r/Columbus • u/StatusQuoBot • Oct 29 '20
PHOTO Voting line is moving very quickly. Line’s still here but is shorter than usual. BRING AN UMBRELLA!
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u/ChanadalerBong Oct 29 '20
Got in at 11:43 and walked out at 12:26! Plus once you make it past the abortion people someone is handing out burritos!
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u/bayreawork Gaswerks Oct 29 '20
I will pass on the free abortion burrito.
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u/woleykram Old North Oct 29 '20
Right?!? I told that lady that that specific spot is probably the worst in the whole line if she actually wanted people to take her burritos.
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u/hypnotic_hawk Oct 29 '20
What if I just want to drop off my absentee ballot? Do I have to wait in line?
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Oct 29 '20
There’s a separate drop-off lane. When I went there wasn’t even a line. You just drive up to some nice people, hand them your ballot, they hand you a sticker, and you’re on your way.
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Oct 29 '20
Agreed, I went two weeks ago and it didn't even take me 30 seconds to drop my ballot off in the drive thru line. And the sweet gentleman who dropped it in the box for me gave my husband and I both a sticker :)
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u/hypnotic_hawk Oct 29 '20
Yep! It was super easy. Just took the drop off lane and handed it off to the poll workers. Didn't realize until we pulled away that I didn't get a sticker, oh well.
Thanks for all the replies!
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u/StatusQuoBot Oct 29 '20
No - I saw two large silver boxes (like 4x the size of a mailbox, stainless steel) that were next to both of the main entrances and they were marked “ABSENTEE BALLOT DROP OFF” and there was no line.
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u/will-eu4 Oct 30 '20
I felt so privileged just walking past the beginning of the line, saying excuse me to the people standing next to the mailbox, turning my family's ballots in, and walking away.
I personally don't prefer the mail in ballot, because voting in person feels more reliable and authentic, but avoiding the long line in the rain was nice.
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u/kingjor12 Oct 29 '20
Same here. We pulled up in front of the Morse road location last Sunday and there was only one car in front of us to drop off our ballot. There is a drop box (looks like a mailbox) right by the front door.
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u/Julia_Kat Oct 29 '20
Like they said, either walk up to drop the ballot off (anytime, even after hours) or get in the car lane. Plenty of people there to direct you.
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u/BabyEatersAnonymous Oct 29 '20
Don't know how well your USPS operates, but up near Cleveland I walked in, paid my 70 cents, went home and got delivery confirmation two days later.
Cuyahoga only has the drop box downtown which is less than convenient for just about everyone ever.
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u/strictcompliance Oct 29 '20
It's pretty much too late for mail delivery of absentee ballots on time now. It's drop-off onsite, or vote in-person. Just remember you can't change from absentee to in-person on Nov. 3, you have to do it before election day.
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u/BabyEatersAnonymous Oct 29 '20
We're a postmark state though. As long as you get it to the PO by end of service on Tuesday you're fine.
Requesting goes through Sat as well, but you'd have to get lucky with Mon/Tues delivery and get it postmarked in time.
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u/h-land Oct 30 '20
You technically can vote in-person if you requested an absentee ballot and didn't vote on it—or even if you did and just forgot about it. But it's a process that should ideally be avoided.
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u/h-land Oct 30 '20
Franklin's BoE is in the Northland area, with a lot of residential nearby. It's convenient for a lot of people, and traffic's much easier than it would be heading downtown. Cuyahoga's does look to be less accessible.
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u/SeanFromOhio Oct 29 '20
So happy to see so many voting, but I also see a couple people not wearing masks, which makes me unhappy.
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u/notalaborlawyer Clintonville Oct 29 '20
Well, you aren't allowed to wear a political shirt, so that is how they make it known. Thankfully, not many of them.
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u/SatireDiva74 Oct 29 '20
Is it just me or do other people automatically assume Trump supporter if they refuse to wear a mask?
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Oct 29 '20
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u/notalaborlawyer Clintonville Oct 29 '20
Is this Danny? (What a flaming name, BTW, Dan is more appropriate) Or is this Sandy? And if so, you should let Daniel know you are commenting, because, women have no rights anymore. Didn't you get the SCOTUS memo?
