Why are there often long lines when I vote?

In many recent elections stories have emerged of people waiting hours to cast their vote on Election Day. Tova Wang of Common Cause (http://commoncause.org) explains the causes of those long lines and what to do if you end up in one on Nov. 4.

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http://youtube.com/videoyourvote

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http://maps.google.com/vote

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• voting
• election
• reform
• polling
• places
• ballots
• provisional

[TheMrbuzi]

@Becksbecca forum at JTF.org

[Becksbecca]

you suck

[Manglonecrow]

You Americans are hilarious. You talk about spreading democracy around the world but you can't even run your own elections efficiently.

In 40 years I have never waited in line to vote in Canada. There is a rather simple solution, paper ballots, more polling stations, separate election dates for local, state, and national elections.

[TrooperRaven]

I almost started to cry when I heard about these people having to stand in line to vote.

If you believe that Common Cause is a non-partisan group, then you probably think that PBS and NPR are conservative think tanks. Tova Wang is a socialist hack and Commie Cause is just another lobbying arm for the DemonRats.

[junkie4vids]

If there is a long line at a particular voting location, I will go to any one of my 12 voting locations to find a few shorter lines to cast my numerous votes for Obama. Thanks ACORN.

[howapel]

Yeah, it's probably Republicans walking away because they actually have to work. Democrats who live in their parents basements and play video games and smoke weed all day have all the time in the world to stand on line.

[simon1086]

It's not the population size that's relevant, it's the number of machines per 100,000 of the population. But, yes, long lines affect turnout - the sight of a long line (or any line) turns potential voters away. It's possible to speculate which party's voters are more likely to walk away.

[inocente106]

I was vacationing in Columbus Ohio on election day in 2004, and i did see long lines for voting there... I live in Los Angeles and ive never seen long lines here on election day and we are more populated than Columbus...