There were lines at precincts where there is usually no waiting at Democratic Northern Virginia precincts. As Jim Webb would say - OOH RAH!

I was at the polls at 7:05, all-in-all pretty good. I can only hope, skin color doesn't color this election.

Voting in Reston, VA seemed smooth enough. There were a good number of people waiting in line, but things moved quickly.

I'm still nervous about the electronic voting machines.

This is a great opportunity for all americans to use their voice by voting in this election. I was out 7:00am to vote and was only in line less then 10 minutes. I am very optimistic regarding the direction the Democratic Party will take us.

My voting experience this morning was much easier than I anticipated - which is good, but in a way bad. I applied for an absentee ballot, expecting to be out of town today (but my plans changed); I received the absentee ballot, then neglected to mail it by yesterday's mail deadline. While I could have driven to Rockville to deliver it today, it was easier for me to show up at my local voting station and cast what I expected to be a provisional ballot (based on recorded info from Montgomery County). Well, they had no record of my having applied for or received an absentee ballot, and so I voted normally, as if I had not never applied to vote absentee. I was assured my vote will override anything that shows up in the absentee system (which I hope is the case, since it's my only vote).

Editors at washingtonpost.com are collecting stories from voters today to assist journalists covering the election process. You can input your story and contact information (if you wish) at this link.

Bob Greiner
Editor for Local News, washingtonpost.com

I had told my kids I wanted to be the first in my town precinct in Iowa to go vote. So I promptly left at 7:00 a.m. on the dot. Guess what? I was number 8, in line, at 7:00am. I really felt proud to to see that every age group was represented, among us eight folks standing there.
Everything went smoothly. And I hope for a much, much clearer and concise outcome this election season.

I voted absentee after seeing that the electronic system didn't work during the primary in PG County. Unfortunately, the ballots do not fit in the official return envelope that we are required to use and folding the ballot to make it fit in the envelope makes it virtually impossible to seal the envelope.

I voted this morning on an electronic voting machine in Reston with no paper receipt. If the exit polls don't match the results coming out of the electronic voting machines this time we'll know for sure democracy has been hacked. I am sure there will be precincts where there are more votes than voters or where third party candidates get a tally in the database when it was supposed to go to a major candidate. We need to have a paper trail for our elections or we have no safeguards against fraud. Watch out for missing memory cards which hold thousands of votes. Physical ballot boxes are much harder to stuff and physical evidence is left when votes are manipulated. With our new electronic systems we are all putting our blind faith in the honesty and integrity of voting machine corporations, poll workers, and computer hackers not to change the results of the election. Faith based voting is scary!

Voted in the Stratford Landing (Mt. Vernon) Precinct at about 6:30 a.m. today -- good crowd already on hand. This was formerly in Moran's district and was gerrymandered to Tom Davis in 2004. Everyone was cheerful and the voting process went smoothly (assuming the machines were working -- who knows?).

Arriving just before 8:30, it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to vote near Ballston. But that's only HALF as long as it took at the same time and place for the 2004 election, so I question whether turnout is unusually high.

I voted at around 8:15 am, there were only 5 people ahead of me. I requested a paper ballot and waited several minutes for the official in charge to check the rules for what to do in such a situation. Then he handed me the ballot and I waited another minute or two for a pencil to be located. I was obviously the first person so far to try that there, but hopefully not the last.

I voted in Cambridge MA, and there were 30 folks in line where two years ago there wer 4. The poll operators said it was the busiest they had ever seen. I hope this is a trend in the entire country. When everyone votes, America wins.

Voted in Charles County MD this morning before work at 7:30 am. The poll lines were short. Easy in and out. It took me all of 10 minutes to check in make my selections and leave.

I can only hope that today's rain won't dampen turnout here at the University of North Carolina. However, when I voted at 10 a.m., I was dismayed to find that only 38 people, according to poll workers, had come before me. Maybe the skies will clear and people will flock to the polls, but whatever the case, this is yet another disappointing show of politicians' failure to turn out young voters.

I'm from a small city in Pennsylvania and was scheduled to be out of the state on a work project. I went to the Elk county elections office and filled out an absentee ballot form. State rules require that the ballots be mailed. I was in the office but they would not hand me one. I put the name and address of the hotel where I was staying, waited more than a week, no ballot.

Fortunately, I finished early and was able to vote this morning. I still don't know if my vote counted because it was made on a voting machine with no printout or paper trail. The poll workers were unhappy with them and none of us voters had any input into their selection. They were simply imposed on us. I can no longer trust the government to hold anything close to an honest election and we are watching democracy circle the drain.

I'm from a small city in Pennsylvania and was scheduled to be out of the state on a work project. I went to the Elk county elections office and filled out an absentee ballot form. State rules require that the ballots be mailed. I was in the office but they would not hand me one. I put the name and address of the hotel where I was staying, waited more than a week, no ballot.

Fortunately, I finished early and was able to vote this morning. I still don't know if my vote counted because it was made on a voting machine with no printout or paper trail. The poll workers were unhappy with them and none of us voters had any input into their selection. They were simply imposed on us. I can no longer trust the government to hold anything close to an honest election and we are watching democracy circle the drain.

25 minutes total to vote at Cora Kelley elementary, (7:45 - 8:10 AM) in Alexandria. Reasonable before work crowd. 70 - 80 voters in line. 2 lines to check in voters. 10 voting machines. From what I could see things were going very smoothly. 1 lady ahead of me was referred to another location to cast her vote. She took it well.

When you push the red button to cast your ballot, all you get is just an on-screen message. I would really prefer a printed receipt or something. As a concerned citizen, I plan to request the post election auditing documents. God bless America and democracy!

Johnny Curry

I voted at 8:30 in Germantown -- no line and no problems at all with the electronic voting machine.

Twice the electronic voting machine at my precinct in MD recorded the wrong vote. I put my finger dead center on the square for the candidate I selected, but the X was marked on the name of the candidate above it. It was rather shocking since the names were about two finger widths apart. I corrected both wrong votes, and double checked the summary at the end before submitting.

