Experience voting early in NC

[tpsbmam]

I went to the same early voting spot I've gone to in the last 2 elections/primaries. Typically when i've gone there, I'm the only one in there along with the poll workers. The poll workers have been uniformly senior citizens once again stepping up to the plate to do their civic duties. And when I put my ballot in the scanner it's always shown that there were something like 38 people ahead of me that day (usually about 11 a.m.)

So my neighbor and I went this year. The parking lot was full and the place was packed! There's a short line.....wow! The second thing that struck me was how young some of the poll workers were. The two women checking people in looked about college age....there were a couple of other younguns' working that day, too. How incredibly cool!! And the very capable seniors were present as always.

The NC ballot may be the butterfly ballot this year -- it's fucked up. Here was the good part -- our poll workers were VERY well trained and took the time to clearly and carefully explain the pitfalls of the ballot and to make sure that people knew how to fill the ballot out.

This was noon in a small community just outside Asheville. Population of the community: about 2800. People can vote at any of the Buncombe County early voting sites and clearly there were more than Fairview residents there. When I scanned my ballot, there had been over 1300 people before me that morning!

[Sebass1271]

1. North Carolina has two voting bollots.. is that correct?

i hear if you vote extraight party ticket .. you must vote for president separate..
is that correct? Did you do that?

[tpsbmam]

2. One ballot.....

You can vote for the straight ticket but you that doesn't include the presidential vote -- that's what people are complaining about. It has the potential to eliminate thousands of presidential votes if people vote straight ticket and think that includes the president.

I didn't do straight ticket -- I'm pretty compulsive and look at my sample ballot before I go vote. I noticed the problem right away and determined before I went that I was going to vote individually for each person, which is what I did. It will definitely confuse people though. I hope all poll workers are as well trained and clear as the guy doing at the place I voted -- he explained it very clearly.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

3. I voted in Raleigh last week and the poll workers seemed very well "trained"...

and organized. The ballot was explained to everyone as they were handed out. And yes, you must vote for President separately -- it doesn't automatically fall under straight ticket.

[ObamanationYes1]

5. One Ballot, but Presidential Race is separate from voting straight ticket

This policy is in place to protect Democratics in NC

[Lancer]

4. There are actually 3 different types of ballots and machines in NC

There is the "Model 100" -- paper ballot with circles you fill in with a pen, (used where I vote in Chapel Hill), and two types of touch screen machines (iVotronic and AutoMARK). The NC State Board of Elections sends a very useful Voter Guide out in the mail in early October. It explains how the different machines work and which counties use which. Some counties use more than one kind.

Early voting has been massive in NC. 1.2 million people voted in the first 10 days of early voting (which ended Sunday). This is huge. Early voting here continues until Saturday the 1st. Some polling places have extended their hours and some have had extra machines brought in. I have not heard of any irregularities yet.Doesn't mean there haven't been some.

I took my father to vote in Greensboro today. He is getting along in years and can't stand for long periods. The first two places we went there were lines around the block and down the street. The third place we went, a rec center out in the county, appeared to have no line. There wasn't one outside, but the one in the gym went around and around. I counted 175 people ahead of us. This was at 1:00 p.m. Several hundred had already voted since that polling place opened at 10 a.m. (I believe the county has 14 early voting centers set up.)

Because it was raining, they set up "curbside voting" inside in another part of the building. That's where I took Dad, and we would have been in and out in 5 minutes except that we talked forever to a really nice elderly couple who were voting in this room because she had just had both knees replaced.

You meet the nicest people when you vote. A huge turnout is always very encouraging, this year even more so. :)

Now I'm going to see Barack a second time on Wednesday in Raleigh!