* Where do you typically go to vote? For me, I vote at a nearby elementary school, but is that typically the case when everything is far away, or do you go vote in some other government building?
* How far of a drive is it? If it’s a really far drive, do you consider it a “whole day” event or is it just “that thing I’m gonna go do in town today.”
* How formal is it? I know typically smaller towns can be less formal about procedure sometimes, but does it stay that way during the election or do people stay protective of that one?
* Do you have to deal with a long line ever or is it usually empty?
23 comments
Almost no one lives a “whole day” from a school or other polling place.
And frankly, the people that do probably aren’t on this sub.
I’ve lived in very small towns (sub 500 people), but they still have a school or post office or other place that gets set up as a polling place.
I drive an hour for work. My house is in a semi rural area. It is near town but technically defined by HUD as “rural.”
But my voting location is 5 minutes away driving.
I have rarely had to wait in a line more than a couple minutes long. It is informal enough that I know a couple of the folks that run the voting personally.
It is not a full day event. Maybe a show up to work a little late type of thing. But I can also just mail in my vote and I did the last couple years.
I think the longest it ever took was Obama’s first election in Providence just because we lived in a heavily black precinct and turnout was high. I think the whole process was an hour?
I don’t vote on Election Day. I vote early on a day I’m in town.
When I lived closer to a town I voted in this person’s garage lol.
When I first registered to vote, I lived in a super rural town and happened to live right outside of the city limits so my voting location was actually pretty far away from where my house was. If my house had been 2 inch’s left, I could have voted at the local elementary school
But instead, my voting location was at a one room community center in the middle of a cornfield. Was never busy. Got in and got out. Sometimes the old ladies running it where nice. Other times they would just glare at me. Really depended lol
I don’t have/didn’t have my drivers license and this was before anyone could have a absentee ballot, so I had to get a ride with someone else who was going out that way. Which was hard because the only other person in my house that voted, was old enough for a absentee ballot and had no reason to go out that way. 2020 I got a absentee ballot and voted from college.
Small rural town ~800 people. I vote in the school’s gym. I can walk there, or drive five minutes.
I think, interestingly enough, that it’s easier for rural Americans to vote.
Small town (3 stoplights)- I vote by mail. My ballot shows up in my mailbox, I pour myself a glass of something strong, sit on the couch and fill out the ballot. Then I put the ballot in the pre-paid envelope and put it in the outgoing mail.
I vote at a fire station like a minute away. Never had more than 2 or 3 people in front of me. Maybe 200 people cast a ballot there on a busy year.
Uh. We just drop the ballot off in our mailbox. 100% vote by mail state. Im surprised people still go physically to a polling location in this day and age. Lobby your legislature to fix their shit.
I early vote, if possible. Our polling place is our local high school. Takes like 20 minutes to get there?
I got an absentee ballot and dropped it off at the township hall a few weeks ago when I got a haircut in town. 23 minute, 21 mile drive. I put it directly in the clerks hand.
Beautiful part about the southeast is that basically every church becomes a local polling place. So they’re scattered all over
It takes 10 minutes, half of which is catching up with acquaintances.
Washington state is 100% mail voting, so that isn’t a factor here at all. I’ve never waited in a line to vote and can do it at my leisure in the comfort of my own home.
I drive to the elementary school, it’s like 5 minutes away.
The line was maybe 30 minutes in 2020, I expect it’ll be less this year.
Not sure what you mean by formal.
I live in a mountain village of about 150 people. It’s about a 90 minute drive from the nearest Walmart. I haven’t voted in person since before I moved here, but I think they do voting at the Baptist church in town.
There’s an even smaller “town” about an hour away from me, with about 50 people. A solid 2.5 hours from the nearest Walmart. It’s an unincorporated community with no town government, so local elections aren’t an issue. I think they have to come here to vote, if they do it in person. So 2 hours of driving, but I can’t imagine there’s ever a line.
I vote in a church, which I don’t particularly care for. It used to be in the elementary school a half mile from the church.
The wait time varies. It’s 5 mins from my house and I have a flexible WFH schedule (since long before the pandemic). I try to go between the before-work crowd and lunchtime rush. It usually takes about 15-30 minutes to get through.
It works the same as when I lived in a city. Check in, show ID, and sign the book by my name.
In Colorado everyone gets mailed a ballot a few weeks before the election. I love it because it gives me time to sit down and research everything on the ballot. I usually drop it off at the court house after I fill it out.
I live in a partly rural/partly suburban county. My polling place is 2 miles away from my home. There has never been more than 3 people in front of me whenever I go to vote. I’m in and out in less than 5 minutes every time.
Edit: We vote at a local church.
I live about 25 minutes from town and I drive 0.8 miles on a gravel road, turn left on the asphalt and drive another 100 yards to my polling location in a little Baptist church. I usually ride my dirt bike or drive my side by side.
I have never waited to vote. Usually 3 of 5 stalls are open when I walk in. The biggest portion of the time in there is spent listening to the poll ladies gush about how cute my sassy little daughter is.
When I lived in the desert SE of Oregon, voting meant having my ballot mailed to me, and then mailing it back. Like I do now in the city.
Long live mail in-only voting.
I live in a pretty rural town and I vote in the nearby high school. It’s about a ten minute drive.
Procedure is fairly organized. It doesn’t seem any more or less formal than other places I’ve lived.
The shortest line I’ve ever seen there was no line at all, the longest I’ve ever seen took maybe 45 minutes.
Most places with a few people will have a nearby polling place. I’m sure there’s some provisional legislation saying the government (within reason) has to provide a polling place for you. And it’s done by the county board of elections, so unless your county is one of those enormous ones in Nevada or Utah you shouldn’t have to go super far
You can also vote early (plan a trip if it’s far) or do a mail-in ballot if you’re not going to be in your voting area during the voting day
I walk to my mailbox and put the flag up.