When I mentioned it to the election judges afterwards, they admitted they were having problems at another machine, so mine was now the second problem child. Another election judge said she was glad to hear my comments since it had happened to her as well when she voted and she glad to hear it wasn't just her.

They said they would mention it to the technicians whom they expected to visit later in the day.

Kind of an unsettling experience.

There was a long line at 8:30 AM when I arrived - longer when I finished voting at 9 or so, but it was moving along steadily. One odd thing - my touch screen registered a vote for the name above the one I touched several times, once moving a row of three votes up the screen by one. And it would beep and fail to register other votes until I repeated them two or three times. We've used this system in other elections and I never ran into this - did others have the same experience?

20 minutes in and out at 6:30am. This is great for a mid-term election. Arlington tends to have elections every year, so folks are used to voting here. But, my precinct is in a senior citizen's home. It would be very nice if the home's management would encourage its residents to wait until mid-day to vote rather than holding up the rest of us rush-hour voters. The seniors tend not to be as comfortable with the electronic machines, and the long ballot (4 offices, 3 constitutional amendments, 5 bond issues) made for a longer-than-usual wait. But no one is complaining, and the efficiency and accuracy of the voting in Arlington has not been a problem in the past.

Voting was fast and easy at my polling place..Milton, WV

husband and I voted just after 7 this morning, and had to wait behind about 8 others. touch screen voting machine I was on did fine, and I checked the paper print out verification before casting my vote and all was correctly recorded. Hubby had an issue with the electronic card he was given, but this was quickly resolved.
biggest problem seemed to be that there were two machines down, and a poll worker was on the phone trying to get help to get the machines up and running. But workers were directing voters to other machines so overall, things were running smoothly and the wait was no longer than 10 minutes.

Does anyone find it suspicious that Diebold sent envelopes which were too small to the overwhelmingly Democratic PG County? And we are supposed to trust that our votes are correctly transferred to a replacement ballot by the same elections workers who failed miserably at conducting the primary election?

Voted in Tallahassee Florida this morning at 7:15 a.m., good crowd around 40 to 50 voters. We have a paper trail in Leon County and I love it. Took me about 20 minutes to get through the lines and all went well. It's a very wet morning but, as I was leaving there were lot more voters coming. I think it'll be a great day for America and democracy.

Touch screen and no receipt - very unsettling. Why introduce the opportunity for fraud into the system? I'd feel better if we had to dye our fingers to substantiate our choices.

I voted while most of you were still asleep this morning. I live in Senegal and had received an absentee ballot from Florida last week. I was able to fax my ballot to Florida for counting. It was easy and I am happy I was able to do it.

Overall, voting went smoothly here, because I could go early (when they opened at a bit after 7), because the weather is good so far, and because we are still using clear, easy, non-butterfly paper ballots. Balloting in Wisconsin is made easier by virtue of our state's being one among the handful of progressive states where Election Day registration is allowed. We also have sample ballots readily downloadable for studying before Election Day. All of these are beneficial to civic participation here.

However, problems in the area included: transportation and parking access near the polling station (we're lucky today -- it can get downright miserable this time of year); some confusion over what forms of proof of residency were allowable for on-site registration, especially for young college students I observed this morning; and slight delays due to unclear wording on some particularly long-winded and grammatically tortured proposals.

There have also been some creepily lurking, buff-looking, crew-cutty "poll watchers" (read "poll challengers") pretty obviously just hanging around staring and smirking in some polling places, pretending to take notes, and so forth. This does not happen so much in my new neighborhood, which is affluent and wouldn't really stand for it. But I had a run-in with a couple of them in 2004 and will be volunteering tonight myself as a poll helper, because these people are coming out again today and, reportedly, plan to do it in larger numbers.

There was no line when I voted - I voted absentee. The voting form from Pennsylvania is archaic with circles darkened with pencil on what looks like an old mimeographed form. The circles are offset from candidate's names so you're not quiet sure who you're voting for. To prevent any possibility of misinterpretation of my vote I darkened the Democrat ticket circle. The necessity of getting my commanding officer's signature on the envelope, plus all the additional info needed i.e precinct no. made for several days of running around and double checking information. Plus some uncertainty as to whether it was all done correctly. Then it went in to the APO system. Let's hope it gets postmarked and arrived on time.

With the previous concerns about electronic voting machines, even paper absentee ballots, given my experience, don't seem reliable.

I don't see how anyone in the USA can ever mock another country's voting situation when ours seem so fraught with error, uncertainty and the possibility of fraud.

Re: those talking about Diebold:

I pity you all who have to use them. Mine were paper and easy.

Really, I work in IT, and the day I trust all-electronic polling will be the day that:

1) my parents and in-laws don't have to call me to talk them through it every time they want to attach a photograph to an email

2) the day someone can make a spam filter that can stop masking junk mail for Viagra and smut with real addresses

3) The day Windows doesn't crash and Microsoft says, "Hey, we don't have any more patches for your Windows."

19 Propositions on our Ballots, forget language questions, etc... It makes you forget why you are even casting a ballot...

Phone calls from candidates, interested third parties, 32nd cousins, nasty campaigns from all sides - no wonder some people don't vote in protest.

I voted this morning in Frederick, MD, and had no problems with the process. The poll workers knew how to use the machine, and the person who took me to the machine stood there and waited until the ballot was on the screen.
One thing I would like to see handled differently in the future is amendments... there were three MD constitutional amendments on the ballot, and the descriptions were not really easy to understand. I also wish they showed who the incumbents are, but that just doesn't seem to happen in MD.

I voted in Fairfax this morning. Got there around 7:50, out by 8:10. Smoother and faster than 2004.

I voted in the Cherrydale section of Arlington County. I waited about 45 minutes to caste my vote. The poll workers did an excellent job with crowd control when one of the voting machines went out.

Voted at 7:30 AM and there were about 20 people in the polling place along with me. From the stack of voter tickets it looked like about 100 people had already voted. Not bad on turnout I'd say.

But once those of there were finished voting, we were told the optical scanning machine wasn't working. That unnerved me a little at first, but we put our ballots in the secure box below the scanner anyway. Since that's normal after being read, I'm not that concerned.

