More reports from the field:
From sports copy editor Cindy Cloutier: Just sharing my experience voting at Goose Creek High School.
I arrived at 7:55 a.m. and the first order of business was finding a place to park - surely that was an indicator of the turnout. Yet I was excited to see the turnout and was prepared for 2 hours of democracy in action.
After finding the end of the line outside the building, I was encouraged to realize it was moving briskly and we moved in side by 8:30. Where tired voters with knowing looks told us to enjoy the wait. We snaked through the corridors of the high school before finding the end of the line. Hard to estimate the number of people in line, but this one wasn't moving.
Felt bad for some elderly people. Saw one extremely pregnant lady whose husband parked her in a lawnchair for her to wait while he stood. She said she was due this week and hoped to vote before giving birth. We all chuckled ... nervously. Overall people were patient and friendly. I guess we all realized this was possible and that it represented something exciting about the voter turnout. One young woman said she'd taken the day off and was going to work a Saturday instead because she was prepared to wait all day to vote.
One nervous woman finally went looking for a poll worker to explain she had an afternoon plane to catch - could she help her? They did, as they did handicapped voters without offending any of us in line. I never heard one complaint. Finally voted at 11:35 a.m. - 3 hours, 40 minutes of democracy in action. How exciting. But am now a fan of looking into early voting.
From Tim: The lines at Greater Goodwill AME were very long, but well-managed. As of 10
a.m., the wait was around 90 minutes.
After finding the end of the line outside the building, I was encouraged to realize it was moving briskly and we moved in side by 8:30. Where tired voters with knowing looks told us to enjoy the wait. We snaked through the corridors of the high school before finding the end of the line. Hard to estimate the number of people in line, but this one wasn't moving.
Felt bad for some elderly people. Saw one extremely pregnant lady whose husband parked her in a lawnchair for her to wait while he stood. She said she was due this week and hoped to vote before giving birth. We all chuckled ... nervously. Overall people were patient and friendly. I guess we all realized this was possible and that it represented something exciting about the voter turnout. One young woman said she'd taken the day off and was going to work a Saturday instead because she was prepared to wait all day to vote.
One nervous woman finally went looking for a poll worker to explain she had an afternoon plane to catch - could she help her? They did, as they did handicapped voters without offending any of us in line. I never heard one complaint. Finally voted at 11:35 a.m. - 3 hours, 40 minutes of democracy in action. How exciting. But am now a fan of looking into early voting.
From Tim: The lines at Greater Goodwill AME were very long, but well-managed. As of 10
a.m., the wait was around 90 minutes.
--Janet
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