ChasElection08

Unhappy from A to Z

There have been numerous complaints about the inequitable alphabetical divisions of voter names. By that we mean that, for example, all voters whose names begin with A-K in one line and L-Z in another.

P&C reporter Robert Behre reports that at his precinct Charleston 9, voters signed in in alphabetized lines, but then all joined the same line for the voting machines. This seems to be the exception. At Fort Johnson Middle School, James Island Precinct 8B, voter Katherine W. says she was finished long before her husband, Richard G. At my own downtown Precinct 18 at Rivers Middle School , A-Ks were waiting a lot longer than the rest of the alphabet. We've heard this repeated in precincts throughout the Lowcountry. Apparently, this has been reported in cities such as Rock Hill and Sumter as well.

Summerville High School, Tupperway Precinct

Wow! Voted in about 30 minutes, not counting my drive there and back and hunting a parking spot. In at 4:45, out at 5:10. 

Tupperway is evidently one of the smaller precincts. Other voters in the larger precincts, Flowertown and Greenwave, told me the wait was a great deal longer for them. One young lady had been there for four hours.

Everyone in the Tupperway line was amiable and chatty. Some dour faces in the other lines though ...

Jane

Passing Time

Well, the reading list was pretty esoteric at Ashborough West in the Oakbrook community outside Summerville. Normally a staid, relatively in-and-out voting precinct, Old Fort Baptist Church had a line of waiting voters stretched down the hallway corridor halfway around its sanctuary and circling back again to the door. The line lasted throughout the morning and began to ebb, weirdly enough, at lunch time.
 People know each other in the adjacent neighborhoods that make up the precinct and the word got out pretty quickly the wait was more than an hour. So they showed up with an assortment of paperbacks and hardcovers - a Patricia Cornwell suspense novel, The Diplomats, Puppy Chow is Better than Prozac and, ironically enough, 23 Minutes in Hell.
 Cell phones and ipods came out. People joked with their friends about how only a chance to vote for the Sunday alcohol sales referendum could get them in a line like this.
 Nobody seemed to mind the dealy. The  number of younger people in line to vote was striking compared to other elections. Michael Coutu stood still and said nothing, his eyes taking everything in and his fingers nervously snapping his driver's license and a voter registration card still attached to the paper it came on. He had never been to a poll before. He turned 18 in March.  After he voted he turned and quietly walked out.
  "My first time and the wait is an hour and a half," he said smiling wryly. "But it was definitely worth it. I know my voice is heard. I know what I did is for my country."

                                                                                                              -- Bo 

E-mail Roundup 1

Okay, I voted at Rivers Middle School this morning. I got there around 8 a.m. voted at 11:15. Here's a look at what voters have sent to The Post and Courier/Charleston.net email.

From Wayne Glenn: Voting at Midland Park Elementary the line is significantly shorter than 27. If you only knew your voting location and not precinct you would have to wait longer. 2 hours 20 mins to vote in Precinct 29 at midland park. Polling place disorganized.

Katharine Eastvold in North Charleston: I'm in Deer Park 1B precinct, and I voted earlier this morning. I arrived at Ladson Elementary around 6:40, and at around 7:30, poll workers called on Deer Park voters to form a separate line, because Ladson Elementary serves as the polling place for both Deer Park and Ladson precincts. We formed a separate - and MUCH shorter - line, and I still didn't get out of there until 8:40. I estimate that if I had been a Ladson voter instead of a Deer Park voter, I would have been around 150 places back in line, and it would have taken me at least another hour or hour-and-a-half to vote. These two precincts ought to have separate polling locations! The poll workers were great, though - very professional and very friendly.

From Paul Crawford: Wait at Cario Elementary started at 2.5 hours, when to about an hour, now back to more than two hours. (11:15 a.m.)

From Ben Morgan: Just got a call from one of my Zone Managers who says there are a lot of folks at Brentwood being turned away, nobody telling them where they should go, and tempers are getting short.

From Jeff King: At Fort Dorchester High School wait to vote is approx. 4-5 hours!