Polling places you've voted in.

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AWS

Retired PM Staff
I just got back from the local college where the poling place is set up in a meeting room, no voting machines, paper ballast that you insert into a tabulator.

I've voted in a lot of places over the years mostly public schools and town halls.

One was really memorable, rural NW MN, the township had an old single room school from the turn of the century (1800 to 1900). I believe it was 1976 a blizzard was in full swing so we chained up the truck and busted drifts to get there. The place never had electricity so the potbelly stove was roaring, a Coleman lantern hung from the rafters, there was a big table on saw horses with the voting done on one end and cake, cookies and coffee on the other. Everyone sat around enjoying the evening like it was a regular get together, no body fretted the storm and nobody brought up politics. You filled out your ballot and dropped it in a big iron box with a padlock on it, grabbed a cup of coffee a snack and joined in.

I did miss a year of voting, trapping season started and I had a line up in northern MN. It was a lock the hostage were coming home and the actor would never get enough votes to win. What a shock when I made a trip to the fur buyer, the hostages were still in Iran and the actor was president. It was almost as good to know he won as was the fur check.
 
No old schools or community buildings left in our township, so for years we voted in a small church. So much for the separation of church and state. Combined areas a few years ago and now we're in a community center in town.
 
AWS said:
One was really memorable, rural NW MN, the township had an old single room school from the turn of the century (1800 to 1900). I believe it was 1976 a blizzard was in full swing so we chained up the truck and busted drifts to get there. The place never had electricity so the potbelly stove was roaring, a Coleman lantern hung from the rafters, there was a big table on saw horses with the voting done on one end and cake, cookies and coffee on the other. Everyone sat around enjoying the evening like it was a regular get together, no body fretted the storm and nobody brought up politics. You filled out your ballot and dropped it in a big iron box with a padlock on it, grabbed a cup of coffee a snack and joined in.
Click to expand...
And no one had to be concerned about the tabulation of the ballots.
 
City had a exercise center go broke, city bought it as exercise center - couldn't make any $ - now the voting and 'community center' (with a bar). Early voting closed, reg.voting starting tomorrow. Going to get gas, saw some folks trying to VOTE (doors are locked). Must be Kamala voters.
 
My mom was an election judge for decades. I was in college and came home(one hour away) to run traps with a friend/partner. Stayed until Tuesday, catching up on skinning as most of my classes were Wed-Friday. I went into vote, my mom said no way you have an apartment, your own billing address. I had to drive back and vote.
 
A little voting storie. I hired a fellow as a Gardner at a resort I was maintenance super at. He was an artist and a vocal socialist but a hell of a worker, I could overlook his political.leanings.. For years our county only had one socialist party vote, his. The last election while we worked together there were two socialist votes. You don't often see glee like that about an election, he was bound and determined to find out who the other vote was so the could organize. His wife didn't even vote socialist.
 
My first election was a mail in ballot in 1980, as I was in the USAF

Voting in person after we bought our first house in 1987 was interesting. We moved to a rural county in TN. Our polling place used machines in booths. You would go into a booth, pull a lever which would close the curtain behind you. You were faced with a panel of mechanical switches to flip to make your choices. Once done with that, pulling the lever the opposite direction would record your votes, reset the entire panel & open the curtain

Later in AZ it was paper ballots, then here in AL (moved here in 2001) it's also paper ballots with a scanner & a sealed box that captures them. It can only be unlocked & opened under a court order, if a recount is needed. We still use the same system now.
 
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