I got up bright and early this morning with my girlfriend and roommate to go vote. Since turnout is bound to be huge in this bright blue neighborhood in blue Philadelphia, we got to the polling place at 6:30. We were sure glad we got there early. There were a total of six voting machines for two divisions within our polling place.
The line was already forming outside:
By the time 7:10 rolled around and we got to the front of the line, it looked like this:
Once inside, it was apparent that they had the same number of machines present for the Democratic primary--three per division in this heavily Obama-leaning ward. Why hasn't this been fixed? Why don't we have five or ten machines available? And considering the lines we've seen in places like Ohio, I shudder to guess what things will look like here. Granted, there are lots of polling places within the city of Philadelphia, and I've never experienced a wait more than 45 minutes long (in 2004). But Philadelphia turnout today is going to blow away 2004 results, and lines will be longer. And keep in mind, there is no early voting in Pennsylvania--TODAY IS IT!
We saw a few friends at the back of the line on the way out, around 7:15. They didn't think they'd be getting to work on time. I can only imagine what this line is going to look like at 5:30! I'm hoping to head back out after work to deliver snacks and water to the faithful.
Needless to say, my ballot looked like this. I was voter #19:
Anyone else have experiences from Philly?
UPDATE 1: Only two machines at a friend's division in Manayunk. Unbelievable. I plan to swing by my polling place at lunchtime today, and again at 5:30. If I get reports from other neighborhoods, I'll be sure to update...
UPDATE 2: A friend who got in line at 8:30 finished around 10:30. A photographer friend snapped this picture of the line at our polling place around 9am:
credit to Kyle Cassidy