Early Voting
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (121659)
Gainesville, Florida
October 28, 2016 8:02am CST
There's no doubt the elections this year in the United States are going to illicit a heavy voter turnout. With long lines expected on November 8th, many voters are choosing absentee ballots, mail-in ballots, or early voting (in states that allow it) as an alternative to waiting in long lines on the 8th.
For this very reason, I am choosing the early voting option, and went to my local polling station this morning at 8:00am so I could quickly cast my vote. So imagine my surprise when I arrived to find that there were already over 100 people in line to vote!
In speaking with an election worker on site, he told me it has been like this every day, all day long!
So my plan for easy, quick voting today has been thwarted by everyone else who had the same idea as me! But since I'm already here, I'm going to go ahead and wait in the long line and get this over with!
For any of my fellow American myLotters, have you cast an early vote, or will you wait until Election Day? Or, are you voting at all? And for all the myLotters outside the United States, does your country allow early voting, or do you have to wait until your actual Election Day?
7 people like this
10 responses
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
28 Oct 16
Where allowed, like in California, absentee ballots are really the way to go. I'm on permanent absentee ballot status. You don't need a reason to sign up. I did it years ago when i was commuting a great distance to work. Too the stress off. Still does. The ballot comes to my house. I read the material, decide and fill out my ballot. I drop it off at the local post office (did last week), and I'm done. No lines.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Oct 16
@pgntwo I'll let you know after the election!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Oct 16
Glad to hear you voted! This is certainly a big election!
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Oct 16
Awesome! Are you voting for Hillary or Trump?
Hahaha
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Oct 16
You plan on standing in line with all 50,000 of your fellow townspeople? haha
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
31 Oct 16
@moffittjc That's my plan! Lol! Hiccup!
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
31 Oct 16
@moffittjc I have my paper bag ready!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Nov 16
@just4him And then we'll spend the next month complaining about the fact that everybody's yard signs are still up! lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Oct 16
It is a nice feeling to get it done and out of the way!
1 person likes this
@just4him (317249)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
1 Nov 16
@moffittjc Absolutely! One more week.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Oct 16
I have no preference one way or the other on whether I prefer early voting or regular voting, because neither have ever been inconvenient for me, but this morning I tapped to be driving by the early voting polling site, so I thought I would pull in and go ahead and vote and get it out of the way.
@Talknpen (1820)
• United States
28 Oct 16
@moffittjc Hi Jeff. Good move. Just know that your participation is greatly appreciated. We count and our votes will show that we are not afraid of making important choices.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Oct 16
@Talknpen I will disagree with you slightly here, but not out of disrespect. I believe the American people are very afraid to make the difficult choices our nation is faced with. Because we don't want to do the necessary work that it's going to take to address all these issues. If Hillary and Trump are the two best candidates we could come up with out of 320 million people, then I guess we get what we deserve! hahaha
1 person likes this
@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
28 Oct 16
I like to vote on the day itself. There's always a bit of a buzz on Election Day - especially as our polling station is in the local pub so there's always a good atmosphere there if you go around lunchtime and combine it with a good meal. I must admit I love the whole build-up on Election Day, even if the result often leaves me feeling deflated the day after.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Oct 16
@5thHouse most of our polling sites are at churches, or public facilities like libraries and recreation centers. I hope you enjoy voting at the pub! Have a pint for me next time you vote!
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Oct 16
@CoralLevang you should've invited me to join you! Haha
@5thHouse (1678)
• Sheffield, England
28 Oct 16
@moffittjc Most of the polling stations here are schools that have been closed for the day but yeah, as luck would have it, ours is a pub. I'm sure that helps with the turnout - and the pub does nicely out of it too.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Oct 16
Well, today wasn't convenient for me because of the long line, but at least I've got that monkey off my back now! November 9th just can't get here fast enough, so we can get on with our lives and put all this political nonsense behind us!
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Oct 16
I caught that editing mistake after I posted. I was just too lazy to go back and fix it
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (103967)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
30 Oct 16
I will vote on Election Day. The campaign between Clinton vs Trump makes the 1991 Louisiana Governor's Race between David Duke (R) and Edwin Edwards (D) look a game of patty cake by comparison.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Oct 16
Glad to hear you voted to! Certainly is a big election! For the first time in my life, I didn't have a definitive candidate that I could put my support behind. So, in this particular election, I was more concerned about some local ballot initiatives we have in our community.
1 person likes this
