voting in park slope

longtimesloper

Anyone been to 51 yet to vote? How bad is it?

hollyhock

LongTimeSloper wrote: Anyone been to 51 yet to vote? How bad is it?

Was in line at 630AM... took two hours. Good luck. Very unorganized. Most of the people working in there were nice but a few were rude. More voters were rude than volunteers though. It was not an encouraging or empowering feeling at all. But I did it.

aenigma

I too voted at PS 282 on 6th Ave and Lincoln. When I arrived at 8:15, the line had snaked down 6th Ave, turned the corner onto Berkeley, hit 5th Ave, turned around the block again, and was close to half-way back up Lincoln in the direction of 6th Ave. Daunting, to be sure, but most everyone seemed to be in relatively good spirits, and it helps that it's a beautiful day.

I stood in line about 40 minutes only to discover that knowing my election district enabled me to cut the rest of the line and head directly into the school to vote. Not sure why it works that way, or why some people cheered for me when I walked past them -- but I'm not complaining!

lanciano

Yes, if you don't know your ED, you have to wait on the "information line" to find your address in the list which determines your ED. After you have that, you have to wait on your ED line. For some reason, I never remember that my ED is 24.

But even with the extra wait, I didn't spend more than 45 mins at the polling place. It was a good voting experience.

veets

I looked up ed for people voting at is 51
district 17
on my way out now to vote

longtimesloper

Yeah, my child who is a first time voter says that the line was a lot shorter because they knew their electoral district and their assembly district. And we vote at 51.

jamzer

LongTimeSloper wrote: Anyone been to 51 yet to vote? How bad is it?

You are probably long gone - but I lined up at 8:20am at MS 51 and walked out at 10:30am. Pretty brutal, but well worth it.

As far as proportional voting goes, I will be all for it when Texas, Mississippi, South Carolina, and the other safe Republican states agree to it too. The other option is the initiative where some states allocate their electoral college based on the national popular vote.

joehill

i voted at the church on 8th st at 6th ave and it was a complete mess. there were a dozen lines inside the gym for each different voting machine, but they were all jumbled together in a giant crowd.

the poll worker at the door looks up your address and tells you what district you vote for, they told me number 12 which was right in the front. except there's a separate number 12 in the back on the other side which you totally can't see and they don't direct you to, and that's where i had to vote.

when i found the right place to be, the lever machine was broken and everyone has to do their voting on paper. except i didn't bring a pen, and the volunteers at the table have two pens between them that they are using to sign people in, so i had to borrow a pen from someone after they voted and they had to wait around for me to vote.

joehill

oh - there were also some people that brought their dogs with them to the polling place (not just little dogs in a purse either, medium/large dogs on a leash) that were having a conversation about whether they'd be able to bring their dogs inside. the couple in front of me held up the line so they could tie up their dog right at the fence where everyone was going in.

the lady in this same couple decided (after waiting in line for 30 minutes) that she wanted to have her picture taken in line so had her husband take a dozen photos of her in the entranceway, holding up the line again.

nkotsonis

Hi Jamzer,
That's my whole point.
The whole country should have proportional delegate voting.
Let the candidates fight for our votes.
Why should people be taken advantage of, just because we live in one of the "safe" blue or red states?
Let them sweat it out.
that's , in my opinion, true democracy.
By the way, 2000 would never have happened if proportional delegate voting had been in effect.
Barack is right, the system is broken.

veets

Here was the story at 51...long line at 11;30 and it took an hour and a half.. district 17 was a short line 44 was a longer wait... friend said she was there 2 hrs and still waiting on the line to actually vote. Of course when we walked out at 1pm the line outside was 1/4 as long as it had been when we arrived. No way to predict length of lines as day goes in to evening after work hours.
As far as bringing dogs.. not a good idea. My hand held dog has come with me to vote in the past but I saw no reason for him to come and wait on the long line. I told him he could share half of my vote and since we had no disagreement about who to vote for it worked out.
Hey they are just some rude people out there whether or not they have pets .

bkgypsy

voted at IS 88 at 544 7 Avenue in Brooklyn. Please be aware that the 16th district machine is "broken" and people had to do paper ballot (stuffing in a cardboard box with a slit) and they didn't have pencils or pens readily available (AT AN F'IN SCHOOL!!!!!!). the woman manning that desk was of no help when asked how to fill out the ballot to a person infront of me. they didn't even tell people waiting in that line "hey, by the way the machine is broken so get ready to fill out paperwork." i really wanted to punch her.

whatchuwant

bkgypsy wrote: voted at IS 88 at 544 7 Avenue in Brooklyn. Please be aware that the 16th district machine is "broken" and people had to do paper ballot (stuffing in a cardboard box with a slit) and they didn't have pencils or pens readily available (AT AN F'IN SCHOOL!!!!!!). the woman manning that desk was of no help when asked how to fill out the ballot to a person infront of me. they didn't even tell people waiting in that line "hey, by the way the machine is broken so get ready to fill out paperwork." i really wanted to punch her.

