Bill Leslie

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Election reflections

Posted: Nov 4, 2008

Have you voted yet? If so, did you vote early or did you brave the the dreary conditions today? How long are the lines today? How long did you have to wait to cast your ballot? Please discuss. I would love to get a lot of fresh information throughout the day.

I plan to vote this afternoon at a neighborhood school in Cary after work. That should be about 1:30 p.m. I've never had to wait more than 10 or 15 minutes in the past. That may change today. I am not really sure, but I am encouraged by the unprecedented turnout of early voters.

I would also like to hear about your favorite election of all time. I can’t help but think of the Kennedy-Nixon battle in 1960 when I was barely 10 years old. A neighborhood friend had a stake in the race. His dad was a Kennedy delegate to the Democratic Convention in California. It was a close and exciting race, and I remember debating the issues with my young classmates in elementary school. We all learned a lot about democracy that year. My parents let me stay up late election night to follow the returns with Walter Cronkite on CBS. That was a lot of fun. I think that was my first taste of the journalistic bug. I've still got it today.

Chime in with your own election reflections.

Copyright 2008 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Fixing to go vote soon ... my most memorable election was the first time I moved away from the big city to an extremely rural area (Mount Vernon TX, boyhood home of Dandy Don Meredith). I was used to those big clunky voting booths where you turned a handle to close the curtain and flipped switches to cast your votes (I miss those -- always seemed they could have kept them and just added electronic tabulation).

Anyway, at my polling place in Mount Vernon, you had to mark paper ballots sitting around a coffee table. Not much privacy. It was quite a change.

thefensk
GOLO member since July 11, 2007
November 4, 2008 10:55 a.m.

I voted Thurs. Oct. 30th at the Ag center in Nash Co. Very long lines. Waited about an hour. I've been voting in Presidential elections since 1972 and this is the first time I've ever had to wait in line. My all time fav. election was the 1980 election.My political hero,Ronald Reagan,trailed Jimmy Carter in the polls all the way up to the election.My wife and I watched the returns at some friends house as joyfully we watched Reagan beat Carter in a landslide. And I have to agree with Legswilson that if you don't bother to vote,you have no right to complain about the election or the way the country is ran.

mammothman53
GOLO member since December 19, 2007
November 4, 2008 11:29 a.m.

I voted around 9am at a school in Cary. It was raining but there was no waiting. I took my kids with me and the poll workers were really nice explaining to them what they did with all the papers. They even had the cafeteria tables set up so that you could sit down to vote instead of using the standing booths which were also available. We were in and out very quickly. I hope everything goes as well for everyone else.

carolina buckeye
November 4, 2008 11:32 a.m.

My hubby & I voted early on Oct. 21 in Clayton. Arrived to get in line about 1:30 PM, after spending the morning at the State Fair. We were there ONE HOUR, to include standing in line waiting, & voting. That's the longest I've ever waited, but I knew we had to stay & make the most of it because my hubby never knows when he will get off work each day & I wanted him to get the dirty deed done!!

The only other elections I can really remember were those when I was a teenager, even though I vote in every election. My parents were friends with our town's mayor & I had permission to be available as a babysitter for anyone who called in & needed a sitter so they could participate in voting. I did this with the mayor's daughter. I don't remember having to babysit much, but she & I had a grand old time just waiting for the phone to ring!! You have to realize that since this was back in the late 50s, fraud & deception in the voting booth was not the problem we see today.

Animal Lover
November 4, 2008 11:43 a.m.

Just wanted to add that I'm SSSSOOOOOooooo glad 11/4 is FINALLY here. I'm so tired of all the hoopla, media focus, media frenzy, mail flyers, nasty ads, anger on GOLO, phone calls, etc., etc. Now, let's get on with doing something about this country's problems - no matter who is the winner, national or local!!!!!!

Animal Lover
November 4, 2008 11:46 a.m.

My husband and I voted at a school in Clayton about 11:00 this morning. All the voting booths were full when we arrived, but by the time we were processed, there were available booths for both of us. My ballot was #462 according to the machine which is a lower number than I would have anticipated. No doubt it would have been a higher number had it not been for early voting.

wdwbmw
November 4, 2008 12:09 p.m.

I voted this morning. There were probably 20-25 people in line in front of me outside of the door, but the election officials ran so smoothly that I was in and out in 20 minutes.

Do you remember the 1976 election, when Jimmy Carter raised quite a few eyebrows by giving an interview in Playboy? Not that I read it, of course! ;-)

Celt
GOLO member since September 19, 2007
November 4, 2008 12:13 p.m.

