November 07, 2006
Turnout Experiences?
When I voted at noon today, turnout appeared to be light, perhaps even lighter than usual for a mid-term election. There were fewer voters at the Lakeview school than precinct workers, and the list of those who had voted was short. (My precinct is Kirkland 48-0638. At least three other precincts vote in the same place, as I recall.)
I've never bothered to check the precincts' voting patterns, but I would guess they tend to be marginally Democratic in most elections, just from the location. The tricycles, the swing sets, the basketball hoops, and the Republican families are mostly east of where I live.
What did the rest of you see, assuming you voted in person? Low turnout for a mid-term election? Crowds? And is your area generally Republican or Democratic?
(For what it is worth, Hugh Hewitt is reporting higher than usual turnout in Republican areas. I wouldn't make too much of this since election day reports are so often wrong, but it does make me wonder. Here's one of Hewitt's posts on the subject.)
Posted by Jim Miller at November 07, 2006
02:48 PM | Email This
1. I vote at McGilvra School in Madison Park with eight to ten precincts at one site. As of 8:40am I was voter #51, which seems rather light to me. I have no comparison with previous years but it doesn't seem to measure up with 2002 so far.
2. My "polling place" is my dining room table (thanks SnoCo). Only two voters showed up.
3. Two voters, but how many votes? LOL
4. It was quiet in Issaquah, district 8...a saw 5 people vote, including me
5. I vote in Kent...and it was steady at the polling place at 9:30 this morning!
The ladies that usually work there were pretty skeptical that they would have their jobs much longer....thanks to Ron Sims and his insane insistance to change the county to all mail voting... (Actually - it was the Democrats in our State legislature who pushed this "All mail voting" through without the input of the people.) This style of voting will only make it easier for the liberal Dems to commit fraud. We all know it..They know it........ So who's going to start the initiative process to get poll voting back?
6. North end of Tacoma, notably a Blue area. My polling place had more people than I have seen in the past, but that was only a total of about 6 of us voting. That was at 10:15 am. The e-voting machine was hardly used. Most people trust good old paper.
7. I voted at 7:15 this morning at South Summit Library just between Tacoma and Puyallup. I was the 17th person to complete voting a paper ballot. Didn't even look to see if they had e-voting there, so could have been more. Of course, we're mostly pretty conservative "hicks" as the D's would say, out here...
8. swatter, I can't say how many votes yet as it will depend on how many are needed later on..... ;)
9. Good turnout at my polling station. They had 7 booths and all were filled with people voting. I had to wait about 30 seconds for someone to finish. Office mate of mine said he had to wait in line for 10 min to vote.
10. Seemed like a good turnout at the local elementary school here in South King County. We were there perhaps 15 minutes total, and I saw 10 folks come and vote or drop off absentee ballots afound 11:00am, while a steady rain fell outside. I chatted with a poll worker, and she said things had been busy...there was a line outside before 7:00am before they even opened.
This area trends Republican (in the state legislature).
11. Lakewood WA, 3:30 pm.
3 paper ballot "stations", one touchscreen station. One person waiting for the touchscreen (behind me).
Calm, steady flow of voters, no activists.
They checked ID's.
All in all, not bad.
12. I went in to vote around 10:30 this morning at my usual polling place (United Methodist Church in Redmond.) In my precinct. I was roughly #12 on the list of voters (I believe nine precincts vote there) and on the Accuvote machine it showed about 125 ballots cast at the time. It did seem a bit busier than usual for an election, but not by much.
13. I live out in unincorporated King County on Novelty Hill in the Elsie precinct. Turnout at my polling place was exceptionally high - even higher than what I saw in the 2004 general (the location serves 5 or 6 precints).
Around 9:45am, all of the booths (about 20 or so) were full and there were a few people waiting in line. For my precint about 70 people had already voted.
The area generally trends moderate Republican (45th Leg district, 8th Congressional).
14. Kibbler church in Enumclaw has 5 or 6 precincts all the booths were full and the machine was being used as well. Just got home about 5pm, wife and son also voted. Looks like a pretty good turnout.
15. We voted just past noon at our Lake City, (Seattle), precinct (46-2334). It was pretty quiet with no lines. The polling place is just around the corner so I strolled up there just now. Still looks quiet, maybe a bit busier than for a special levy election. I don't sense any big turnout momentum here where it's probably 80% Democratic. Could be a good sign, who knows?
16. My husband and I are Thurston county all-mail voting victims, so who knows?
Slightly OT---On the drudge report there is an article about AG Gonzales sending out 850 election observers; some of them are supposed to be in King and Pierce Co.
17. I vote at SPU, Queen Anne, Seattle... around noon it was not busy but the "booths" were mostly full. I was ballot number 99 entered into the secure ballot box. probably the only vote in the box against Mcdermoot and Canttell.
18. I vote in Federal Way at the Green Gables Elementary School - got there at 7:00 pm - left at 7:19. In the last election, at the same time there had been about 90 votes cast. Tonight, 350 and the cars were pulling up and filling up the road. People were responsive.
Peggie