Keep an eye out for the MN-5 race. I'm thinking Minnesota's going to "shock the world" again and elect the first Independence Party member of Congress tonight.

I voted in Carlisle, PA this morning.
No machine problems and looked like a good turn out for a small town.
Those touch screens are a bit confusing and I have to think that elderly voters would really need some guidance in how to use cast their votes.
What do blind voters do?

Voted in San Antonio,TX this morning on the way to work. There were about 10 people ahead of me and close to that number behind me. I had a vote register for the wrong candidate on the electronic ballot but I erased it and figured out where on the touch pad you had to touch to get the correct "X" to show. There were two voter registration issues while I was there, both were related to not notifying the Board of Elections of changes in address. My boss reported that his precinct had lines going out the door and the poll workers told him that the wait was two hours long. Hopefully it's because of large voter turnout, not problems with the machines.

I waited an hour to vote in my precinct this morning in Shirlington. Seemed to be a big turnout.

Voted around 7:30 AM in Alexandria city, about 30 people ahead of me. No problems, felt like handing a banana to the Allen campaign workers but didn't (they might beat me up :) Voting machines are not touch screen here, with their calibration problems. Rather, you turn a dial to have your selection on the screen highlighted, then press a button to choose that selection. No paper receipt, though.

Glitch on electronic monitor at my polling place in Alexandria: If you vote for Jim Webb, his name does NOT appear on the summary page. Instead, you only see "James H. 'Jim'." That's apparently because Webb's full name is too long for the electronic system.

This can be confusing for many people. In fact, there were neon green signs on each of the voting machines that showed how each senatorial candidate's name was going to look on the electronic monitor - and it showed that Webb's name would NOT appear.

Also, I was given a "sample ballot" by the Alexandria Democratic Committe before walking into my polling place, and it said : IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE LAST PAGE YOU SEE BEFORE YOU CAST YOUR BALLOT!! "When you vote for Jim Webgb for US Senate, you will only see James H. "Jim" on the Summary Page before you push the CAST BALLOT button. Because of a technical error, , the last name 'Webb' will NOT appear."

i was asked for a choice of paper or electronic ballot. Terrible idea. Go one way or the other, all the way: PAPER BALLOT.

This situation with the absentee ballots in Maryland is out of control and deplorable. I go to college in New Haven, Connecticut and I have been looking forward to voting for many years. My right to participate in a democracy has been denied me. I fulfilled all of the requirements to vote in my first election as an American citizen. Sadly, the Maryland State and Montgomery County Board of Elections were not prepared or able to fulfill the right of every American citizen over the age of 18 to vote. I registered to vote and received my registration card. I filled out an absentee ballot request and was informed by the County Board of Elections that they had received it and sent me a ballot on October 28th.
Nine days later, here I sit in Connecticut, unable to vote in the first election for which I am eligible. It is not fair to me or to the other Marylanders living nation-wide or overseas (including our troops). Bob Erlich has denied over 90,000 Marylanders of their right to vote by encouraging those living in Maryland to vote by absentee ballot, making sure those who do not HAVE the choice but to vote absentee cannot do so. If we cannot ensure to each American citizen their right to vote, then what faith should they or I have in our government to ensure their other rights?

Voted in Durham, NC this morning, a town in the news because of the Duke lacrosse scandal and the Durham district attorney. Turnout was reasonably strong (4 other voters there but no wait) for 9:45am when I arrived. Outside the polls, right at the "no campaigning line" I was approached by 2 campaigners. One for Durham district attorney write-in candidate Steve Monks, and another for the Democratic Party showing the list of recommended judges (since this is a non-partisan race). There were MANY signs around the parking lot, and around town, for Lewis Cheek, the Durham district attorney opposition candidate. We did appear to have a new optical scanner machine. The monitor said it was used in the May primaries but I voted then, and it wasn't. Our forms had ovals this time and in the past have had arrows that are connected with a pen. The ovals are harder to fill out.

In Broadlands, Loudon County, no problems. The Republican workers shoved their sample ballot at me before the Democratic one could. It wasn't subtle or polite. However, I was in and out at 8:30 this morning. Did a paper ballot to be scanned because there was no line. For a machine, there were about 12 people in line waiting. I'm not sure what all the worry and freting is about, if they can keep our money straight and safe with on-line banking, then I am sure they will figure out how to keep our votes safe. I think people are hysterical for no reason and looking for things to be wrong. We are a society addicted to drama.

Actually, Broadlands, think again. Thousands of people's credit card numbers have been hacked electronically, as have their social security numbers. Lots of headlines about that over the past year. Also, the MD governor even said not to use the electronic system and to vote via paper ballot because of technical glitches. Have you not been reading the news?

Got to the voting booth this morning in Milwaukee Wisconsin about 20 minutes before the booths opened (7:00AM CST) and was about 15th in line. Neighborhood is multicultural, urban middle income. About 2 or 3 had to register for the first time. Everything went smoothly, unlike the primary where there were glitches in the voting machines that at first would not take our "Scantron" style ballots at first. Often people had to enter their ballot three or four times. Luckily the paper ballots were kept, because after the vote count was made, it was found that several thousand more votes were cast than the number of voters at the voting places. This was corrected by physical count of the ballots within a few days and there were no problems. Whatever the glitch was in the primary, it was fixed this morning. Very happy with verifiable ballot systems. In talking to an IT person this morning found that the same type of cards that work with mini-bars in hotels work to get into many of the non-verifiable voting machines.

I voted in Greenbelt,MD before work and had no problems with the touch screen but I had a big problem with the poll watcher scrutinizing my voter registration information as the poll workers verified my name, address, and date of birth. He should be there to observe; not intimidate.

Voted in Arlington this morning at 7:30am. No issues; whole process took about 25 minutes. No problem with the voting machine, but they're really unnecessary. The punch card system was simple and robust, if you took the time to push the stylus all the way to the stop. And only put in one card at a time. If you try to do 5 at once, you'll probably end up with a dimpled chad on one of them.

you wrote:

"...I'm not sure what all the worry and freting is about, if they can keep our money straight and safe with on-line banking, then I am sure they will figure out how to keep our votes safe..."

