and most of New York State has no truly contested elections. NYS has the worst government, and yet we have no contested elections! If I had filed an absentee ballot in my district, it would not have been opened. It would have been nice to have made a difference.
Anyway, happy V-Day!
(V=Vote. I hope you all knew that.)
in greenpoint's peter mcguiness senior center, i had an 8 minute wait. it was my first time voting in greenpoint and it was an interesting crowd. while i was there, it seemed like mostly young people.
in park slope, a couple of the voting machines were completely kaput down at the school. there were long lines of people (even @ 6.45am) getting their votes in pre-work, and the wait was 10-15 mins. because of broken machines, things took a lot longer as they had everyone fill out paper ballots instead. an interesting morning to kick off an interesting day/week/month.
james, were you at john jay? things seemed to be working okay when i was there. that sucks. 10 to 15 mins isn't a bad wait at all, though. think about what it will be like tonight.
Just had a funny experience trying to campaign this morning. A NYC-based Kerry group had put the word out to convene at the Today Show this morning and when my boyfriend and I did, we were told no political signs were permitted this morning. How sad! They did tell us, however, to try Fox News building which is just around the corner.
On the approach, we were headed off by a short woman with a bleached blond mane who told us "No Kerry signs allowed" and then preceded to give us the stink eye as we slinked off towards where I thought ABC was. No luck.
When we went back, sans signs, to Fox, the same woman and a friend were leaning into the window, propping up a George W. life size stand up and arguing with Kerry supporters. Apparently security had told them to go away but they had interpreted that as being "Go away unless your Republicans and spread the word that no Kerry supporters are allowed." I'm feeling very neutered. Anyone have the same experience?
In Washington Heights (at 181st. St), around 7:00 am there was a steady stream of people heading in and out of the voting area on Bennett. We had about eight voting booths and I was third in line at my booth. The crowd was a good mix, no particular age group more represented than any other.
On the way onto the subway@18st a Hispanic woman was passing out glossy colored John Kerry leaflets. At Times Square a bunch of "Vote or Die" goons were making a ruckus outside whatever show they tape around 44th & 7th.
All's quiet in Harlem. There were more poll workers (4) than voters at a little after 9:00 this morning.
on the south side of bedford in w'burg this morning, at 6:15 a.m., there was hardly wait at all, but nobody running the voting booths spoke English, so things still moved quite slowly.
I went to my polling place in Flatbush at about 8:15am, and there was about a 10 minute wait. Out of the few people in line, pretty much everyone was a new voter. Rather inspiring. (even though the turnout wasn't that great at that point.)
Well, In Elmhurst the polling place At the VFW on 85th and 60th place had less than 5 minute wait.
At Baruch College, On 24th Street off Lexinton, the line to vote wraps around the corner.
Good to see so many people voting.
Red Hook at Sullivan street at 7ish.
Very short wait.
Everything was in working order and the poll workers actually knew what they were doing as opposed to last time.
Of course, I am always a little worried that I voted for the wrong guy because that interface just sucks.
HELP--can't find anything telling me what time the polls close - both website and phone number are out of service (?!?!). Can anyone send me a link or url--my bosses are giving me grief about leaving early.
The polls close at 9 in NYC.
The polls :
Vote Tuesday, November 2
Voters in New York City go to the polls between 6 AM and 9 PM. Polling sites are located throughout the city, but you must use your designated poll site.
There was NOBODY waiting to vote in Bushwick when I went this morning. I was disappointed to see such a low turnout, to say the least. The volunteers there were wonderful, though - very friendly and helpful.
I had about an hour wait at 88th and 1st in Manhattan. They had five or six precincts in one room and mine was operating a little differently from the others. I had to wait in line to sign in, then wait in a different line to vote. Other precincts in the same room only had one line to sign in and then vote. Despite the small, crowded room, the people I waited with were polite and patient. And on the way out, I saw Samantha Bee from The Daily Show with a camera crew. She smiled at me when I recognized her so I got my celebrity sighting for the day along with my civic duty.
I had about a two hour wait in Greenwich Village, with lines snaking around around the corner in either direction.
I voted at about 9 in Boro Park (16th Ave and 65th St). I didn't have to wait, but there was a steady flow of people in and out. From talking to co-workers, it sounds like my polling place was one of the better organized -- people at the door asking what district you were in then pointing you towards the right room, only two district's booths in a room so it didn't get too crowded, etc. My co-workers live in Williamsburg and reported a 45 minute and 1 hour wait, respectively.
voted at 6:30 a.m. in Cobble Hill -- about eight districts in one gym and six of them had people waiting, maybe no more than five people but people were still waiting.
