Gah, voting experience from heck
Nov. 8th, 2006 07:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javasaurusMy voting location is an "evangelical cathedral" in Bowie. Whopping enormous church. It's across the street from Six Flags, and when it was being built, we thought it was an enormous indoor roller coaster. Nope, it's a church.
So that's my polling place. Blueeowyn and I got there at 8 in the morning, to see a line going out the door. After 45 minutes, I needed to leave for a meeting at work, and we had made it through maybe a third of the line. I found out later that Blueeowyn took more than two and a half hours to get to the machines.
I don't get to leave work until about 6, so I arrive at the church again at 6:45 (bad traffic, rain), and the line is just as long as in the morning. Fortunately I had a book. Actually a recent issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The woman three in front of me had her child with her. His name was A.J., aka Anthony when his mother was serious. Within ten minutes, everybody in the church knew his name. It was like the Bill Cosby routine about Jeffery. So for the next two hours, forty minutes, I read three novellas in my magazine (two of which were very dark), and heard the name A.J. about four thousand times as he slammed his little umbrella down on the ground, slammed himself against the wall, tried to open doors into other areas of the church.
There was a receptionist at the church directing voters to the end of the line (the line was like Disneyland -- winding this way and that all over the giant foyer of the church -- at least we didn't go through the santuary, winding our way through the pews, eh?). It was tough to find the end of the line without direction. The receptionist also made sure that everybody was invited to the church's Christmas pageant.
Speaking of which, the pageant was rehearsing while we waited in line. They were in the main part of the church, the santuary, which has a stage and lighting and a whopping enormous sound system. We got to hear the sound system as it played what I might call gospel hip-hop, and Christmas carols.
The receptionist had on her desk (the line goes past the desk twice) various political fliers and a photocopy of a Washington Post article accusing the Republicans for misrepresenting Democrats as supporting Steele for the Senate.
When I finally got to the voting area, I was shocked to notice that the line was only ten feet behind the minimally screened voting machines, that I could see how several people voted.
When everybody else at work tells me that they only stood in line for 10 minutes, or had no line at all, I feel a little miffed (maybe a lot!) when I have to stand for almost three hours. I'm also disturbed by the lack of church/state separation, the political fliers and article inside the polling place, and the lack of privacy while voting. But I have no idea where to lodge my complaint. The precinct always has long lines, but this was the worst ever, and it's not fair.
So that's my polling place. Blueeowyn and I got there at 8 in the morning, to see a line going out the door. After 45 minutes, I needed to leave for a meeting at work, and we had made it through maybe a third of the line. I found out later that Blueeowyn took more than two and a half hours to get to the machines.
I don't get to leave work until about 6, so I arrive at the church again at 6:45 (bad traffic, rain), and the line is just as long as in the morning. Fortunately I had a book. Actually a recent issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The woman three in front of me had her child with her. His name was A.J., aka Anthony when his mother was serious. Within ten minutes, everybody in the church knew his name. It was like the Bill Cosby routine about Jeffery. So for the next two hours, forty minutes, I read three novellas in my magazine (two of which were very dark), and heard the name A.J. about four thousand times as he slammed his little umbrella down on the ground, slammed himself against the wall, tried to open doors into other areas of the church.
There was a receptionist at the church directing voters to the end of the line (the line was like Disneyland -- winding this way and that all over the giant foyer of the church -- at least we didn't go through the santuary, winding our way through the pews, eh?). It was tough to find the end of the line without direction. The receptionist also made sure that everybody was invited to the church's Christmas pageant.
Speaking of which, the pageant was rehearsing while we waited in line. They were in the main part of the church, the santuary, which has a stage and lighting and a whopping enormous sound system. We got to hear the sound system as it played what I might call gospel hip-hop, and Christmas carols.
The receptionist had on her desk (the line goes past the desk twice) various political fliers and a photocopy of a Washington Post article accusing the Republicans for misrepresenting Democrats as supporting Steele for the Senate.
When I finally got to the voting area, I was shocked to notice that the line was only ten feet behind the minimally screened voting machines, that I could see how several people voted.
When everybody else at work tells me that they only stood in line for 10 minutes, or had no line at all, I feel a little miffed (maybe a lot!) when I have to stand for almost three hours. I'm also disturbed by the lack of church/state separation, the political fliers and article inside the polling place, and the lack of privacy while voting. But I have no idea where to lodge my complaint. The precinct always has long lines, but this was the worst ever, and it's not fair.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-09 06:42 pm (UTC)http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2006/results/localcandresults.html
on the harford county page anyway, there's a link on "contacting officials." maybe your county's page has something similar.