When you do your on-line banking, you do print the receipt as advised, don't you? The reason you are advised to print your receipt, in the first place, is because the machines are known to screw up - catastrophically. Do you care about your money more than you do about your vote?

Voted in PG County this morning at 8:10 in Laurel - waited in line until 8:50. no problems. lots of people.

I voted this a.m. in Los Angeles, there was considerable confusion on the part of the poll workers about machine we drop our ballots into after voting. Some kind of electronic machine that audits the ballots and seemed to be going haywire and pollworkers didn't know what the problem was. Fortunately, I don't think it's due to any kind of nefarious conspiracy, we don't have any tight races here in SoCal, (just tons of confusing propositions)and there was a poll watcher present. But it is troubling to see so much confusion at a polling place. Turnout did seem to be higher than usual for mid-term election.

Voted this morning in Cherry Hill, NJ. No problems and it looked busier than usual for a midterm. We have had EVMs for a few years now so I'm used to them. One thing I really miss though is the noise the curtains used to make when they were automatically opened & closed. It was the sound of democracy! Now u just whisk through a curtain :(

I voted in Roanoke County, VA. I've lived here almost 20 years and have never seen the turn out we had. I waited almost an hour, people were just packed in, parking was at a premium. Imagine my shock when one of our election workers started letting folks from another line cut in front of me and some other folks who had been waiting for quite some time. Needless to say, we had a few verbal complaints so the worker stopped. While I'm glad we have such a good turnout, I'm afraid the long lines and wait time will discourage some voters.

At 7:20 this morning there was a 30 minute wait to vote at the community center by City Hall. THAT's never happened to me before.

Relatively smooth process, but I'd like to know why exactly we discarded the optical scanners that have a paper trail for the "eSlate" piece of garbage - It couldn't have been any easier that it was and NOW on the summary page, my vote for Senate read: James H "Jim"

That's it, no Webb. I wonder how that happened and how many confused people it created. How about this for easy solutions:

1 - allow the name to wrap to a new line
2 - give the candidate the option of deleting his/her nickname (since Webb is shorter than "Jim"
3 - use a narrow font

And yes, it does concern me that there is no paper backup.

My voting experience in Cranberry Township PA (suburb of Pittsburgh) was fine. Friendly and knowledge staff; waited less than 5 minutes to vote and was able to negotiate the new voting machine (although an older man voting next to me expressed frustration as he voted). I even wrote in a candidate (for a State Senate office where the Democrats did not have a nominee in this predominantly Republican district), using a flyer I'd received from a Democrat outside the polling place -- one I'd received in the mail a week before. Just moved here from Baltimore MD and was pleased to find I was not the only Democrat in Cranberry Township PA.

Lines in Fairfax county Sully district were long this morning. 30 minute wait and I got there at 6:15am. They had two lines A-K, L-Z. Nobody in A-K line, about 50 people in L-Z. Other than the wait (and missing pre 7am beltway traffic), everything was fine.

In DC's Georgetown, it took only 5 minutes this morning around 10AM.

We had choices of electronic or paper, I asked which was better, the steward yelped PAPER! I used a golf pencil to mark a dash connecting two ends of an arrow next to the candidite's names, and submitted it. Idiot proof as it can get.

I voted in Hyattsville, Maryland. We waited about an hour in line around 8:30am. I was not in the voter system, despite having received a voter registration card with my current address, etc. I had to cast a provisional ballot. The provisional ballot workers and the head election judge did not know there was a second page to the provisional ballot until I questioned it--the state and county ballot questions were not on the first page, which is why I raised the question. The second page to the provisional ballots were finally found and I was able to finish voting.

I voted in Centreville today. This was my first voting experience in Virgina since moving here from Illinois last year. I was pretty stunned and offended at the electioneering going on all around the polling place (an elementary school) - My first thought was how intimidating it is. Makes you feel that you are being watched by either side for any preference (and consequences). I believe that in Illinois there is a law requiring all electioneering to be kept 500 yards away from any polling place on election day. No tables, sign, banners or people to intimidate the voters. I'd like to see a similar law enacted here. Makes voting a more positive and fair experience.

I voted last Tuesday here in Salt Lake City, Utah - my first experience with an electronic voting machine, and I was nervous about it - but ended up very pleased. Early voting required voter identification (either a photo ID or two forms of non-photo ID showing residence) - I get the impression there is no voter identification requirement on election day itself. The tradeoff was that I could vote at any of twelve polling stations in Salt Lake County.

Utah's Diebold machines work by getting a computer card (like an ATM card) from the polling official, which you put into the machine to have it bring up the ballot that is appropriate to you based on your address (hence why I did not have to vote at a specific polling place). The machine had a paper back-up ballot that printed out after I made all my selections, but before I finalized the electronic information on the "ATM card" - I got to read over the paper ballot, confirm that it had all of my selections right, and then I touched the button on the screen to record my vote, and gave the electronic card back to the poll official.

Altogether it seemed like a pretty ideal balance among new techonology, integrity of voter selection, and reasonable (not onerous or discriminatory) voter identification requirements. And it made voting very, very easy. Now if only more Democrats had a chance in hades of winning at the statewide level here ...

I voted after lunch in Waltham, MA. We use optical ballots here, and it couldn't be simpler. All that's needed is a black marker and a desk with a little privacy, so there were 8 stations open. Because it was such a quick process, and because voting in MA is so often pointless, there was no line.

I voted this morning at 6:55 near Shirlington, and the line was long -- we were at a total standstill for much of the 30+ minutes we were waiting. A volunteer working at our polling place told us people were taking a long time to read through the propositions (apparently many people had not attended to these beforehand), and that was why the voting was taking so long. By the time I left, the line was extremely long. Only four machines, but all seemed to be in good working order.

