What is "early voting"

Tamiri

Tue, Nov 04 2008, 10:43 am

As in, Marina's DH stood in line for 8 hours on Sunday for early voting.
I really don't know anything about voting in the U.S. Though I lived there as an adult for 16 years, I missed all the civic lessons because I left for Israel after 5th grade.
Thanks.

tovarena

Tue, Nov 04 2008, 10:58 am

Some states have early voting locations that open up 2-3 weeks before election day. Mine does. The only problem is there are a lot less early voting sites than there are voting sites on election day. So the lines can often be 1-3 hour waits.

I early voted Sunday a week ago and waited 2 hours total (from just in line to leaving the site). It's good because I leave my house for work before the polls open and on the way home I have the kids. I never would have been able to stand in a 2 hour line today with my babies at 5 p.m. when they're hungry for dinner. Hmmm....now that I think about it, I suppose I could have brought dinner with me and fed them while we were in line. Now that would have been a fulfilling way to spend the two hours that would otherwise be spent just counting the minutes. Oh well...next time. By the next major election, if lines are expected to be this long, I'll have to pack a picnic dinner and tell the kids we're having a special outing. Tongue Out

ShakleeMom

Tue, Nov 04 2008, 11:31 am

I was considering schlepping in for an earlier vote ( I even had a doctors note prepared because in my state you need an excuse for early voting). B’h I made it till today and I’m glad. There were a handful of people only and it took only seconds.

tovarena

Tue, Nov 04 2008, 11:43 am

The reports in my area are that even today waits are 1-3 hours (depending on location). Though that's from people that got there between 7 and 8 a.m. so they could go on to work afterwards.

Tamiri

Tue, Nov 04 2008, 11:58 am

Is early voting new? I never realized it existed. Yesterday one of my kids showed me a picture on the internet of someone voting for the U.S. elections and I could not explain how they had that (current) picture. I guess early voting is the explanation.
Thanks for the help!

avigailmiriam

Tue, Nov 04 2008, 12:22 pm

Tamiri wrote:

Absentee balloting has existed for a while, but with the congestion at the polls in some places in 2004,some states decided to allow early polling because it was logistically easier.