We tried to vote early today and I wondered how others experience was.
Vote day of or early?
In person or by mail?
How long did you wait?
How long did it take?
Urban, suburban or rural?
I think you can put if you are in a swing state or not, that doesn’t seem political, does it.
Feel free to add any other details if you’d like
We haven’t voted yet, Michigan law changed this election to allow early voting.
Went to the board of elections today at lunchtime. Early voting opened Saturday here
Line was almost out the door and wasn’t moving. Since we can vote early, we will try again Wednesday when they open at 8:30
Rural, was kind of shocked how busy it was
Suburb of major city, voted early last week. In total took about 1 hour. DH voted over the weekend, about the same.
Received ballot in the US mail.
Marked ballot and put it in the envelope and signed the envelope as instructed.
Put it into a ballot box at a location listed on the county web site. (There was also the option to put it in the US mail with no postage needed.)
A few days later, got ballottrax.com text and email messages indicating that the ballot was received and will be counted (had previously signed up for such).
Still opening a US mail box of political propaganda almost every day.
Voted last week by mail. Put in ballot box during weekday hours - long drive line but only a few minutes wait. Wanted to make sure it was taken out that day.
Dropped into ballot box two days after the early voting started
Received the confirmation text that my vote counted
Suburban
Not in swing state
Voted in person early last week. Not a swing state. Waited nearly an hour. Poll workers said we’ve had double the turnout over the 2020 presidential election.
Voted early last week. Middle of the day. No line. A few others there voting or trickled in while I was there. Very much not a swing state and my vote will very likely be in the smaller number side of the totals for my state. For pretty much every office voted for.
No early voting here, just mail in. We are planning to vote in person on 11/5. Swingiest of swing states ¶.
Received ballot by mail about two weeks ago. Spent some time yesterday reading through various local news websites to read interviews, editorials, etc. to understand the candidates and ballot measures a bit more. Filled out ballot yesterday evening and took photos of my ballot so I can compare how I voted with the final election results. Dropped it in a ballot box this morning. Will get the tracking info on whenever it gets picked up and into the system.
Same as @ucbalumnus
Ballot came via mail. I had received text message that it was on its way. Completed ballot, signed outside of envelope and returned it to a ballot box listed on my county website. A few days later got a text message that my ballot was received and will be counted. I voted sticker was included in the envelope.
Super easy.
Non swing state, small city
Ohio. Early voting is available. I have a new polling location and think I want to experience this election by voting on the actual day, November 5.
Swing state. H and I voted by absentee/mail-in ballot about 3 weeks ago. Dropped off to one of the official ballot boxes around the city. Daughter not in swing state for college, also voted absentee in our state about 3 weeks ago as well!
Filled out and put our ballots in the ballot box in the center of town (mine, my husband’s, two sons and a daughter). Daughters in MA and SC had their ballots mailed to them, they mailed them in, one daughter received a letter here saying her signature didn’t match, so she needs to mail in a form with her signature and drivers license number. I logged in and my ballot was received. ETA no swing state, suburbs.
My mail in ballot arrived last week. I mailed it the next day. I’m not in a swing state.
When voting in person in the past I have never waited a single minute, and never had to show an I.D.
I’m in a suburb.
We get our ballots in the mail. Good thing… since Colorado always has many extra things on the ballot, ie tough to do in person without a well prepared cheat sheet. (This year 14 CO Ammendments and Propositions, plus 4 more local… I reference the non-biased printed “blue book” from League of Women’s Voters, recommendations from local politician I trust, a bit of online reference).
We can mail the ballot but usually opt to take to one of the 24 hour drop boxes scattered around town. Note to self - do not go on Saturday to the drop box at the nearby park…. sooooo many cars and people due to the youth soccer gams.
We have always voted in person. My husband likes the experience.
In our township, you have to request a mail in ballot for every election. Seems like double the trouble. I hear that is at the discretion of the township clerk. Meaning that’s what the clerk told me.
Last presidential election, they had early voting hours at our precinct, this one they have a central voting location for the county.
Delighted to see so many voters! Here and at our voting place.
We can vote on the day of, we would likely go when the location opens. We will see how voting early works
I live in Colorado, where the voting system is the best I’ve ever seen (I’ve lived and voted in a number of states). That may be why we have among the highest voter participation rates. In fact, the attempt at voter fraud (stolen ballots) discovered in western Colorado this past week shows how watertight the system is. There are several safeguards in place to make sure that ballots get to voters and are safely returned.
Those who register on time get their ballots in the mail (you can register online or when you get your driver’s license, and 16-year-olds can pre-register, so their registration automatically activates at age 18). If you don’t register in time for mailed ballots, you can still register up to the day of the election and pick up a ballot in person.
Ballots are mailed a little more than three weeks in advance (with an “I Voted” sticker enclosed!). You can mail it back or use a drop box (I use a drop box about 5-7 minutes from my house). You get an email or text when your ballot is mailed, when it is received, and when it is processed. If there’s a problem with your ballot (i.e., signature doesn’t match), you are notified and have the opportunity to resolve the problem. I do miss the ritual of voting in the booth, but as @Colorado_mom just mentioned above, it’s nice to have time at home with the voter guides available when we have a lot of ballot initiatives (which is often). Also, my heaviest work days are T/Th (this doesn’t change and is not flexible) so voting in person on election day would actually be a challenge for me – doable, but difficult.
My daughter is in college out of state and has the option of having her ballot mailed to her, but it turns out that she has a fall break around the time that ballots are mailed, so it’s actually easier for her to have her ballot mailed to our house. All three of us (me, husband, daughter) voted together when she was home for fall break a couple of weeks ago – her first presidential election!
Back when voting in-person on election day was the norm, they mailed sample ballots to mark and bring to the polling place so that you could just copy your selections that you made at home onto the real ballot. But it seemed that I was one of the few who did that.
H & I went to our clerk’s office a couple weeks ago to get absentee ballots. We no longer need a reason to vote absentee in our state. We have been researching the judicial and college board of governors candidates. We will have our ballots completed mid week & will return them to the clerk in person.
Last presidential election, we stood in line far longer than I care to stand. I’d rather just vote absentee. Plus, I live in an area with lots of election deniers, and I honestly don’t want to risk coming across any of them at the polls.