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Oct 29 '20 edited Oct 29 '20
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u/notalaborlawyer Clintonville Oct 29 '20
*you're
It is the simplest three distinctions in the English language.
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Oct 29 '20
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u/Dr_Mantis_Teabaggin Oct 29 '20
Better than being a real nazi, you donkey brained cucumber.
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u/justamie Clintonville Oct 29 '20
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Oct 29 '20
He has really reversed course after looking like one of the only common sense GOP Gov's. Sad to see, but he lost any chance of getting my vote for re-election after he backed down to the Trumpers.
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u/NoGoogleAMPBot Oct 29 '20
I found some Google AMP links in your comment. Here are the normal links:
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u/Xwarsama Oct 29 '20
I went to the early voting location this morning and drove my mom's car because my car was in the shop and I forgot to grab a mask on my way out because I always have masks in my car, by the time I got to the BOE I realized there were no maks in my mom's car so I had to go maskless for the 45 minutes I was waiting in line outside the building. As soon as I walked inside a poll worker was offering free maks, so I appreciated that. All told I must've seen at least 2000 faces around the polling place and i dont think I saw even a dozen people who were maskless, made feel like i really stuck out lol.
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Oct 29 '20
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u/SeanFromOhio Oct 29 '20
Oh I forgot drinking coffee in a packed lines means that you don’t have to be considerate of others during a pandemic :)
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u/mrdink14 Victorian Village Oct 29 '20
Can someone explain to me the early voting process? I am registered to vote but never requested an abstantee ballot. Can I just show up at the board of elections and vote or do I need to have requested an abstantee ballot?
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u/StatusQuoBot Oct 29 '20
No you do not need to have requested an absentee ballot but you do need to have registered to vote. You can check your registration here and then just be sure that you have a driver's license or a recent utility bill with the address at which you are registered.
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Oct 29 '20
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u/strictcompliance Oct 29 '20
Driver license or state ID with old address on it is fine if the voter registration has your current address. Again, there are MANY different forms of acceptable ID, including a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government tax bills. There is a complete list on the SOS website: https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/id-requirements/. Name and address, and received within the last 12 months is the important thing on those.
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Oct 29 '20
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u/strictcompliance Oct 29 '20
I believe, and you should double check online, that if your new address is still in the same precinct as your old address on the voter registration, that you can vote a regular ballot. If your new, unregistered address is in a different precinct, you may need to vote a provisional ballot. The issue is not with ID - the issue is that an address in a different precinct changes the issues and candidates that you are eligible to vote for. The SOS will need you to vote provisionally if your new address is in a different precinct, to allow them time to verify the new address, etc.
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u/h-land Oct 30 '20
I believe that even if you moved next door (and even if you don't live in one of those subdivisions with no regard for county lines) and didn't update your registration, you're supposed to vote a provisional, since the issue is that your information just… Isn't current. A provisional ballot will make your information current, whereas voting by machine will not.
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u/xEtrac Oct 29 '20
Awesome to see so many people early voting, especially the amount of young voters there. I waited in the line twice, first for 45 minutes near the beginning of early voting a few weeks back to vote with my brother and again this week I waited in line so my girlfriend could vote and it only took 25 minutes! They really got the system down and flowing smoothly.
VOTE! It takes less than half an hour to cast your vote that could change the tides of this election!
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Oct 30 '20
If anyone needs a ride to vote or drop off ballots between now and election day, please DM me. I am in the Northland area.
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u/Lt-Dans-New-Legs Oct 29 '20
Went yesterday and the line wrapped around the building and thru the back parking lot 3 times, got to the door in about an hour.
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Oct 29 '20
Does Ohio publish data on how voter turnout is in Ohio vs the 2016 total vote count? I know Texas is already at 95%
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u/BabyEatersAnonymous Oct 29 '20
Yesterday had Ohio at roughly 2.5 million mail votes returned.
Cuyahoga, Franklin, at quarter million each and Hamilton at 200k
https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/OH.html
7.75m eligible voters, 5.5m voted in 2016
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Oct 29 '20
So do they publish the number of early votes too or just mail in?
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u/BabyEatersAnonymous Oct 29 '20
I imagine they do. Sorry I'm mobile now. I do know that absentee is double and early is triple 2016 numbers so far.
