Voting...

Great weather today, 65 and sunny, so I walked most of a mile to my local poll in a neighborhood church. patgreene voted absentee and is busy today with Election Protection in Florida. Along the walk, there were 11 K/E yard signs, none for B/C. Unlike previous hotly-contested elections, the local Republicans seem unenthusiastic about this one.

I usually vote mid-morning to minimize time spent in lines. There were lines, but it moved smoothly... about a 20-minute wait to get a ballot card. I saw three people in front of me request paper optical-scan ballots instead of using the touchscreen electronic machines... if I were in a swing state, I'd have opted for the former, but no one is likely to bother fiddling with machines in California this time. I also saw the lead poll worker warn two tall college-aged fraternity-looking guys away, telling them that they couldn't campaign within 100 feet of the polls.

Turnout in my precinct at 9:30am is more than double (171 vs. 88 on the tally sheet) compared to the primary, and a bit more than the same time in 2000 (mid 150s, then).

Update from patgreene

Report from patgreene.... she's a "mobile field attorney" for Election Protection, driving in a circuit around 5 precincts, checking periodically since 5:45am ET. Her assigned partner (a law student) flaked, so she's driving and navigating by herself (dawnd will appreciate this ;).

At one precinct, one candidate for public defender was vociferously arguing over the location of the 50-foot line for campaigning. Heavy turnout, 90-minute waits there... she's overheated and trying to stay cool (92F and humid in Tampa).