Me: Ireland - Approximately 2 minutes until poll in hand is the longest.

I’ve been seeing long lines for the US elections even for early voting. Seems completely unnecessary.

  • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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    1 个月前

    Houston, Texas. 4.5 hours

    The lines are intentional to discourage you from voting

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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        1 个月前

        Fwiw it was less than 10 mins in the affluent neighborhoods I lived near San Francisco, California and New York and 1.5 hours in the poor neighborhoods in those same cities

        • khannie@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 个月前

          That’s an interesting one. I live in a small town (~10K). It’s a fairly middle-class suburb of Dublin and the only place I’ve ever voted (but many times). Makes me curious if it’s different in other neighbourhoods.

          • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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            1 个月前

            i’ve lived in 11 cities in this country over the decades chasing work to maintain my health insurance and my experienced seemed normal to my neighbors who had lived there most of their lives as well.

            most of those cities had a large proportion of transplants like me and their experiences mirrored mine.

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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        1 个月前

        ditto when i moved to austin.

        anecdotally: the length of the lines correlate with the wealth of the voting district. i think that texas is like arizona & georgia in that when the lines are long; they’re REALLY long compared to the long lines i experienced in california, new york, & illinois; but the short line places always seemed to be much emptier on election day for some reason.

        • BigFig@lemmy.world
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          1 个月前

          For sure, my area isn’t necessarily more wealthy, but it is definitely more republican. Coincidence?

  • nobody158@sh.itjust.works
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    1 个月前

    Oregon here 0 minutes. My ballot is delivered in the mail and I can drop it off at the post office or ballot drop box.

    • khannie@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 个月前

      poll workers actually came out and designated someone as the last voter

      I did wonder about this. That’s cool to know and seems like a fair way to run it if you’re in the line before the station closes. Thanks for the insight.

      Awesome about Rosario Dawson too!

        • khannie@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 个月前

          They cheat to win however they can.

          From the outside looking it it does appear that way but it seems so…un-American. I’ve spent a decent bit of time over there over the course of my life (north of 6 months total, mostly up and down both coasts) and I’m genuinely very fond of the US and its people and that has given me this internal sense of what “un-American” is if that isn’t a ludicrous statement.

          The whole “rig things to your advantage” thing is really mask off at this point and I’m surprised that it’s tolerated.

          • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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            1 个月前

            From the outside looking it it does appear that way but it seems so…un-American.

            it’s at our core and since our founding; things like the electoral college (the same one that’s helping trump win) were implemented to give the few wealthy people a way of preventing the masses of poor people from obtaining meaningful political representation. at the time of its inception, the few wealthy were slave owners and the masses of the poor were mostly immigrants with relatively strong abolitionist & populist views for the time.

            I’ve spent a decent bit of time over there over the course of my life (north of 6 months total, mostly up and down both coasts) and I’m genuinely very fond of the US and its people and that has given me this internal sense of what “un-American” is if that isn’t a ludicrous statement.

            i think it’s common if you don’t study the origin of this country deeply enough and i also think we all can be forgiven for not doing so since taking that action requires overcoming many obstacles designed to prevent you from doing so; also it’s depressing af and on too many levels.

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
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            1 个月前

            It’s by state, and would never be tolerated where I live.

            Unfortunately it seems to be a systemic issue with certain states. At one point several had federally monitored elections to prevent shenanigans but I don’t know if that’s true anymore

            • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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              1 个月前

              Unfortunately it seems to be a systemic issue with certain states. At one point several had federally monitored elections to prevent shenanigans but I don’t know if that’s true anymore

              i think that you’re referring to the voting rights act of 1965 and it was rendered toothless by the supreme court in 2013 and it was created because of those systematic issues.

  • FluorideMind@lemmy.world
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    1 个月前

    7 hours. People were showing up with pizza and sandwiches for everyone in line. It really destroyed my faith in my local government but built my sense of community.

    • khannie@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 个月前

      I think you hold the record so far!

      Edit: also fair play to you for sticking it out.

  • IggyTheSmidge@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 个月前

    England - never been a line. The only thing I’ve ever had to wait for is for the bod manning the polling station to find my name on the list and hand me a voting slip. In and out in a couple of minutes.

  • That_Devil_Girl@lemmy.ml
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    1 个月前

    Portsmouth, Virginia here. The early in-person voting line was around the block and took over 2 hours to get through.

    Granted it’s not as long as others, but it is a good sign when early voting lines are so long.

    • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
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      1 个月前

      That’s not a good sign. That’s a sign that your government wants to keep people from voting. There should be more voting locations. Like, 5 to 10 times more.

      • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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        1 个月前

        If I remember correctly, Republicans in Georgia have consolidated voting locations in Atlanta–which is heavily Democratic–despite there being long line and hours of waiting in 2020. Is it intentional? 100%. In the rural parts of Georgia–and I’m pretty rural–you’re in and out in only slightly longer than it takes to read the ballot.

  • Curious Canid@lemmy.ca
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    1 个月前

    My first presidential election was in 1980. I waited almost six hours to vote for Jimmy Carter in Iowa City, Iowa, USA (a medium-sized college town).

    It was surprisingly festive. There were people walking the line handing out water and snacks. There were several musicians performing at various points along the line.

  • FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee
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    1 个月前

    15 mins in AU. I thought I’d try to get it over and done with in the morning… so did everyone else.

  • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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    1 个月前

    About 15 minutes, this morning in Wilmington, NC. In previous elections here, I’ve walked in and voted immediately, with no line

    • khannie@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 个月前

      I’m gonna grasp at that being positive. My favourite band at a ripe old age, Sylvan Esso, are from NC.

        • khannie@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 个月前

          Thanks will check then out.

          If you get the chance, Sylvan Esso are incredible live. Seen them a few times now.