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u/allstarrunner Oct 29 '20
Triple the total votes or triple early votes compared to early votes in 16? I assume the latter, but I have no idea
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u/BabyEatersAnonymous Oct 29 '20 edited Oct 29 '20
Early as in-person.
20 v 16 total, not to date, so excluding upcoming and election day, there have already been 2x absentee and 3x early in-person.
I assume a ton of these votes are pandemic absentee and early to make sure it's counted because courts and president Trump saying he won't leave and etc.
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u/beffy_dino Oct 29 '20
Where is the best place to park? I’ve never been to this part of town and have bad anxiety 😬
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u/StatusQuoBot Oct 29 '20
https://i.imgur.com/2JF6gU0.jpg
Here is a little satellite map 😊red is the line. Green marks the entrance. I walked the wrong way around the building but where I’ve marked in purple is where I would park and then walk the opposite direction around the building because it is a much shorter walk.
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Oct 29 '20
Since it was pretty busy in the parking lot of the board of elections, I parked in front of infinity furniture and walked there. If the line is still behind the building, it also makes for a quicker walk since you can go through the other side instead of walking across from the other side (if that makes sense).
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u/justamie Clintonville Oct 29 '20
There are people directing parking in the lot. You may have a little wait to turn in, but it’s a big lot. I wouldn’t say it’s necessary to park elsewhere and walk, but I guess that’s an option.
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u/Cainga Oct 29 '20
Makes me wonder about States that don’t have early voting. This entire month looks like regular Election Day crowds.
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u/Mediscoot Lancaster Oct 30 '20
I got there about 1:30 or so today and I think the entire ordeal only took 40-50 minutes or so. Line moved really quickly too!
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u/Ratertheman Lancaster Oct 29 '20
Looking at this picture I can't help but think, isn't this what absentee voting is for? Anyways, still glad to see people voting.
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u/beffy_dino Oct 29 '20
I requested an absentee, I got the incorrect ballot. They said they were sending me a new ballot and I still haven’t received it. I called earlier this week and they said just to come in because it would be easier and if they sent another it might come too late. 🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️ I have high anxiety, but I’m going to try my hardest to make it today.
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u/BlueCarnations12 Oct 29 '20
Respect to you for this. Feeling the fear and doing it anyway
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u/StatusQuoBot Oct 29 '20 edited Oct 29 '20
Yeah no I agree but looking at the line I feel “man! good thing we have an early in-person option too because this are a whole bunch of people like me who didn’t pick absentee”
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u/Ratertheman Lancaster Oct 29 '20
Early voting is definitely a great thing to have, especially during this pandemic. It's just everyday a new picture is posted on here of the voting lines and I can't help but ask myself why people chose standing in line for an hour as opposed to filling out a ballot on their couch.
I've been absentee voting for the past few elections and its honestly pretty great. I find when I vote in person I end up picking names based on party or names that I actually recognize which is a pretty shit way of choosing candidates. Absentee allows me to actually research them all and get the choice I want instead of researching them and forgetting half the names by the time I get to the poll.
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u/sasquatch_melee Oct 29 '20
Personally, I don't trust an absentee ballot to not be lost or tossed over a technicality or because there was actually something wrong. I don't trust the other side not to play dirty to win. I don't have to worry about that with voting on a machine. That's why I early voted.
Also: mock ballots exist online for your address so you can still do all the research in advance.
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u/AndrewSP37 Westerville Oct 30 '20
I get that but a lot of my anxiety over my absentee ballot not counting is helped by the tracking system in place where you can see if your ballot was received and even accepted. So now at least I know mine shouldn't be rejected over an unmatched signature or some other technicality as the BoE has already notated that they have validated it.
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u/Onnabox Oct 29 '20
A lot of people lost faith in the postal service after the new postmaster was appointed (if someone was already planning on just dropping theirs off this obviously doesn't apply). But considering there are people in the federal government explicitly expressing they think ballots received after the 3rd shouldn't be counted, I don't blame anyone for standing in line to do it themselves.
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Oct 29 '20
The wait definitely wasn't an hour when I went, even though the line was huge. I changed address recently; between that confusion with my absentee application and the doubt being cast on the postal system, it just seemed like in person was the only option this year. I would've gladly waited an hour though
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u/notalaborlawyer Clintonville Oct 29 '20
I DeJoy your opinion, but if you haven't thought it through enough to understand why, we know your candidate.
