Here are my brief observations on how today's Early Vote went. I was assigned to the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds, probably the busiest site in Santa Fe County.
More below.
New Mexico started it's biggest day of Early Voting across the state today. In anticipation of big crowds, and to practice for November 4, I was asked to volunteer and put to the test our recent training on how to Protect The Vote.
My primary objective as a Vote Challenger was to make sure that people were given the right to vote. I was also supposed to observe and report if there was voter intimidation, illegal campaigning, or other problems.
I showed up at 9 am (voting to start at 10 am). Inside the fairgrounds building, about as large as a high school gym, were about 50 people sitting and waiting to be called. By the time voting officially began, there were about 75 people inside and a line outside of about another 50.
There was a great deal of happy anticipation, eagerness and abundance of patience. However, as time wore on and it was time to vote, the crowd sensed that it was going to take a lot longer than they had hoped to actually get a ballot.
All of the poll workers were working as quickly as possible to get people into the booths with ballots, but there weren't enough workers for the size of the crowd. On average, it took about an hour or so to go from "at the door" to "out the door."
Those who were physically challenged had a tough time sitting around waiting.
Thankfully, I did not observe anyone being turned away. There were a few moments of confusion about provisional ballots, and about absentee ballots that had been requested but not yet received, but everyone's questions were politely and appropriately answered and addressed. The only frustration observed was because of the long wait.
All in all things went well, and I think it gave the poll workers a heads up on what to expect for subsequent Early Vote days and on November 4.
On a side note, I sat with a Republican Party challenger and enjoyed some brief chit-chat. She was from Ohio. When she drove away and I saw the McCain-Palin bumper sticker on her car. I realized she's the only person I've had a conversation with in these last few weeks with a McCain bumper sticker. Afterall, it is Santa Fe County and Obama has a strong base here.
Cheers!