Note to self: Stick with morning voting next time.
“Oh, it’s only a midterm election! How crowded could it be?” (Yes, that was me.)
Feh.
Katie and I arrived at the polling place at 6:30 PM. The people who got in line behind us decided to leave, have dinner, and come back. Of the two of us, she voted first. I walked out of the voting booth at 7:58 PM.
It wasn’t as bad as the last time we voted in the evening, which was either the 2003 recall election or the 2004 presidential election. That time we were still in line at 8:00, and they made the cut-off anyone who was in line by 8 PM. IIRC the local Starbucks had actually sent over free coffee for people waiting in line.
But it was a far cry from last November, when we arrived and only one person was in line ahead of us.
We never had a big rush in Redondo. Maybe because of all the “early electronic voting” available? After what mycroftca said about his polls being packed, I kicked Jim out at 6PM to go vote or dinner would be indefinitely post-poned, and it still wasn’t crowded.
Sounds like a wise precaution, even though it turned out to be unnecessary.
I wonder what made it so crowded where we were, though. We had early voting in our area too, and while we did have voting machines, they weren’t new. They’re the same type we’ve had since 2004, so anyone who voted in this precinct in the 2004 election should be familiar with the process.