Early Voting

[monsoon]

So the early voting polls are open in Mecklenburg. Do you guys plan to take advantage of it?

[voyager12]

I was going to vote early but I am a political junkie and like the feeling of voting on Election Day. Plus, I would have had to save my "I voted" sticker until then and I probably would have lost it

[davidclt]

If they could in some way tie my vote back to my precinct, I probably would. As it stands now, it falls into the absentee pool and I hate the speculation on "this area doesn't vote for that sort of candidate." I want my votes to represent the candidates I support including some of "those" which don't get support in "this" area.

[Charlotte_native]

Without a doubt I will vote early -- don't want any chance of not getting my votes cast...

[mallguy]

If they could in some way tie my vote back to my precinct, I probably would. As it stands now, it falls into the absentee pool and I hate the speculation on "this area doesn't vote for that sort of candidate." I want my votes to represent the candidates I support including some of "those" which don't get support in "this" area.

[Charlotte_native]

I just went -- voted on Kenilworth. You can go from any precinct, they have laptops, look up your name, they send you to a voting booth, you cast your ballot and are done. I was there less than 10 minutes...

[voyager12]

I read an article in yesterday's NYT about the growth and popularity of early voting. One the experts quoted stated that early voting while convenient adds to the atomization of Americans. And I tend to agree. Election Day is a communal experience where citizens go out and line up together to make their voices heard. There is something intangible in this exercise that is lost when done on any day basis. Absentee balloting and early voting is another example of the continuing isolation of the American public. As I sit here alone contributing to a message board

[Charlotte_native]

I read an article in yesterday's NYT about the growth and popularity of early voting. One the experts quoted stated that early voting while convenient adds to the atomization of Americans. And I tend to agree. Election Day is a communal experience where citizens go out and line up together to make their voices heard. There is something intangible in exercise that is lost when done on any day basis. Absentee balloting and early voting is another example of the continuing isolation of the American public. As I sit here alone contributing to a message board

[voyager12]

I trot over to the Greek Orthodox Church on East on Election Day. So its very convenient. You are right that the timing is not conducive for everyone on a certain day, so early voting does help in that regard. Plus, you get an "I voted" sticker Did you get one today? Don't get jealous on Nov, 7 if you did not

[Charlotte_native]

Plus, you get an "I voted" sticker Did you get one today? Don't get jealous on Nov, 7 if you did not

[voyager12]

Oh that is good, it can serve as a reminder for the electorally minded procrastinators among us!

[davidclt]

An early vote DOES tie into your precinct; it's sort of an absentee ballot but the ballot you vote with when you vote early is the ballot for your precinct.

[mallguy]

I don't think that is the case. I voted absentee in the 2005 general election. Based on these numbers: MeckBOE Election Results for Board of Education District 4 it looks like a whole lot of votes rolled up under Absentee rather than Precinct 9. If it is true that my vote rolls up under my precinct and not absentee, I would be more inclined to continue to vote early to ensure that my vote is cast, even if I happen to be hit by a bus.

Strangely, I still think voting on election day in my precinct is a great community building experience.

[davidclt]

That list is just a record of who voted which way- by coming in person to one of the locations listed, or by voting absentee.

[mallguy]

That BoE list is retarded. The vote totals for each precinct are from the printouts from the voting machines used at each precinct. For example, a curbside voter is a person who comes to the precinct voting location to vote but for some reason cannot come inside to actually vote on the machine. So a poll worker brings a paper ballot out to the person's car and the person votes on that ballot, and the ballot is tabulated separately from the ones that were done automatically on the voting machines.

Yet the curbside ballot will still count towards the candidates who were on the ballot at that precinct (on the voting machines or otherwise), as it's the same ballot that other voters in the precinct used, whether they voted early, by absentee, or on the voting machines. But the curbside ballot results aren't listed by precinct, even though the people who voted curbside indeed voted at their precinct election site. Retarded reporting, as the people who report the vote totals are just too lazy to divide the non-voting machine ballots by precinct in their reports!

It's just an example of unclear and bad reporting. If the Disturber just takes that list and copies it exactly, then it's confusing and is bad reporting. But your vote will most certainly count for the candidates who were applicable for your precinct. That the votes are listed by method of voting (e.g., absentee, curbside, etc.) is just flawed and misleading reporting.

[monsoon]

Relative to many many places in the USA, I think the local BofE does a very good job here in the voting and reporting process. Given the task they are charged with in this county, I have never seen the results they have reported, and in a very quick manner too, ever be questioned for validity which to me is the most important thing for voting. And I have voted in this county for a long time and each time, other than having to wait my turn, it was a good experience. The BofE here goes out of its way here to enable people to vote.

[mallguy]

I agree with you. The BoE does a very good job. That report just needs a footnote that states, "Precinct results are solely the numbers of votes counted on voting machines at precinct locations. Curbside and absentee ballot results have not been reported by precinct but are counted by precinct to determine election winners." Otherwise people are confused by it and think that their votes don't count by precinct.

[monsoon]

Absentee votes for a precient are not counted at the preceint. That occurs at the BofE election HQ. It's possible the curbside votes are handled this way as well. There may be state and federal laws that affect how this is done.

[mallguy]

Absentee votes for a precient are not counted at the preceint. That occurs at the BofE election HQ. It's possible the curbside votes are handled this way as well. There may be state and federal laws that affect how this is done.

[Charlotte_native]

Will there be early voting for the upcoming elections?