In the East Village this morning, booths for the 48th, 49th, and 50th precincts sported very long lines. I waited for more than an hour, but everyone was remarkably patient. It was a little distressing that about a quarter of those in line seemed to be having some kind of problem, and many paper ballots were being filled out.
Voted at 6:45 at 83rd and 1st (in a random building lobby) and the whole operation was an embarassment. The poll workers did not finish setting up until 6:15 and then not all the machines were turned on. There was a line snaking around the street. I hope the line was because of the turnout and not because of the confusion of the poll workers.
Went @ 1:30pm in South Slope. Very short wait and smooth. There was even a cute young girl helping with the registration. Seeing everyone voting was very inspiring.
I just hope there won't be any recount problems. This country should have the most foolproof election system by now, come on. And how about a standardized system at that?
Voted at the Brooklyn Museum at around 6 this morning. At that time, my district had only one booth of 2 working, and only one book of registered voters. The cute little old lady writing out all of the cards was writing a little slowly, so the line got long. When I left at 6:30 there was lines for all three districts voting there.
Voted at the Brooklyn Museum at around 6 this morning. At that time, my district had one of two booths working, and only one book of registered voters. The cute little old lady writing out all of the cards was writing a little slowly, so the line got long. When I left at 6:30 there were lines for all three districts voting there.
Voted in Philly this morning, in the neighborhood where I grew up--sort of Philly's version of Park Slope, but with more black people. By 8:30 this morning (polls opened at 7), my district was already up to half the number of voters they'd had total in 2000; walking around the mostly black, lower-middle class neighborhoods around here, it seems like everyone's having record turnouts--very inspiring. I just hope it holds...
Park Slopers--the voting stop on 6th Ave and 8th Street. Is the wait long there? I am voting post work and trying to make my birthday dinner not too late.
Voted early this morning at Jennings Hall in Williamsburg before work. There were a couple of people ahead of me in line when I arrived and 5 or 6 people behind me when I left the booth, which is quite a turnout judging by the number of people I've seen there in the past.
Keeping fingers crossed.
The machine for my district (midtown) was broken and they only have 10 repair men in the city - or that's what someone said.
So I filled out a ballot by hand. The ballot box -- which was just a cardboard box with a whole cut through the top -- was not being monitored 100% of the time. I think we had more security around the ballots in high school for when we elected the homecoming queen.
As I sat to fill out my ballot, a mother with her son sat down to do the same. As she started coloring in the circles on the ballot, her little boy said "mommy, can I color too?"
Voted in Hell's Kitchen this morning, around 9:45. For something like the third year in a row, I was turned away from one polling place by the people that have the address list, and sent to another polling place-- that was WRONG. I was supposed to be at the first polling place I went to. I had double checked on-line, I had gotten that yellow flyer in the mail, I just hadn't brought it with me at first. Infuriating. I mean, I care and will go traipsing all around the neighborhood for kicks because I work freelance, but who the hell else will? Not sure us Hell's Kitchenites are being heard...
Voted in Hell's Kitchen this morning, around 9:45. For something like the third year in a row, I was turned away from one polling place by the people that have the address list, and sent to another polling place-- that was WRONG. I was supposed to be at the first polling place I went to. I had double checked on-line, I had gotten that yellow flyer in the mail, I just hadn't brought it with me at first. Infuriating. I mean, I care and will go traipsing all around the neighborhood for kicks because I work freelance, but who the hell else will? Not sure us Hell's Kitchenites are being heard...
Voted around 8:30 in Carroll Gardens, in a small gym filled with snaking lines. The whole experience took about an hour & fifteen, but my district's line was particularly long. Upon entering the gym, a poll worker verified my district and then directed me to "one of the lines under the basketball hoop -- I have no idea which" to sign in. I headed towards one of the 8 basketball hoops, looking for district signs on the tables heading the lines, but all tables bore identical signs stating "TAKE ONE." Take one what? Finally found my line and then was instructed by the person in front of me that I had to sign in at the table and receive a little card before I got on line. It seems the whole mess could have been less confusing with more effective signage (I don't really see the need for signs beside every voting machine that read "VOTE HERE" with big arrows pointing to the machine.)
After waiting for 1 hour at my voting location, as determined by calling the Board of Elections, I was turned away. I was told I was at the wrong location. I then proceeded to the location I was referred to (with an "official" white form), and waited over 2 hours there. At the front of the the line, I was promptly told I was not registered, and was offered a provisional ballot. It was quite a sad site. 1 voting machine for my entire district (in Manhattan), and I overheard the election workers discussing putting another machine into service that was partially malfunctional.
Hmm... and we preach democracy to the rest of the world? Scary.
Voted on Upper East side this morning. Arrived a polling location just after 6:00am and the line of voters went all the way around the block. Waited for over an hour to vote. Overall it was a good experience. I met many neighbors and the election workers were on top of things.