I voted this morning in Bowie, MD (Oak Creek Church)...it took around 2 hours!!! Only 8 machines were setup. When questioned about the lack of machines, it was stated that 2-year old data was used to determine the number of voters in this particular District. Duhh!!! Has anyone checked out how many new homes have been built in Bowie, MD in the last two years? However, it was not an unpleasant experience. The poll workers were apologetic and it appeared no one blamed them for the long wait. Everyone was patient and courteous. I saw no one leave in disgust. The 8 machines seemed to be functioning properly. I was very pleased to see so many come out to vote.

Manassas, Va. Westgate Elementary School

Just like Brian in Centreville and the comments from Broadlands Va. I arrived at 6:10 A.M. to be greeted by a swath of republican supporters (at least 4 blocking the way to the doors. They were lined up in front of the steps) making sure that I did not get by without being offered a "sample" ballot.

Inside they did not have enough cards to accommodate the amount of people waiting. Only 3 of 4 of the machines were working at first, but the 4th was up and running by 6:40 A.M... I finally was able to vote around 6:50. I observed some people leaving due to the lengthy wait.

Overall it went well, I was just annoyed a little bit by the republican supporters that actively went after people on the way into the voting area.

I thought there was a law that prohibited them from blocking the way into a Voting area and to be a certain distance from the entrance. Quite obviously this was not being adhered to in the early morning hours when people were trying to get in and vote on their way to work.

Voted in Laurel (PG). Place was packed. I counted 20 machines that were set up and running. Everything was flawless. Took a long time, because there was a lot to vote on.

i voted in arlington, va this morning at central library. the lines were very long, but it went very smoothly and actually moved along quite nice. there are a lot of handsome and good looking men in arlington... i never knew... elections should become weekly.

Voted at noon in South Bend, Indiana. Not crowded at that time. The polling place had moved from last time to the clubhouse of my own apartment complex. Very weird, especially to see poll-watchers lurking around where I live and pay rent.

We have an optical scan system, which I definitely prefer to DRE. Still, it's a bit unnerving to feed the paper into the machine and see no change other than an increase in the tally of the number of people that have voted. I wish there were something that showed that it had read your ballot correctly.

The one odd thing (in addition to how many 'workers' seemed to be hanging around chatting) was that the person who was distributing ballots kept directing people to fill out their ballots at one of a set of large round tables. They had three of the usual 'privacy screens', but they didn't seem to want us to use them (I did anyway).

Instructions on the ballot were poorly written, but it was well laid-out (no misaligned ovals or such).

I had tried very hard to find out about everyone that would be on the ballot, but there was still a race that I hadn't known about. Really, would it be so hard for the board of elections to post a preview-ballot on its website?

I waited about 20 minutes and had no problem with the electronic machines in Alexandria. Some Webb campaigners were upset about the truncated name issue. I don't see what the big deal is, it's not like the two candidates have similar names.

I voted mid-morning at my precinct in Centreville (Stone) and waited only a few minutes in line for the clerks to check me in. The voting machine worked fine. My problem was getting IN to the polling place because of the OUTRAGEOUS partisan activity! The school walkway was plastered with signs. I had not even reached the sidewalk from the parking lot when a large man, flanked by two women (from Democratic campaigns, I think), blocked my way into the school and tried to force a Democratic ballot on me. I ordered them to get out of my way and was then beset by only slightly more polite Republicans. I wished I had been carrying my flick knife. When I was growing up, this sort of voter harrassment and intimidation was illegal. Poll watchers could stand silently near election clerks to check off the names of supporters who turned up to vote, but there was NO campaigning--not even signs--allowed within 100 feet of a polling place. Amid all the recent charges of voter fraud and vote suppression, why hasn't this aggressive, menacing behavior been addressed? I may vote absentee next time simply to be able to cast my ballot in peace.

I voted at my precinct at White Oak Middle School in Silver Spring, MD. Smooth as silk. The people who worked there were great - patient and efficient as always. Maybe these guys should run the Board of Elections!

Just voted in Loudoun County VA. Around 3 in the afternoon, there were probably 15 voters waiting, I asked the guy how turnout was and he said 'pretty high', but I did get the eyebrows raised which adds to it a little. Always factor the eyebrows!

other than that there was one older man handing out a 'voting guide' with the Republicans checked off already. No Dems doing similar, but I guess this is a fairly liberal neighborhood anyway, resources could be better used further west and south.

Used a touch screen machine for the first time, and had no problems with it. Easy to use, and it presented me with a completed ballot when I was done, for final approval. Had the choice of touch-screen or paper.

I am in northern Virginia (Prince William County), here's my experience:

My day began by attempting to vote at my registered polling place which is the Linton Hall School. As did many other people I pulled up only to find a hand-written poster on the door that said "Vote at Cedar Point Elementary, Victory Lakes Elementary and Marstellar Middle School". So, I left irritated to head to Cedar Point Elementary School; which is the first on the list and the one school I was sure I knew the location of. When I arrived there I waited in line until handing over my card only to be told that I wasn't on the list. The election officer had to look up on a computer to tell me the correct location. When she told me that Marstellar Middle School was my polling place I asked for directions. I was given horrible directions and I ended up going where I thought the school was. After arriving at Marstellar I was able to vote, but just like the previous two places people were being turned away and sent to other schools. There was even one older married couple that were listed at seperate locations. Overall it was a very irritating experience that made me quite late for work, but I stuck it out and voted. I hate to think about how many people may have said "Forget it."

The election officer at the second place I went told me that notices "should have been received by everyone". Neither my wife or I received any sort of notification.

In a small town in the Shenandoah Valley,Va, at the polling place, there is a sign at the table manned by poll workers that says ID REQUIRED, even though Virginia state law will allow a voter to sign an sworn Affirmation of Identity form instead of showing ID. I think the sign should be changed to indicate that the Affirmation of Identity form is available, also.

Napa, CA - I arrived at my usual polling location at 8:15am. There were the usual clerks minus two people. They appeared efficient and familiar with the machines, and unusually very serious. We had five machines, I was not able to cast my ballot for 20-25 mins due to the length of time it took voters to cast their ballots. One woman waited 15 mins and had to leave to go to work without casting her ballot. We have the new machines with the paper audit. It appeared to be working well. I left at 8:48am after casting my ballot.

