Suburban Cleveland.
Wife and I arrived at 6:20, joined the line in front of the elementary school. I estimated 50 people in front of me. Doors opened at 6:30. We made it up to the table around 7:00, got our ballots without problem. I showed them my registration card simply because the brain trust at the counter couldn't figure out how to spell my last name (a very simple combination of two common english words...).
I voted (so many judges!), noting that nearly everyone running for office in Cleveland is named Connelly, Donnelly, or O'Donnel. I inspected my punch card for chads and handed it to the ballot lady.
I was given a sticker. (Our stickers never make it through the day on my shirt, I lost it at lunch.)
While I was loitering around waiting for my wife to finish (she actually takes time to consider whether to vote for candidates running unopposed) I heard some conversation between people in line and an apparent election board employee who was helping people find their proper precint line ... He said that there were, indeed, "election monitors" there, although all the people behind the desk looked unaffiliated to me. In other words they looked like the same folks who were there a year ago.
When I left, at 7:10, the line was at least 100 people deep.
I spoke with a friend around 11:30 who was helping a GOTV ride-to-the-polls effort, he said the wait in the area of Cleveland he was in was over an hours.
Posted by msouthwo at November 2, 2004 09:14 PM