Comments on: Election Day: Nov. 6, 2012

By: DrData

DrData — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:56:18 +0000

(38). You do need to be over 60 to have a no excuses reason for voting early. Michigan allows absentee voting for the following reasons (a)age 60+; (b)unable to vote without assistance; (c) expecting to be out of town on election day; (d)in jail awaiting arraignment or trial; (e) unable to attend the polls due to religious reasons; (f)appointed to work as an election inspector in a precinct out of your precinct of residence. [link] I am sure many people use (c) as their excuse and you don't have to prove it. But, the majority of states allow for "no excuses" in person and/or absentee voting. [link] It would be nice if Michigan joined this movement. Voting with long waits in line is not an attractive/reasonable option for the low pay workers in the service industry who aren't encouraged to vote with the type of messages I get: "don't worry about coming in late/leaving work early to vote."

By: Jeff Harris

Jeff Harris — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:09:01 +0000

You don’t have to be over 60 to vote absentee. Any voter can do it if they choose. As #37 said above, it’s nice to be able to look things up online while completing the ballot.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:35:20 +0000

Yes, I always used to enjoy voting at my precinct. It was like a secular sacrament and gave me the feeling of being one with my neighbors and fellow human beings.

However, I have now voted absentee for several years. It gives me peace of mind to know that I have taken care of that responsibility and that no mishap will cause me to miss. Also, you can look things up online if you have questions while filling out your ballot.

By: susan wineberg

susan wineberg — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:42:03 +0000

If you are over 60 you can vote absentee. this eliminates standing in line plus you can see the ballot and think about how to vote and ask friends for advice.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:06:47 +0000

Re (30) Obviously you are not disabled, prone to fainting (low blood pressure), decorated with small children, or under lots of work pressure, and you have excellent feet.

Re (34) We used to have two precincts voting at Forsythe, 5-10 and 5-11. For some reason these two precincts were combined into a megaprecinct ten years ago. The lines were long for the two precincts and people sometimes got into the wrong line, but it did seem more sensible.

By: Chuck Warpehoski

Chuck Warpehoski — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 06:16:51 +0000

Ruth, I heard from Stephen Postema that the 1 computer per precinct rule was a state rule. If the state doesn’t change the rule, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the city break up the larger precincts into smaller ones, even if they ended up voting at the same location (like 5-4 and 5-5 do).

By: Ruth Kraut

Ruth Kraut — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 01:58:14 +0000

David, I’m not sure if I’m right–someone later told me that the state says you can only have one computer per precinct (and that may be because of security)–I don’t know.

By: David Cahill

David Cahill — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 01:00:12 +0000

Iacta alea est. The polls are closed. Those in line can still vote.

By: Glacial Erratic

Glacial Erratic — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:44:01 +0000

At Bach around 3:45, #926 and quick. But I did correct the front line worker who said to have your “license” out (way too many assumptions there) and in another precinct, a friend had a situation in which what was in the rules (and on the sign) and what the poll workers thought were not in agreement.

I know that’s cryptic, but without going into details, it was a case in which the friend had legit and authorized ID within the rules, but not what the poll worker expected (despite the sign in front of him/her) and the slinging around of words like “improper” and “illegal” could have scared off a less informed but totally legit voter. Simply minor human brain-glitches at the local level but made it easy to see what malice could do in other places.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:12:55 +0000

Is an hour really that big a deal? I’ve always found standing in that line to me kind of exciting–people are good to one another and I have this fleeting feeling that democracy really exists.