Forgot to mention, they gave everyone a choice between Paper or Touchscreen. I opted for Touchscreen, but a lot of people took paper option due to there only being one machine. It worked fine for me. Definitely weird just standing there and walking out after voting, I would love a receipt.

I got to my polling location in Western Loudoun around 3:50pm today. There were no lines and I was given a choice of paper or electronic ballot (I chose good old fashioned "paper" thank you). I was in and out in the span of 15 minutes. Perhaps the easiest voting experience of my life!

I voted at Hillsboro Elementary, VA. Normally this is Repbulican territory but this year I was surprised to see an equal number of people with Democratic ballots as Republicans in the line. Virginia is deinitely going purple :)

Normally it is easy to vote at Hillsboro, generally no lines, but this morning there was a 30 minute wait and people lined up and down in the hallway.

I was given a choice of electronic or paper and chose paper ballot.

Cary, NC -- No lines at all. Very pleasant experience. But, we don't use the touch screens, which is a relief. I don't trust touch screen voting after hearing that the head of Diebold promised his support for Bush. In his job, he must at least maintain the image of neutrality. If we lose ALL respect for elections, a dictatorship will surely follow.

My wife and I voted in Alexandria this morning at about 7:30. Business was brisk at the temple where we always vote, but everything was orderly. I suspect we waited about 10 minutes--just long enough to sort through the material on amendments being handed out in the parking lot outside. We used the same electronic voting machines that we have used for several elections. They are awkward, but some sense memory must be developing, because it is getting easier to use them. If anyone is listening, please don't change them now that we are learning how to use them! In sum, things were busy, but the whole experience was well managed and uneventful.

Oregon has a 100% vote by mail system, and it works great. Ballots are received about 3-4 weeks before the election, leaving plenty of time to research the candidate positions and issues, and voting in the comfort of ones own home. If not mailed in advance, ballots can be dropped at many sealed election boxes around town till 7:00 PM on election day.
Oregon is projecting almost 75% turnout!

I went the early voting route in Chicago, and had a dreadful intro to electronic voting. My particular touch-screen would not register my choices on the left side of the screen. When I alerted someone, I was told that "oh yeah, that one was acting up yesterday but the lady was kind of a kook, so..." I was then instructed to squeeze the left side of the screen so that my touches would (in theory) register. It took 20 minutes for me to vote because I had to literally keep banging on the screen, selecting one candidate to get the other to light up, and so on. There was a paper ballot, but what little faith I had in the electronic system was erased. Worse, despite my expressions of concern regarding "station #3," I fear that nothing was done and that others will have the same problem. What a disaster in the making.

Carmel, CA: Two of the six machines had printer jams at my precinct, so the line went very slowly as we waited to use the four that remained operational. Judging by how long it took the voters ahead of me to cast their ballots, I assummed the instructions to mark and cast the ballots electronically must be VERY complicated. They weren't.

Unfortunately, it may take a few elections for some people to learn how to use these things.

We are so lucky here in Fairfax County, Va. The polls open before the rooster crows. I was suprised to see the hustle and bustle going on at the polls so early. There where approx. 50 people in line. I showed up about 6:45am!!! The line only took about 10 minutes to wait in and then 2 minutes to cast an electronic vote. It took 2 minutes because I had to think out the ammendment question and interpret what they where trying to ask me. The poll workers where quite chirpy too! All in all, it was a very pleasant experience here in rainy Alexandria, VA.

Went to polling place in Arlington County at 9:35...for an off-year election, the wait was very long! It was 10:30 before I left the building. Everything went smoothly, but one machine was down thereby slowing things down by 20%. All touch-screen (all the time) w/ no receipts. Doubtful that results will be anything other than correct in the Republic of Arlington...a liberal bastion in VA, but I would prefer a paper receipt and/or voting on paper ballots just the same.

Here in Connecticut voting was smooth and easy, with good turnouts, but no long waits and no snafus....

Of course, we are still using the old mechanical (lever) systems. We try scantronic ballots for the first time next year, in local elections.

I voted in Prairie Village Kansas this morning at Ward 4. When I got there at 7:10am there was a line out the door. After standing for 10 minutes the line moved up as they split the voters alphabetically. I was in the smaller M-Z line. I watched apprehensively as an election official wheeled a Diebold device through the doors of the polling place. There were five Diebold voting machines with no one at them and some sort of master control with four election officials milling about. The Diebold system was not functioning so after another 15 minutes, I went to a table in the back and filed out my paper ballet. With some trepidation I put my paper ballet into an envelope with my name on the outside and placed it into a flimsy official ballet bag. I hope my vote is counted.

I voted this morning in Fort Washington, Maryland. To my surprise, I was asked to produce either my driver's license or my voter registration card. I asked if this was required by law, because I had never had to show either one before. The poll worker insisted that it was, so I showed my driver's license and was allowed to vote. Then I returned home and checked the Maryland voter requirements on the board of elections website. As I had suspected, the worker was wrong in demanding identification of me (and the other returning voters in line). The only identification requirement is for a limited group of first-time voters who have not previously provided identification as part of their registration process. I reported this problem on the voter problem hotline I found on the website for the State Democratic Party, who said they would send a lawyer to the voting place. I returned to the voting place myself, but in spite of discussing the situation at length with the workers who were there, I was unable to persuade them to stop requiring identification from all voters.

My experience in Prince Williams County, VA was good, in and out in 10 minutes, except one thing? I did not see the 1st District House of Rep ballot? Therefore I did not get to vote in that race (Jo Ann Davis's race), a little suspicious to me, other than that, I was able to vote in all other races and for bonds, etc.

I voted in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday. We have vote by mail for all elections-- the ultimate paper trail-- and have for many years. It seems to work very well, is generally popular and is convenient. No need to get up at 6:00AM to get to a polling site, but hurray to all of you who did. One advantage of vote by mail is that, once the county records that you've voted, the campaigns stop calling you. That might put a damper on the robo-calling that's been reported in the past day or two.

I voted @ 8 AM in Huntington, NY. There was no line and I was in & out in a matter of minutes.

New York users the older mechanical machines. very easy to use

The polls were very crowded at Bowie High in Prince George's County today.

