Election Day Thread

[KSUViolet06]

I voted last week. Short line. Maybe 20 minutes in and out. Today, every precinct around me has hour to 2 hour long lines.

I'm in the state that pretty much decides the election. Stressful. It needs to be tomorrow right now.

[Mevara]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

There's a chance that all four states voting on marriage equality will get it right today. Honestly, that is more important to me than any candidate for office.

I would love to second this point!!

[agzg]

Originally Posted by AGDee

The ballot in my county was two pages, both sides and took a long time to complete even though I had brought a list with me of who I was voting for and how I was voting on each proposal. For people who were not as prepared, they could take quite a while reading all the proposals, especially our county proposals which had a lot of legalese.

Our ballot was two pages, two sides on one and one side on the one that had all the proposals. One nice thing about Illinois is that they send you any state constitutional amendments in advance by mail with arguments for and against. So with a little additional research on our own, Live-in and I both agreed on how to vote. But I still read the instructions just to double check.

Also, there was a provision on there for the City of Chicago to be able to negotiate lower electricity rates, and they sent that out in the mail in advance, too, so we knew how to vote on that as well.

There was one I hadn't seen before (even when I looked up our ballot in advance) but it wasn't too complicated to understand.

Live-in left to vote just after 6, I left to vote just after 7. He was just getting his ballot whenever I got in line. But it moved faster for me, I didn't wait as long.

[ADPi95]

We have leftover wine/Champagne from my sis-in-laws wedding last week...so, we plan on either celebrating or drowning ourselves in sorrow tonight!

Team ROMNEY/RYAN!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by agzg

Our ballot was two pages, two sides on one and one side on the one that had all the proposals. One nice thing about Illinois is that they send you any state constitutional amendments in advance by mail with arguments for and against. So with a little additional research on our own, Live-in and I both agreed on how to vote. But I still read the instructions just to double check.

The ballot language is a hot mess on this one. Hopefully, it will fail, but if it doesn't, I really hope the courts throw it out.

[AGDee]

Ballot language from our county proposals: (and yes, they were in all CAPS):

"SHALL THE WAYNE COUNTY HOME RULE CHARTER BE AMENDED TO ADD A NEW SECTION 5.120 AND TO AMEND EXISTING SECTION 5.134 TO AUTHORIZE THE WAYNE COUNTY COMMISSION RATHER THAN THE WAYNE COUNTY EXECUTIVE TO ESTABLISH THE FORM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LUMP-SUM AND LINE-ITEM) OF THE COUNTY BUDGET AND APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE; AND TO REQUIRE THE COUNTY COMMISSION TO ESTABLISH THE FORM OF THE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE BY DECEMBER 7, 2012 AND TO ADOPT CHANGES TO THE FORM AT LEAST TEN MONTHS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF A FISCAL YEAR TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR THAT FISCAL YEAR; AND TO ALSO AMEND SECTION 5.121 TO REQUIRE THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE TO PREPARE AND SUBMIT THE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE IN THE FORM ESTABLISHED BY THE COUNTY COMMISSION?"



"SHALL SECTION 6.112 OF THE WAYNE COUNTY HOME RULE CHARTER BE AMENDED TO EXPAND THE WAYNE COUNTY RETIREMENT COMMISSION'S MEMBERSHIP FROM 8 TO 9, ADDING AS A MEMBER THE WAYNE COUNTY TREASURER OR HIS OR HER DESIGNEE; AND ALSO TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE WAYNE COUNTY COMMISSION, WHO IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE WAYNE COUNTY RETIREMENT COMMISSION, TO APPOINT A PERSON TO SERVE AS HIS OR HER DESIGNEE ON THE RETIREMENT COMMISSION; AND TO FURTHER ALLOW EMPLOYEES AND RETIREES OF THE WAYNE COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY TO VOTE FOR AND SERVE AS MEMBERS OF THE WAYNE COUNTY RETIREMENT COMMISSION (WITH NO MORE THAN ONE MEMBER BEING AN AIRPORT EMPLOYEE OR RETIREE) UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY ESTABLISHES ITS OWN RETIREMENT SYSTEM OR PENSION PLAN?"