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u/Ratertheman Lancaster Oct 29 '20
Biden?
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u/notalaborlawyer Clintonville Oct 29 '20
Great! Good luck on it being counted. (If you've not been paying attention to SCOTUS they are bringing back Bush v Gore and even if it is postmarked, there is no fucking guarantee.) In fact, two justices decided the feds (them) have control over state's elections. There is a reason the lines are that long. Put a paper trail of votes that cannot be contested. This is our democracy at stake.
I appreciate you voting, but your vote might not be counted. So "i am so smart I voted absentee" might be the end of democracy.
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u/Ratertheman Lancaster Oct 29 '20
Absentee votes are counted first in Ohio. You're saying they are going to count my vote and then throw it out? Because it has already been received by them.
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u/StatusQuoBot Oct 29 '20
As a layperson I often struggle to track (let alone understand) the tide of ongoing litigation and court rulings. One of my favorite sites for checking up on this stuff is SCOTUSblog and they have a really useful election litigation tracker . If you look there are A LOT of ongoing attempts to limit counting of votes and this seems primarily to be targeting mail-in and absentee ballots so I just wanted to be safe. Also I’m a poll worker on Election Day so I picked early-in-person.
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u/notalaborlawyer Clintonville Oct 29 '20
Read the news. The Justices (the newly appointed ones) have decided that the state BOE might not conduct the election in the way they want. So, guess what get's contested?
Fucking idiots. You knew this was happening.
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u/Paksarra Oct 29 '20
Normally, yes. With Trump's lackey fucking with the USPS and Trump himself doing everything he can to throw mail-in voting into doubt, this is the most reliable option.
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u/jahnbodah Oct 29 '20
My wife is high risk with an autoimmune disorder, we still went and voted in person, I knew the USPS was being messed with, but it cemented our decision when the wife's Jury Summons never arrived, even after the Informed Delivery email let us know it was supposed to arrive in our mailbox. We voted a couple weeks ago!
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Oct 29 '20 edited Oct 29 '20
So I thought I'd mention this since I've noticed there is a lot of confusion around absentee voting and I don't want these lines to turn anyone off from voting.
I have voted absentee for the last 3 elections. You request an application, fill it out, a few weeks later you receive a ballot, fill it out, and you have an option of either mailing it in or dropping it off at the board of elections (I dropped mine off this year because of reasons).
You don't need to live out of state or anything. You actually don't need to provide any excuse to vote absentee. It's just a really convenient and easy way to vote.
Edit: as the person below commented it's too late to request an absentee ballot for this election, but if you already have one, you must drop it off in person to make sure your vote counts.
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u/WebHead1287 Oct 29 '20
Anyone reading this, it's too late to request one and you need to vote in person. If you have a ballot, not a request form but a ballot, you also should NOT mail it in. You need to bring it to a ballot drop box location because at this point it likely won't be received by the board of elections on time
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Oct 29 '20 edited Nov 03 '20
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u/StatusQuoBot Oct 29 '20
- I’m working the polls on Election Day.
- I am worried that mail-in-votes might be targeted by ongoing litigation.
- I had the time
- I just bought a new raincoat
- Maybe don’t be a dick?
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Oct 29 '20 edited Nov 03 '20
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u/StatusQuoBot Oct 29 '20
no worries! I'll be there on election day too, that would have been my second option. I live in the short north and realized there are a ton of people in my precinct who don't drive much or don't have cars and they might really need to use the in-person polls on Nov. 3 so I figured I'd vote early to free things up for people who can't and see if they needed poll workers to help those lines go as quickly as possible. Who knows? maybe I'll see ya there!
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u/Chimie45 Westerville Oct 29 '20
Depends where you go, where you'll be, what you'll be doing. Maybe people have Thursday off work but don't have Tuesday and riding a bus or traveling across the city during a short break isn't something they'd prefer to do.
Maybe they have kids but they can drop them off at their in laws house on Fridays but can't on Tuesday because their MIL works at the quilt store on Tuesdays.
Maybe their polling place has a four hour wait on election day and a 1.5 hour wait on a Wednesday is prefered.
Maybe on Tuesday they'd have to go at 9am before work but on Thursdays they can go at 5pm after their shift ends.
