Downtown Goes to the Polls

My polling place on Bunker Hill was busy, but the lines were moving quickly. This about approx. 1p this afternoon. I was in and out in about 15 minutes.

I voted at the Job Corps building on Olympic & Hill. The line was down the stairs, out the door, and around the building at 9:45, when we arrived, and still at 11:30, when we left. One of the poll workers mentioned it had been like that since 7:00.

They were very good about ushering seniors, people with disabilities or illnesses, and pregnant women to the front of the long line (using the elevator instead of the staircase). The poll workers were very kind and helpful and thorough, but it would have been easier to move around the room if the booths had been placed along one of the other walls of the otherwise-empty room.

The wait outside also gave us a chance to contemplate the architecture of the Mayan and the Herald Examiner buildings. . .

I also voted at the Job Corps at 11th and Hill, but I arrived at 2:45pm. I stood in line for 75 minutes. I estimate there were approximately 70 people in line, with the line out the front door. The operation was pretty disorganized, with a major bottleneck between receiving ballots and the voting booths. The "line" there had deteriorated into a "cluster" of about 20 people, and the people at the front of the line seemed oblivious that they could seize any empty booth, so there were some people opportunistically jumping the line. At one point, they ran out of envelopes for provisional ballots, and then a few minutes later they ran out of provisional ballots, which was causing some anxiety. Just as I was about to leave, somebody arrived to address the situation, but I didn't wait around to see if things improved.

I voted at the Little Tokyo Towers with a provisional vote. There was a long line but I was ina nd out in about 20 minutes, that was at 7:05 am. When I left, the line was even longer but they were very organized. I can't believe Proposition 8 passed, what a disgrace.

We voted at the Hayward and were treated with respect and friendliness! As always. :) One nutty lady tried to tell us we were voting in the wrong place, but I just said "No, thank you, but this is our voting place."