The bottleneck in my precinct was that they had only one vote-scanning machine. Hope they'll have more next time.
There were a number of people who stood in line for an hour, only to discover at the sign-in table that they had come to the wrong voting place. Precinct lines had just been redrawn because of the new census.
I know that registered voters were sent a postcard well before the primary to tell them where to vote now. It's always so hard on people who don't navigate well in our quite liberal system for registration and voting. I was amazed to see that they now permit registration on election day using a utility bill as part of proof of identity. When there are reports of problems that can be solved in real time, my experience with Election Headquarters is that they do an impressive job of providing solutions. If there was not some map to understand the new redistricting posted on the wall (to be pointed out) or someone telling the line of people waiting what the new district boundaries were (to get them sent on to the proper polling place), then I am surprised.
K. [certainly some people arrived at the correct polling place too late to cast a ballot, and no doubt they are angry about that]
There were maps on streets and apartment buildings everywhere in my area and up Nicollet. It was pretty cool.
The election volunteers are pretty attached to those utility bills -- they almost didn't let me register in my new precint with my (correct) driver's license!
Minnesota voting
Date: 2002-11-06 06:26 am (UTC)There were a number of people who stood in line for an hour, only to discover at the sign-in table that they had come to the wrong voting place. Precinct lines had just been redrawn because of the new census.
Long day for the election judges. Oy.
Re: Minnesota voting
Date: 2002-11-06 07:03 am (UTC)K. [certainly some people arrived at the correct polling place too late to cast a ballot, and no doubt they are angry about that]
Re: Minnesota voting
Date: 2002-11-06 07:27 am (UTC)The election volunteers are pretty attached to those utility bills -- they almost didn't let me register in my new precint with my (correct) driver's license!