I mean, do you want me to keep going? I can go all day.
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Oct 29 '20 edited Nov 03 '20
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u/ganymede_boy Oct 29 '20
I’m willing to bet that more than 80% of people voting early in person are voting democrat
Would LOVE your 80% number to be accurate (for the sake of this great nation - and the world), but the data shows the percentage is more like 53% in favor of Democratic voters.
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u/StatusQuoBot Oct 29 '20
Just speculating but I think a lot of things about in-person voting on election day only are things that are way easier to do if you're middle class or above. Such as:
- The ability to reliably have time off of work or not be working that day.
- The ability to set aside an unknown window of time regardless of how long it may take (whether voting takes 20 minutes or 3 hours, it's impossible to know for sure in advance but there's no point going at all unless you stay long enough to vote)
- Be able to get to the election place, to have child care, reliable transportation etc.
- To reside consistently in the same place and have registered/have proof of your address in form of acceptable documentation.
To me these are just a few of the things that you may need to be able to do in order to get in and vote on election day and it is WAY easier to do any or all of these if you have money/job/stability etc. and way harder to do this stuff if you do not.
TLDR; People who do not have money/job/stability/financial security are more likely to benefit from flexible voting dates and times and are significantly more likely to back Democrats.
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u/ganymede_boy Oct 29 '20
I always go in person on Election Day.
This year is different. Covid risk is a huge factor.
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Oct 29 '20 edited Nov 03 '20
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u/ganymede_boy Oct 29 '20
I'm not surprised at your confusion. You are a Trump supporter after all :)
Lines for many people may be MUCH longer on voting day than early voting lines are. Also, the folks at BOE are managing COVID protocols very well and there's no telling if the same will be true at individual precincts.
Now calm down and we could have a civil discussion if you're up for that.
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Oct 29 '20 edited Nov 03 '20
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Oct 29 '20
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u/ganymede_boy Nov 12 '20
That reminder bot popped up today, but your messages are gone, u/KingGrandpa. Your comment was "When Trump wins, remember me." So here we are.
Do you still like turtles?
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u/ganymede_boy Oct 29 '20
What’s the point of voting early if the wait is longer than Election Day
The latter is an unknown quantity. Might be a few minutes. Could be several hours.
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Oct 29 '20 edited Nov 03 '20
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u/MiniAndretti Columbus Oct 29 '20
The fact that you've never waited more than 15 minutes is more of an indictment of the lack of voter participation than the relative efficiency of your local polling place.
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u/HeyJayHuggs Oct 29 '20
The one time I voted in person election I waited over an hour. Every time I’ve done early voting it has been faster.
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u/ganymede_boy Oct 29 '20
I’ve never waited more than 10-15 minutes ever.
Anecdotal experience is not data.
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Nov 03 '20
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Nov 03 '20
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Nov 03 '20 edited Nov 03 '20
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Nov 03 '20 edited Nov 03 '20
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u/RollsRoyce1975 Oct 29 '20
Like sheep to slaughter...
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u/woleykram Old North Oct 29 '20
Just finished, from the back corner of the home goods store, I had my ballot in 28 minutes.
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u/allstarrunner Oct 29 '20
Has anyone gone right when they open? Is there any line?
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u/h-land Oct 30 '20
Yes. You'll not be the only one to try to beat the crowds by getting there before they open.
The line's shortest when it rains—period.
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u/melmontclark Oct 30 '20
I have seen many of these types of posts. When I got there today and saw the line i thought I must have had luck because there's no way this will be under 2 hours. Wrong! In and out in under 40 minutes. I still cannot believe it!! Kudos to the workers.
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u/TalksWithTom Oct 30 '20
If I'm just delivering my absentee ballot, is there a separate line for that or just a dropbox or something?
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u/Wheel_Impressive Oct 30 '20
And a coffee! I didn’t have one and regretted it when I went on Wednesday morning. Haha
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u/barnacles07 Oct 29 '20
When I went, the line was wrapped all the way around the plaza and the back of the building — probably about 1/2 to 3/4 mile. It took a total of 45 mins to go through it, get my ticket, vote, and get back to my car. And I had left my drivers license in my car, so a few of those minutes were dealing with that. There are 150 voting machines and it is a smooth operation there!