two-and-a-half hours...

[javasaurus]

Can anybody explain to me why many districts have voters popping in and out of the voting booths in 10 minutes or less, but election after election our district has people waiting in line for hours?

We used to vote at a large church down the street, and spent three to four hours in line. Our district was split, and so today we only stood in line for two-and-a-half hours. Most of it outside. With occassional spitting rain. At least it was an autumn chill, not a wintery breeze.

Is there any legitimate reason for this stupidity? (meaning the inadequate resources in some areas, not the standing in line waiting)

Comments

[dashrippington.livejournal.com]

In my case I was in and out in 5 minutes... and it had everything to do with Geography and even possibly some favoritism thrown in as well.

Basically, if you lived on one side of the street, no line. But if you came from town or the other side of the street... the line went out the front door.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

Money.

seriously. Prince George's county is, relatively speaking, flat broke. Polling places may be cheap, and so are volunteers, but the machines these days aren't. additionally, there's a lot of bureaucracy involved in redistricting things (and a lot of politics, to boot), and that also costs money and time that the county simply hasn't (or won't) allocate.

it's the sort of thing a county begs the state for money to pay for, but the whole state is like that.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Prince George's county is, relatively speaking, flat broke

That doesn't explain why many other areas of PG county have essentially no wait. I know people in Laurel, College Park, and other parts of Bowie who don't wait for more than a few minutes. Bureaucracy/politics may be the heart of the problem, but that's hardly a legitimate excuse.

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

F is judge in PG county (not that far from where we live) and I gather that a significant line is unusual at his place. The machines are state-owned (I think) and it would make sense to either distribute them based on the number of people registered in a district or possibly a factor based on the number of registered voters and the % that actually vote.

2.5 hours today, 3.5 hours 4 years ago (and the line then was about the same when I came out as when I went in ... at least today it was slightly shorter when we left). Where other places (in PG county) have 15 minute waits if that. My mom waited for about 20 minutes at 9:00 this morning just around the corner from us (9 machines + the provisionals).

[skimbells.livejournal.com]

don't know if it will help much, but we went early this morning (in western fairfax county, va) and it took an hour

[cozit.livejournal.com]

Part is the county. Part is geography (and how recently they've figured out how many houses/voters are now in an area if it's been being developed). Part is how many people who actually *vote* live there.

The combination of the three make my place very, very fast. (OK, probably doesn't hurt that I *know* that my family is the only one with our last name, despite it not being *that* uncommon a name, with someone in the next voting place over also having it... they leave me be after pointing me here and there, so it's fast)

I know, however, that if a larger percentage of folks in my precinct showed up, the line would be longer. Even so, I doubt it could get as bad as what I'm hearing from many... even DH voting around 8:30 this morning didn't have much of a line... and no parking problems at all.

Heck, even the last minute vote swaying attempts didn't happen tonight..... the belief is that the rain scared the few away (not a general happening in the past, but...)... and there were only a few during rush hour this morning from what I hear from DH and neighbors.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Other parts of the county (including parts of Laurel, Bowie, and College Park) had short lines. My MIL lives less than a mile from us, and only waited twenty minutes at the same time of day.

When the same polling district has exceedingly long lines for every single election, it's either very poor planning, or a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise a select group of voters.