OT - Why the lines?

Where I voted, its a piece of cake walk and about 2-1/2 blocks away. There was no push and shove, and I was in/out of there quicker than I could shake the pee-pee off the end of my pee-pee.

There exist tons of potential voting places all around. Vote at the fire station, the local school, or some nearby public building. Making voting easy should be good for democracy, not bad.

Why are the folks in FL lining up for hours on end to make their opinions known?

- Ace

Because the politicians said they were giving out flu shots with each vote

ROFL i have no idea...i'll be happy when this whole voting thing is over tho..i did see on the news last night the HUGE line up to vote..i was like....wtf???

I live in Florida where there have been long lines since the first Early Voting Machines were put out.

I think it's because so many people in Florida feel as though their vote in the last election was for naught, wasted, zip and they finally realized how important it is to actually make their vote count this time. We must have 50% more people voting in this election than we have ever had vote before.

This has put a strain on the number of poll workers and equipment available. In addition, certain conduct on behalf of our Secretary of State and local election officials intended to disenfranchised many people are being challenged. People ARE NOT walking away from the polls because someone tells them that they are not registered. (This happened last election to a lot of people that were legally registered).

This year 48,000 Absentee Ballots in Broward County (where I live) did not get mailed out - most of those people are going to the polls now.

Just this morning, the voter registration lists did not show up at one of the largest districts in Miami so people from those districts (primarily African American) had a 3 hour wait.

It's pathetic. The Secretary of State should have predicted a larger than usual turnout and made sure that there were enough workers and equipment. Instead, she has done nothing except deliberately impede the process.

Actually, it's criminal.

One thing that is really scary - if they close the polls at 8:00 tonight and there are still a large number of people who have not voted... well S. Florida should be prepared for riots because those people are going to be very angry.

Except for the ones that needed the absentee ballots because they're actually, you know, absent. (Like military personnel stationed overseas. Of which Florida has a many.)

Everyone who is told they can't vote can still file a provisional ballot and contest their case right?

Ace, they may have had fewer polls open for the early voters, instead of the multitudes on election day.

Yes, you can demand a provisional ballot. Do not leave the location without voting at least provisionally.

As for the long lines, I don't know what is going on. Voter turnout is insane.

I live in Washington, DC which carries the largest democratic margin in the country. Gore won by 76%. We aren't electing mayor and we have just a few city council seats up. Most of the city council is decided in the primary as republicans don't even bother running here. Honestly, there isn't much worth voting on.

Still, at 7:00 this morning there are lines down the street that go on for blocks. People are voting in numbers like I've never seen. I can only imagine if I lived somewhere else.

Yes they can vote provisional - unless as Grim pointed out, they are truly absent from their district, such as military personnel. Which so sucks the big one I can't even think about it without getting really pissed. Imagine having to be in Iraq and not even have such a minute say over it as your own vote.

One of my friend sent me this link. It's a web page that find your voting place. It's the only wya I could find where to vote. (i'm new to la) http://www.mypollingplace.com/

Still good to see that with the incredible voter turnout in Florida, that Bush is pulling way ahead. Florida is much more conservative than the Liberals in the state would like the rest of us to believe.