My home will be the polling place for Philadelphia's 66th Ward, 31st Division this year. About a week ago, city workers dropped off two deactivated voting machines that have been sitting in my garage ever since. (Philadelphia replaced its old mechanical lever machines with an electronic push-button version a couple of years ago.) Poll workers are expected to arrive around 6 AM today to set up the machines, with the polls opening at 7. My wife will be here all day, while I will spend the morning teaching a class at Temple University before heading back. So far, we've had a couple of neighbors thank us for hosting the machines and making it easier for them to vote, along with a few who seem a little perplexed at the idea of voting in a residence.
My goal is to stay out of the poll workers' way, but I also hope to get a sense of the process. So I'll update this diary with any interesting or semi-interesting observations I might have. More below.
For a little bit of perspective, the 66th Ward is in the Far Northeast section of Philadelphia, close to the Bucks County border. My division is in the 13th Congressional District, but the division right next to it is in the 8th. The 66th Ward voted for Gore over Bush roughly 57-40 (with 2 for Nader) and in 2003 it favored the Republican candidate for mayor by a margin of 86-14. I don't have a breakdown by division, but as a rough guess those numbers make sense to me. There are usually a number of private residences with lawn signs for Republican candidates in this area, while the median islands on the bigger roads are often full of signs for Democratic candidates. And I've seen a surprising number of Kerry/Edwards signs around here as well - although none on my block.
Just a few hours to go. We'll see what the morning brings.
6:30 AM: City workers arrive to unpack and set up the voting machines. It takes us all a couple of minutes to figure out the logistics of the machines and how they'll fit in the garage. According to today's Inquirer, we are one of 81 private homes serving as a polling place in Philadelphia.
7:00 AM: I'm in front of the table, first in line to vote as the polls officially open. AS the ladies at the table get their papers organized, one of their companions says, "We've got 5 lined up out there . . . now we've got 12 . . ." I sign in as voter #1, step into the booth with my two year old daughter, press the button . . . and nothing happens. I have seriously blown cue's comment about the circuit breakers running through my head while the workers attempt to get the machines turned on. Within a few minutes, the situation is rectified, the lights come on in the booth, and I vote. A few minutes later I head out the door to class, while someone tapes signs for Kerry/Edwards and other statewide Democratic candidates to the wall in front of my house.
7:15 AM: If you'll indulge me for one personal note - today is my 29th birthday. Despite a forecast for clouds and possibly even showers, it's a beautiful sunny day with a crisp breeze coming through an open vent into the bus. Today feels like a special day, an important day. I'm excited to be part of it.
10:00 AM: Class is over and I'm on my way home. I call my wife, who tells me that the Kerry, Bush, and Schwartz campaigns have workers handing literature out in front of the house. There's been good traffic throughout the morning. My wife bakes cookies for the poll workers and the campaign workers outside.
11:30 AM: I get off the bus and stop by the former polling place for my division, a church basement that's a 5-7 minute walk from my house. The poll workers setting up this morning had been concerned about signage notifying voters of the switch, so I figured I check. There are signs posted, but a few of them have had the new location ripped from them. Still, it seems like the information is available.
11:45 AM: I arrive at home; the traffic is down to a trickle. I notice that the Republicans have planted their signs in my lawn, so they're slightly more visible. As I come in the door, Fox News is interviewing Philadelphia mayor John Street about some alleged problem with the voting machines. He seems to be handling himself OK, and so far I'm reasonably confident in the process.
2:30 PM: No lines to vote at this point; seems like someone comes every 5-10 minutes. The campaign workers/poll watchers outside are quite congenial to each other, and helping each other make sure they understand new procedures like provisional ballots. If only it were like this everywhere.
4:00 PM: It looks like it's starting to pick up a bit - still no lines, but the drip-drip-drip is getting steadier. If I understand the poll workers correctly, over 300 people have voted in this division so far. There has been a need for provisional ballots because of people not on the rolls, and I think a few people may have complained that there was not enough notice about the new location. (For what it's worth, I know the city Republican party put notices in the mailboxes on this block about the change.)
8:00 PM: Slow and steady through the evening, and there's no one waiting as the polls close. One of the poll workers tells me the rough turnout estimate for the division is 75% - 450/600. The campaign workers have already taken the signs off the lawn.