From James B. in Raleigh. My Wife Sharon and I live in East Raleigh, in the Rolling Woods area of Longview. Our polling place is Powell Elementary School. The school is directly behind our home, but we must hike up Remington Road, which is like climbing a small mountain. Since the rain was more than a drizzle, we called a taxi and headed up to vote at 6:35am. Sharon finished her ballot within five minutes. But I use the automark talking voting machine and it is great fun to operate. I probably spent more than 20 minutes checking and rechecking my ballot and making sure than everyone on my list was noted on that ballot. We were numbers 202 and 203 at 7:28am. As a person of color, this election is very unique for me and my Family. But any member of our Family will point out the fact, that we are not Obama supporters because he is of color. We support him because it is felt that fresh ideas and a new way, may bring the country out of this economic crisis sooner. I listened

bleslie
GOLO member since July 10, 2007
November 4, 2008 12:21 p.m.

My husband and I voted Saturday two weeks ago, at a new library in eastern Durham county. There was only 1 person in line in front of us, perhaps 10 people voting at the booths, and we enjoyed checking out the new public library after voting. It was a breeze, I only wish the robocalls had stopped that day too!

freedomsforall
November 4, 2008 1:06 p.m.

I voted at Optimist Park this morning at about 7:30, and I was number 200. The line wasn't long, but traffic was steady. I wonder if the reports of how many had already voted early included those who registered and voted the same day (one-stop voting)in the percentage of registered voters? It will be an interesting evening watching the returns, for sure.

gingerrush
November 4, 2008 1:08 p.m.

I want to thank all of you who stood in line for hours to early vote. I got there about 11:40, I was third in line for verification, no wait for a booth. I breezed in and out pretty easily and got to show my grandson the process. Not sure he will remember it but you know, when I was his age I remember going with my dad to vote in the 1956 election.

thefensk
GOLO member since July 11, 2007
November 4, 2008 1:16 p.m.

I was just wandering how all the votes are calculated? Is it sent to a database from the prevenct?

bluebr13
November 4, 2008 1:35 p.m.

Just got back from voting at Oak Grove Elementary in Cary. No wait at all. However, I was told the first three hours of voting today at this precinct were very heavy. The key is to vote after the lunch crowd.

bleslie
GOLO member since July 10, 2007
November 4, 2008 2:20 p.m.

I voted early on Friday 10/17 about 5pm at Cary Town Center Mall and it took me about 15 minutes to get into the room you vote... then another 15 minutes or so to actually vote.

I remember in the 1970s going to vote with my parents in NY State where they went into an actual booth one at a time, drew a curain, and flicked mechanical levers to cast their vote.

tvhartrick
GOLO member since February 11, 2008
November 4, 2008 2:27 p.m.

I voted at South Hills Baptist on Jones Franklin Road at about 8 this morning. There was no line and I walked right up to the table to sign in. The ballot's a long one so it took some time to fill out, but everything went smoothly.

I have the same 1970's New York State memory as the previous poster...going into the curtained booth with my mother as she pulled the magical levers.

jfaircloth
November 4, 2008 4:07 p.m.

I had the pleasure of voting with my college age daughter when she was home from UNC on fall break..we went out to lunch and then to Cary Towne Center on October 16th. We waited about 45 minutes, but we chatted much of the time so it didn't seem so bad. She was very very excited to be voting for the first time in a Presidential election...and since she was born on election day 20 years ago, it was a poignant experience voting together!

schpenguin
November 4, 2008 4:25 p.m.

Socialism, "spreading the wealth" as Obama says, is not a "fresh, idea or a new way." This nation was founded on the principles of individual freedom and rugged individualism. That spirit lives today in those of us who strive to do the best we can for our families. The people who think more government is the solution to their woes may well outnumber those of us who rely on self.

drnc
GOLO member since December 14, 2007
November 4, 2008 5:33 p.m.

I voted on Saturday at Lake Lynn..the weather was beautiful, bright sunshine, not too chilly..and that was a good thing because it took me almost 2 hours! But, no worries, I met some nice folks and got to shake some politicians' hands. My only regret is that I bought the medium Diet Coke at McD's instead of the large before standing in that LONG line.

mom24
November 4, 2008 6:38 p.m.

I took my 4-year-old to the polls & she cast her ballot for the first time through Kids Voting. She was so proud & thrilled, so this will definitely be a memorable election for us. I suppose my most memorable election before this was the Bush-Gore shoot out 8 years ago. I got tired & went to bed, left my husband up watching returns about midnight. I went to bed thinking one had one, my husband woke me at 3am to tell me another had one, and got up the next morning to hear nobody really knew. Crazy!

ladybugs-mom
GOLO member since October 18, 2007
November 5, 2008 11:48 a.m.

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