I served as a poll worker in my urban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania division. Some observations:
When I arrived for work at 6:15 AM, there were already three people in line to vote. The polls do not open until 7 AM here.
The first voter was a 93-year-old African American woman. She had tears in her eyes when she left the voting booth.
Holy awesome turnout, Batman! More than 70% in my division. To put that into perspective, an ordinary primary runs about 35%. This year's primary hit 50%.
Our machines functioned perfectly. Most voters, even the ones who'd registered on the very last possible day, were present on the rolls. Of the ones who weren't, most were either confirmed by the county office in charge and permitted to vote, or allowed to casst provisional ballots expected to be approved. Only two recent registrants were not in the system, a minuscule percentage.
There were a large number of first-time voters. Some were young, some were old (including one senior citizen who finally felt involved in the political process).
My division runs about 10-1 Democratic, registration-wise. Obama received 94% of the vote to McCain's 6% (Barr received the only vote not cast for either the Democratic or Republican tickets.
Perhaps the most striking result was that the Republicans on the bottom of the ticket (the smaller local offices below the Presidential race on the ballot) received more votes than the top of the ticket. Ouch.
The polls closed 45 minutes ago; by the time we completed our paperwork and I walked home around the corner, the local news was already calling PA for Obama.
When I arrived for work at 6:15 AM, there were already three people in line to vote. The polls do not open until 7 AM here.
The first voter was a 93-year-old African American woman. She had tears in her eyes when she left the voting booth.
Holy awesome turnout, Batman! More than 70% in my division. To put that into perspective, an ordinary primary runs about 35%. This year's primary hit 50%.
Our machines functioned perfectly. Most voters, even the ones who'd registered on the very last possible day, were present on the rolls. Of the ones who weren't, most were either confirmed by the county office in charge and permitted to vote, or allowed to casst provisional ballots expected to be approved. Only two recent registrants were not in the system, a minuscule percentage.
There were a large number of first-time voters. Some were young, some were old (including one senior citizen who finally felt involved in the political process).
My division runs about 10-1 Democratic, registration-wise. Obama received 94% of the vote to McCain's 6% (Barr received the only vote not cast for either the Democratic or Republican tickets.
Perhaps the most striking result was that the Republicans on the bottom of the ticket (the smaller local offices below the Presidential race on the ballot) received more votes than the top of the ticket. Ouch.
The polls closed 45 minutes ago; by the time we completed our paperwork and I walked home around the corner, the local news was already calling PA for Obama.
Comments
Wow, this really moved me...
I even forgave them for dropping the L in Pennsylvania, when normally I am a stickler for things like spelling and grammar. :-)
--DiB
What a wonderful, beautiful night this is.