Posted on 11/02/2004 7:04:53 AM PST by pitbully
Voted at the Reagan Library this morning, first thing. Huge turnout. A long line of cars were stopped headed up the hill waiting to get in to the parking lot as people who had voted vacated their spaces. (If you're familiar with Presidential Drive, the backed-up cars were about half-way down the hill.) Also -- not a good thing -- there is road construction being done on Presidential, so you have to deal with a large area zig-zagging through orange cones.
I wasn't happy that when we signed in at the table they made us use a pencil instead of a pen. I think it leaves a lot of room for potential fraud (Pink Pearl Eraser, for instance) in the future. Any thoughts on this? I called the Simi Republican HQ, and they were interested, but said they always use pencils. Doesn't seem right.
Do NOT post exit polls. Any exit polls posted on DU will be deleted. (Nov 02nd 2004)
Exit polls are extremely unreliable, and are often used in an effort to suppress voter turnout. Therefore, we will not permit any exit polls to be posted on Democratic Underground.
Thank you for your understanding.
David Allen
"Skinner"
DU Administrator
Just voted deep in the heart of the beast: Hollywood Hills.
Voter turnout was larger then usual, but not enormous. Didn't see any Kerry bumper stickers in the parking lot either. I did see one that said "Ban Smoking in Laurel Canyon!"... so we know who that person is voting for.
Go Bush! 4 more years!!1
I voted this morning in Diamond Bar. I guess the turnout was about average. We are in a heavily Republican area, and I am amazed at the number of Bush/Cheney signs that have been torn up, vandalized, marked with graffitti, etc. There was one guy coming out of the polling place with a Kerry/Edwards button - probably a liberal college professor.
I think many Dems will stay at home if only because they can't figure out what to do with all the ballot initiatives (actually require reading and paying attention to the 140 page voters guide), and because they are uninspired in the down-ticket races.
I voted in Mariposa County near Yosemite which is Bush Country. We're a small rural community. This morning, before 8 am, there was actually a line forming to vote and every booth was taken (7-8 booths). That's totally unusual. The workers were all commenting on how busy it was. I think the Bushies are coming out in California in record numbers! I'll faint if California goes to BUSH!
Thanks for the field report! I'm working one of the poll locations this afternoon and will report in when I get back! I'm hoping that Ventura County can offset Santa Barbara and LA County. Ventura County is Bush County for sure!
Ping me as well. I'm one of those that think Bush can carry California as well. I'll be working a polling location the afternoon in Ventura County and will check in on this thread.
granite, I hope you are close to a shower. Everytime I even peek at that site, I feel dirty.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites), with ballot in hand, heads to the voting booth to cast his vote at the Crestwood Hills Recreation center in Los Angeles, November 2, 2004. In addition to the presidential election, California voters are deciding on 16 propositions, or ballot measures from funding stem cell research to requiring certain employers to provide health insurance for their workers. REUTERS/Fred Prouser
BTTT
I think Santa Barbara County might surprise us this year. Gore won there by a narrow margin in 2000, largely on the basis of UCSB students. Lots of new homes up in Santa Maria and Orcutt country (north Santa Barbara County), and I expect them to be pro-conservative like many of the other bedroom communities.
I'm doing some driving tonight - nothing organized with the GOP, just soloing, but I don't see it. I'm hoping to help raise the popular vote totals, but I'll be astonished if Bush takes California.
Ah well, here's hoping for astonishment...
Drew Garrett
Update. Gore won Santa Barbara Co. in 2000 by 1,900 votes. That is a margin that can be overcome by increased turnout!
Ooh Doggie! Now I'm thinking that S.B. will swing Red! Hopefully Bob Pohl will win in his district and we can say goodbye to Pedro Nava!
Monterey County tends to be a very blue county, I think mostly because of the coastal areas. I'm led to believe that the Valley and inland parts of this district are more heavily Republican/conservative.
I'm not really sure how my little town tends to vote as far as liberal/conservative goes. It's about 90% Mexican immigrants or their descendants (both legal and illegal), so lots of Catholics, conservative Mexican families, and these are mostly middle-class folks -- many of them children or grandchildren of the immigrant farm workers.
The line was about 30 people deep when I arrived. Very quiet, very polite crowd. No outward signs of which party most of these folks tend to vote for. Lots of Spanish being spoken behind me in line. It took me about 45 minutes from arrival to completion of voting. I hardly heard a word of English spoken while inside the building voting.
The ballots are quite a bit different than I've ever seen in Monterey County. In the past, we used to have the little punch-card ballots with the lever - you'd align the little red arrow and punch next to your selection. This year, they just have a pen, and you have to fill in to "complete the arrow" next to the items of your choice. The ballot cards are extremely large, wide, and bulky. Seems like it's going to take a lot more space to store all the completed ballots this year.
Is there a CA map showing red/blue counties?
I voted in San Diego this am (democratic area)...we have the paper ballots with ink. It's an easy process. It gets put into an optical reader and checks and records votes along with the paper ballot.
I didn't like the guy pointing to Kerry when showing me how to fill in the oval on the ballot. I had heard this happen before..maybe my imagination was taking over he did it the second time but the third he pointed to someone else. I think he knew I was checking him out...there should be a better way to point out how to fill in the ballot without pointing to an oval next to any current name... I asked others (with Bush stickers on their car)as they were leaving and they said they didn't notice anything.
Turnout was high in my polling place, higher than I have ever seen. I have never had to wait more than about a minute or two -all booths were full when usually only one or two people are there. I asked poll workers and they said yes turnout was higher than usual.
My gut feeling is good but I still expect Calif to go to the socialist democrats, but closer than usual.
I haven't heard any poll numbers for the Senate race during this campaign. Are we going to be stuck with Boxer again?
*shiver*
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.