Massive Voter Turnout Reported on Election Day
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._america_votes
Lines of Voters Try to Cast Ballots Early
By Roger Petterson
The Associated Press
Tuesday 02 November 2004
Voters trying to beat the rush turned out early to cast ballots in many precincts as Election Day opened, forming long lines that snaked out the doors, waiting in rain and even taking along chairs for expected long waits.
Umbrellas and raincoats were needed Tuesday from Texas to the lower Great Lakes, and snow-covered roads were a problem in the Texas Panhandle. In some places, voters were standing in line before the polling place doors opened.
Besides the presidency, voters were filling 34 Senate seats, 11 governorships and all 435 House seats.
Both parties had pushed to increase turnout among their supporters, and even with early voting in many states, tens of millions were to head to the polls before the long Election Day wound to a close.
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"I've never had to wait in line before," Fred Flugger, 72, said at his polling place on Pittsburgh's South Side, where dozens of people were already waiting when he arrived shortly after polls opened. "Usually, if I had to wait, it would be three to four minutes. There's just a lot of interest in this election."
Turnout at another Pittsburgh precinct clearly was exceeding that of the Bush-Gore race four years ago, said Jay Troutman, the judge of elections at the polling place.
"A good clip is one (voter) per minute, and we've exceeded that," Troutman said about 90 minutes after the polls opened.
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"We wanted to come out early to vote but we never expected such a heavy turnout," Linda Russell said as she stood in line before polls opened in Raleigh, N.C.
Elsewhere in North Carolina, lines of voters snaked down sidewalks and across a street at a Durham precinct, where one man brought a chair to ease the wait.
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Republican U.S. Senate candidate E.J. Pipkin had to wait in a line that wound out the door before he voted at about 7:20 a.m. at an elementary school in Stevensville, Md.
Pipkin said it was exciting to see such a large turnout. "We've been pushing the message that voting matters, who's in office matters, and I think we're seeing a direct result of that today with this kind of turnout," Pipkin said. "It bodes well for our democracy."
One Baltimore County precinct reported it didn't have enough electrical cords, but they soon turned up. "It's all very small stuff," Elections Director Jackie McDaniel said Tuesday morning. "Everything is going fine so far. It's early yet."
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About 100 people were already in line when Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh went to cast her own ballot shortly after the polls opened in Warren, Mich.
"I'm predicting up to 75 percent (turnout) in Macomb County," she said. "Every indication I have ... is that this is the election for people. It still seems very polarized - they're either going to support the president or get him out of there."
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Polls opened without incident in West Virginia's Wayne County, despite a chemical spill last week that closed two schools that were to serve as polling places, said County Clerk Robert Pasley.
"We even had people waiting in line before we opened at 6:30 a.m. In some places, there was more than a dozen people waiting and that's heavy," Pasley said.
A poll worker in Charleston, W.Va., accidentally closed a ballot box that was not supposed to be shut until the polls close. Kanawha County Registrar Vera McCormick said a worker in her office was sent to reset the box by 7:15 a.m.
"The locks are in place but they can't close the box," said voter Hattie Johnson. "I brought my sister because she has never voted before and she has to work this morning and now may not be able to vote."
Voters at three precincts in Williamstown, W.Va., cast ballots by flashlight because of a power outage, said Wood County Deputy Clerk Jay Day.
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Up to 7 inches of snow fell in the Texas Panhandle, and Randall County Clerk Sue Bartolino warned voters to be careful on the roads. A winter weather advisory was posted.
In nearby Texas County, Okla., the earlier arrival of the wintry conditions had led many older voters to turn in absentee ballots Monday.
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The parking lot was crowded at Dent Middle School in Columbia, S.C., and about 200 people were waiting in line when the polls opened at 7 a.m.
"It's not normal," said 75-year-old Timothy Evans Sr., a longtime poll worker. "Four years ago we had a little over 100 voters. It's really almost double that amount."
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Robert Thomas, 21, was among about 150 people in line when the polls opened in Miami at the Mount Zion AME Church, but he said he wished there were more young people there.
"We need to get more young people to vote, like myself," said Thomas, voting in his first presidential election. "I looked around and you see some, but it should be a stronger crowd."
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