At Rockledge Elem. in P.G. County there were homeless individuals from Philadelphia, PA handing out fraudulent information. Pamphlets were being handed out that stated that Republicans Robert Ehrlich and Michael Steele were Democrats! There were many boxes of these brochures which were eventually taken away by
the homeless individuals. Apparently these individuals were paid $ 100 per day, with free meals and bus rides to and from Philly to come down to Prince George's County and distribute this literature.
It was unbelievable.

Voted in Arlington,VA this morning at 9:55 after waiting in line for over an hour - there were just four voting stations and when I eft the line was well past the point at which I first joined it - about 10 people left the line I was in before regestering because of the expected wait

Can't complain. Showed up at around 9am in Rockford, IL to no lines at all. This is usual though. I am suprised to see we now have electronic voting. I, however, do not trust electronic anything after seeing a group at Princeton hack into one with ease and also program is to infect other machines. I stuck with the paper ballots and had a good experience today.

just voted in takoma park, md, at 6:30 and all was smooth and quick. Waited just a few minutes in line. Seemed like everything was working properly. Whew.

I've voted in every election since 1968, but this morning I was denied my right to vote. I presented a current Arizona Driver License with my old address and my Arizona Voter ID card with my current address. I was told that, because my Driver License had an old address, I would need another item (for instance a bill) with my current address. I was offered a provisional ballot, but that still wouldn't be counted unless I came back with additional ID within a week. So I didn't vote. The Arizona Voter ID law was ruled unconstitutional last month by the 9th Circuit Court but the U.S. Supreme Court, in a very bad decision, overruled the injunction on enforcement for the current election. Thanks for nothing, Supreme Court!

I sent an absentee ballot request to my home county (Baltimore) to send my ballot to my current residence in Silver Spring. the ballot came Saturday-- to my Baltimore address. I had to find a way to retrieve my ballot and send it in by Monday, which is hard without a car. This is incredibly frustrating to think that this same thing may be happening to others throughout the county and state.

Well, I had to leave the polling place cause it was packed. I have never seen it that crowded in 10 years of voting there. It was heartening to know that so many woke up to the importance of this puny midterm election.

I went back at a time I thought it would be light, at about 3:13pm and my gosh, it was still crowded. I swear every registered voter in my county must have shown up today to vote. I will be interested to know how it went in the morning.

I got there at 6:59am and there were about 50 people already in line. Things were a bit disorganized (one voter list computer wasn't booted up and ready and one receipt printer wasn't working). The voter check in lines moved very slowly and when I finally got to the person pecking on the screen, I handed her my voter registration card. She insisted that I lived on a street that I never heard of and she insisted that I must have moved recently. I asked her how she was spelling my first name, and she said "oh". She then managed to find MY registration. My name was cleary printed correctly on my voter registration card. I could have very easily voted as the other person that lived on the other street. Once I had my plastic voting card, I was well on my way....until I was finished and I found it somewhat difficult to find the person that I was supposed to hand my card to.

My suggestion: put a bar code on the paper voter registration cards and let the election judges scan the bar code. The lines would move much more quickly,

At my polling site in Alameda,CA we vote by paper which is then fed into a optical scanner. You feed the sheets yourself. I don't know why we can't use this system everywhere, no lines, no waiting and no confusion.

Voted in Durham, NC this morning at 11:30, and was the 492nd person. It was very quick -- no lines, but I guess this morning during rush hour must have been busy. No campaign workers except two from the Cheek campaign for district attorney, and they were too busy sheltering from the pouring rain to do anything other than smile and call out, "Thanks for your vote," leaving one to wonder how they knew by looking at me I was going to vote for him! Anyway, we use the paper ballot/optical scan, which is quick and easy -- every state should, and forget computers. Just because it's the latest technology doesn't mean it's better...

I couldn't agree more with Joanne in Alameda. Here in
Bridgton, ME, we too vote with paper ballots fed into an optical scanner. No waiting, no problems, and a paper trail in case of need. Plus, there is an automatic battery backup system in case of power failures. No chance to lose the count or delay voting.
I was poll watching for 5 hours and saw no sign of problems with a heavy turnout. Could have been a model for how voting should go.

Seems to me if you requested an absentee ballot you shouldn't be allowed to vote at the polls. Doesn't that raise the possibility of voting twice?

I also think you should present an ID when voting. Everybody else wants one! In an age when you can't board an airplane without taking off your shoes I think you should verify that you are who you say you are at the polls.

I voted a day early (yesterday) at our local courthouse - the same place I voted the last 2 elections. I've lived at the same residence for the last 9 years and they did not have my name in their computer system. By the way, I'm a registered democrat.

Its clear most of America is SICK of the same same in DC, and Sick of this War we want our FREEDOM back and we want change !! Lets see if our Vote really counts or if there is more cheating allowed

This morning, the power went out at two Landover, MD polls after a tractor trailer knocked down a power line in the neighborhood. At Pepper Mill Community Center, the lights were out, and the gym was pitch dark. But the voting machines were running on backup power, the voters and the poll workers all kept their heads, and the voters continued to vote, in orderly fashion, by flashlight. It was a good moment for democracy.

Disaster at our precinct in South Riding. I voted earlier in the day, and then took Mrs. Voter back around 6:30 with our young twins in the car. She went in -- there were not enough paper ballots and of course a long line for the one electronic machine. With the kids in the car she couldn't wait for either more paper ballots to show up or to get through the line for the electronic machine so we left.

Great job, Loudoun...NOT

I'm from Toledo, Ohio, and we were soooooooooo glad to see theresults in our state and our county. A lot of corruption, pay to play, etc. brought the republican party out of their bubble and back to earth. let's hope everyone learns from this...

The greatest country of the world - unable to have a accurate election, where every name counts.... A joke !
Should be a land slide vicory for a change !
The world is hoping for a change now !
Dont lous it up Democrats !
Bring the troops home - now !!!!

