15 thoughts on Election Day Open Thread: How Busy Was Your Polling Place?

1. Turnout was much more promising than during the primaries, at least. I voted at the same time I did in the primary and the runoff and four times as many people had voted in my precinct than in either September race.

   Unfortunately, that was still only 30 people in a precinct with 1,000 eligible voters.

2. What politician is Joe talking about? I’d love to vote for someone who thinks that on-street parking “has been ‘free’ for too long.”

3. I was voter number 26 at my precinct at 9:30.

   From experience on GOTV campaigns, I think I recall about 20% of voters typically voting before that time of day – so perhaps 125 will vote in my ED today. Since (as Chris mentioned) each ED has about 1000 voters, that doesn’t bode too well for total turnout (I think in the September primary, my precinct was around the city average of 8% turnout).

   If turnout is only doubling what it was in September, we could be looking at less than 20% of eligible voters casting ballots. I wonder how that will affect the races.

4. The poll worker in NW Harlem described turnout this way: “It’s like the tortoise and the snail”. Slow and slower.

5. Putting leaflets on car windshields is illegal.

6. Out of about 15 precincts at my polling place on the UWS, I was at the only precinct desk with a line. Unfortunately, this meant I waited ten minutes while the poll workers tried to identify another voter who wasn’t on the voter rolls, and then had a poll worker WALK IN TO THE BOOTH while I was voting to fix the curtain, which had been hung up incorrectly. Any chance that could have waited until after I voted? It’s not like anyone was waiting after me…

7. It was a lot quieter since the kids weren’t going to school today (wish all institutions/employers did the same).

   But there were definitely more voters than the primaries. Maybe 2-3 times more.

   They had a nice sample ballot for display so I could read the propositions before getting in there.

8. There were no other voters at 8:00 this morning in Washington Heights.

9. Sparse turnout in the 32nd, Upper West Side. I voted for JSK via Bloomberg. The term limits exemption irks me but the prospect of Thompson as mayor terrifies me. Let’s raise a glass to four more years of major pedestrian and bike improvements before the dark ages resume.

10. At my polling place in Stuyvesant Town (one of many there) it looked sparse but the pollworker said that my being #98 at 11:00am meant turnout would be pretty high.

11. I live in this district and have not met anyone who isn’t in favor of permitted parking. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Car-owners seem largely aware that a garage costs six thousand bucks a year; $200 for protected, guaranteed on-street parking is a deal I can’t refuse.

12. When I voted this morning at my precinct in Washington Heights, it was only marginally more busy than it was during the primary and run-off votes. This is definitely going to be a low turnout election.

13. Best voter profiles I’ve seen in newspapers (online) in a long time:

    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/02/nyregion/nyc-voter-voices.html?hp

    It’s so refreshing to hear other people talk in a thoughtful way about issues that are not political soundbyte or rushed “man on the street” fly-bys of one sentence nonsense.

    Transportation comes up quite a bit, especially in the outerboroughs, and it’s not about cars…

14. Voter #82 when I cast my vote shortly before 3 pm in the Village. This particular polling site accommodates a total of three EDs. No actual lines but there was someone in the booth just before me and someone ready to vote as I left. I suspect there will be lines once people come home from work. By comparison, there was no one except volunteers was there during the run-offs.

15. I didn’t get the number I was when I voted last night in Cobble Hill at about 8pm, but I asked the poll worker and she said turnout had been slow once again.

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