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Typically, I don't spend a lot of time trying to parse them on my own, and instead check out what the LWV has to say. They are non-partisan, and spend a lot of time studying these issues.

[PiKA2001]

I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. There was only three proposals this year and I knew walking in how I wanted to vote on them. I live in a heavily democratic area so other then the presidential, congressional, and state senate candidates everything else was just one democrat running unopposed. I don't vote when there is only one candidate on the ballot.

[amanda6035]

Alabama PROPOSED STATEWIDE AMENDMENT NUMBER SIX (6)
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to prohibit any person, employer, or health care provider from being compelled to participate in any health care system. (Proposed by Act No. 2011-617)

I wasn't able to vote this morning because I live in a boarder town and work in GA, but my polling place is open 7am-7pm central. I'll be going after work. I'm really excited about the above proposed amendment. Please, Alabama, get it right.

I wish these amendments, though, would be written in plain English. The one above was the shortest, and easiest to understand. I'm likely to not vote yes OR no on the rest of them because the wording is such that I can't figure out what I would actually be voting for or against.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by amanda6035

I wasn't able to vote this morning because I live in a boarder town and work in GA, but my polling place is open 7am-7pm central. I'll be going after work. I'm really excited about the above proposed amendment. Please, Alabama, get it right.

I wish these amendments, though, would be written in plain English. The one above was the shortest, and easiest to understand. I'm likely to not vote yes OR no on the rest of them because the wording is such that I can't figure out what I would actually be voting for or against.

I think this is a REALLY GOOD non-partisan breakdown of what each one means:

http://www.lwval.org/election2012/st...ts.11.6.12.pdf

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Typically, I don't spend a lot of time trying to parse them on my own, and instead check out what the LWV has to say. They are non-partisan, and spend a lot of time studying these issues.

I agree. Sadly, they didn't do our county proposals, only our state proposals.

I find that Alabama proposal interesting:

The proposed amendment represents a state’s rights stand relative to the mandates in the federal health care legislation that were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. It would apply to all Alabama residents and has the following provisions:
1. No person, employer, or health care provider could be compelled to participate in any health care system.
2. A person or employer would be able to pay directly for health care services and not be required to pay penalties or fines for paying directly for lawful health care services.
3. Health care provider could accept direct payment for lawful health care services and not be required to pay penalties or fines for accepting such direct payments.
4. The purchase or sale of health insurance in private health care systems shall not be prohibited by law or rule.

That's interesting because ACA does include any of those things. Under ACA, nobody is compelled to use any health care system. You cannot be forced to go to a doctor or hospital. Under ACA, employers can still be self insured and anybody can still pay for their care out of pocket if they choose. Under ACA, health care providers can still accept money out of pocket without penalties or fines. And under ACA, the purchase or sale of health insurance in private health care systems is not prohobited by law or rule.

I don't see how this proposal would do anything at all.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I don't see how this proposal would do anything at all.

As best I can tell, it's a purely symbolic "we don't like Obamacare" measure.

[amanda6035]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I think this is a REALLY GOOD non-partisan breakdown of what each one means:

http://www.lwval.org/election2012/st...ts.11.6.12.pdf

Thanks for this!

[ASUADPi]

Originally Posted by adpimiz

I think it's a possibility for Romney to win the popular vote, but not the electoral vote.

My dad heard this last week.

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I would love to see that happen, because I think it would make the NPVIC pick up steam in a big way. Most of the states that have approved it are left-leaning, but a Romney loss in the EC might motivate some right-leaning states to pass bills.

NPVIC? Is this something to change the Electoral College? I'm all about getting rid of the EC and going to popular vote. It seems like every election since I could vote there has been an EC fiasco. I'm so over it!

Originally Posted by amIblue?

I'm just ready for it to be over.

So with you there! I'm so glad that I no longer have to hear or see political ad's anymore.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

I voted early on the Saturday pre-Sandy just to be on the safe side and waited 2.5 hours. People today across the DC/Baltimore area have been waiting everywhere from 15 minutes to 2+ hours...we also have a very 'question' heavy ballot this year. Casino table games, DREAM act, and gay marriage