I had to wait in line for two full hours in Virginia because of all the people reading through the state Constitutional ammendments. It is amazing that people do not familiarize themselves with the issues a head of time. It took me less than 20 seconds once I got to the touch screen as I knew how I was going to vote. In the future I'll use an absentee ballot.

my experience in Bernalillo county New Mexico was alright everything seems to go smoothly. Everything was in order> I think the machine counted my vote which is the important thing so that makes me feel very good.

Mr President.....Mr Bush
I know you are not feeling well now. How does it feel to loose because there was no cheating like before?
You will be held accountable for all your wrong doings and misuse of power now.
The people have spoken and Republicans cannot bully everyone like before.
Go Democrats. I just love it.

Although I am a registered voter in Maryland, the precinct was unable to find me in the computer so I was asked to cast a provisional ballot. When I got home and found my registration receipt, I had been at the wrong polling place -- two schools three blocks apart were both polling places, and when I got lost in the dark and the rain, a pedestrian guided me to the wrong school. Called the Board of Elections, they said not to worry, I was registered and my vote would count. But how come the precinct couldn't find me on their computerized voting list?

As with many voters, I don't trust the electronic voting machines. When Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell turns up owning stock in the very company which manufactures the machines, one can't help but wonder if alliances are being made between politician and seller.

The "new" electronic voting machines here in Ohio were completely open. No curtains, no partitions, no privacy.

I voted absentee ballot. The wealth of information on the Internet allowed me to read about each candidate, not just rely on the negative ads or the occasional blurb in the newspaper.

Absentee is the way to go. :)

I was barred from voting after I explained that I wouldn't use the proven insecure voting machines. They refused to let me use a provisional or any other form of voting and even showed me a nice big printed sign stating why I couldn't vote. Read about it here: http://www.jeremyduffy.com/blog

This article also posted on my blog @: http://dudewheresmyliberty.blogspot.com/2006/11/another-day-another-election-deb acle.html

Another day, another election debacle. Here's a quick break down of my election day experience at Cuyahoga's 15-O poll.

I showed up at just before 12pm EST to vote today and was hit with about a 10 minute delay. While waiting I overheard the officials discussing the technical issues regarding the Diebold machines with the support staff that had just showed up.

Apparently, a total of 5 machines were down. Two were due to the legs falling off. Another two of which the printer components were malfunctioning on and one which was had a application fault about every four votes (pictured here). This is not to mention the three printer jams that happened during the 20 minutes that I was there.

As for my experience with the machines, it was pretty smooth overall, though the process takes about twice as long as it used to with punch cards. As a software designer, I'd have to say that the interface is garbage. The buttons are oddly colored and the continue/next buttons are randomly placed right, left or center with no consistency.

I had already printed the ballot and marked my selections before leaving the house today which made for a good reference to review my choices both on-screen and on the print-out. The point remains that I essentially had to select and review my positions a total of four times to be sure that everything was recorded as intended.

Upon leaving I was interviewed by an AP Press reporter and was questioned about my experience there. I told him what I had seen & heard inside and was told that mine was about the par voting experience for the day.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a mid-day article here lightly describing some of the problems I was seeing today: http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/election/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_vpdebate/archives/2006_11.html#201826

I went to the polls last night after work and didn't have to wait in line at all. (That's no surprise in my locality.) We still do the paper ballots with the black marker and I love it. It's so easy!

What wasn't so easy and came as a surprise was how the wording of the amendments had changed from how they have been presented in the papers, online and in other forms of advertising media.

I had to read them over very carefully before I made my selections. But I'm confident I chose wisely.

But I think about all the other people out there who may not comprehend the wording of the amendments. It would have been very, very easy for them to become confused and mark the wrong box.

I got to my polling place in Ballston at 8:30 yesterday morning -- the line didn't seem too bad. Yet somehow I had to stand in line 1 1/2 hours. There were enough voting machines -- the problem was that the people checking voters in were just incredibly slow. Compounding that, for some reason they split the alphabet into A-K and L-Z, but A-K's book was much smaller than the L-Z one. The L-Z line was at least 4 times as long as the A-K one and moved much more slowly. To top it off, the poll workers ordered people in line to let a woman who had a baby in a stroller cut in the line, even though there were about 100 people behind her who had been waiting a very long time. Why her time was more important than theirs was never explained. This was my first time at this polling place, and it's made me vow to vote by absentee ballot in the future.

one machine down for 90% of the day, so only 5 operating made for longer lines. the amendments and bond issues made for longer per-person times in the "booths" but waits never exceeded 50 minutes. once it started raining, the polling station became a ghost town w/ no wait to vote.

No problems at my fire house polling station, we still use the paper ballot in the counties,

Good to see the country regaining its center and, hopefully, its common sense; extremism has never worked, and, I hopenever will.

My polling station was the fire house in Glenn Dale MD. The lines were very long - one hour for me and I got there at 7:30 am. The problem was that there were not enough voting machines - 7 for a neighborhood which within the past 4 years has opened 4 new housing developments and sold 2,000 new homes. Does that make any sense to you? As I waited in the long line, I watched many voters walk out in fustration. I just hope that they returned later.

I voted on the campus of Seton Hall University. The process was relatively easy until I stepped into the voting booth.
The machines were new. The instructions both outside and inside were unreadable. All sorts of additional buttons and gadgets. I am not usually challenged by computers or technology but this "junk" was way to confusing. I expressed this to the site reps and they indicated that I was not first one to remark about this new equipment and that it would not be like this next year. Yeah! right.

I had a miserable voting experience. I send a request for an absentee ballot a week ahead of the deadline, and didn't receive my ballot until THE DAY OF THE ELECTION. I sent it in, but according to the fine print it had to be in the voting clerks hands by 7:00pm that night. Needless to say, my vote did not count.

re Chris Tullis in Fort Worth:
I voted absentee in Omaha NE. My daughter and I took too long trying to get info on the part of the ballot concerning retention of local judges. By the time I located some ratings from the Bar Assoc. to help us make as informed a choice as possible, we had to hand deliver the ballots the morning of the election to the drop box at the Election Commissioner's office. This may not have been possible for you, but this can be a possible option if the mail is going to arrive too late. We're ecstatic that the Democrats did so well, even though we're Greens at heart!