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

[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).