Easy, gypsy. Sucks that they don't have their shit together, but frankly the school at which you voted shouldn't have to supply voters with ANYTHING in terms of supplies. Public schools are so strapped for cash you think they actually have money to give out pens and pencils to everybody that walks in the door to vote? Gimme a break.

vidro3

voted at ps 154 on 11th ave and windsor place this morning. was in line from about 8:50 to 9:40 am.

lots of people.

new2hood

Can anyone give me a status on the line at John Jay?

housepoor

I voted at 8th St at just after 2 pm and it only took ten minutes. It was a bit chaotic because of the district lines and people needing info about where to go but other than that it was easy and quick. I did see many, many people clutching postcards and declaring themselves first time voters. And they were NOT young or even middle aged. A lot of seniors......

filmlover44

Whatchuwant wrote: Public schools are so strapped for cash you think they actually have money to give out pens and pencils to everybody that walks in the door to vote? Gimme a break.

While many of us vote in public schools, the public schools do not actually run or supply the election board. The election board is funded separately.

booklaw

I spent over an hour and a half in line at John Jay this morning. If I hadn't known my ED, I probably would have needed an additional half hour to negotiate that line.

obamanut

Subject: Re: are we being taken for granted?

BrooklynGigCenter wrote: [quote=nkotsonis]Food for thought.
I also voted this morning for Obama, but there's something that bothers me.
New York has a winner take all for the electoral college votes.
Since we are mostly democrats, not counting upstate, I feel that the democratic party is taking us for granted and assuming that they have a win here. Obama did not really campaign here neither did McCain.
This election is being decided by only 5 or 6 states. Do we really have a say? There was an interesting op-ed in the Daily News the other day about how we should switch to proportional delegates for the candidates. This way, all the candidates would have to fight for our vote. This would be far more democratic. 13 states already had referendums to switch to proportional delegates, but every state has to have this rule in order for it to go into effect.
All of Europe has this system, although they are more along the lines of parlimentary government.
We, New Yorkers, vote but do we count?

I prefer to allow a Democratic presidential candidate to focus his or her efforts where it's more critical. I don't mind being taken for granted at all in this respect.

Exactly!!

If I lived in Nebraska, I'd be agreeing with you, but Jeez be happy that just about everyone around you shares your values.

chunkymunky

I got in line at 51 about 10:50 am..left at 1:30pm..yes I knew my district( 44)
..it didnt matter

mookie wilson

woke up at 6.45 this morning, got in line on 6th and berkeley at 6.45, was out around 8.10 or so. would have waited twice as long if that's what it took.

bkgypsy

Whatchuwant wrote: [quote=bkgypsy]voted at IS 88 at 544 7 Avenue in Brooklyn. Please be aware that the 16th district machine is "broken" and people had to do paper ballot (stuffing in a cardboard box with a slit) and they didn't have pencils or pens readily available (AT AN F'IN SCHOOL!!!!!!). the woman manning that desk was of no help when asked how to fill out the ballot to a person infront of me. they didn't even tell people waiting in that line "hey, by the way the machine is broken so get ready to fill out paperwork." i really wanted to punch her.

Easy, gypsy. Sucks that they don't have their shit together, but frankly the school at which you voted shouldn't have to supply voters with ANYTHING in terms of supplies. Public schools are so strapped for cash you think they actually have money to give out pens and pencils to everybody that walks in the door to vote? Gimme a break.

where did i say "to everybody that walks in the door?" and who said anything about not giving the pen/pencil back? I said "readily available" if the machine for a certain district (which I said was the 16th) is broken (and not the other district machines) and they know this maybe just maybe they should have a cup of pens/pencils readily available for those that may need it. Instead, I got t an eyeroll for asking. gimme a break indeed.

easilyfound

Took me 65 minutes to vote at the church on 8th Street and 6th Ave, the longest I've ever had to wait on line in my district, probably more time I've spent in line in all other times I've ever voted since moving here in 1989. There was one line to get into the church, where several booths were set up for different voting districts. When I got inside, some booths had long lines and other booths had no lines. If the workers had been more organized, they should have been able to get people inside if they were in a district that had no line. Lines were gone by mid afternoon at many polling places.