In VA, long lines, patient voters

(Photo by Laura Olson.)

by Laura Olson

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - At 7:15 a.m. the line to vote at Alexandria's City Hall was out the door, around the corner and halfway down the side of the building.

That's nothing, said Len Garon, who got to the polls at 6 a.m. when it was halfway down the block.

"I was expecting a half-hour wait, not an hour and a half," said Garon, 63. "But it's better than three hours."

Volunteers outside the precinct location said this morning's line was the longest they've seen in years. But they added that voters had few complaints.

Several voters said the process inside moved quickly and that they were familiar with the machines from previous elections.

"I had my coffee, my paper and a few friends in line," Renee Rybak said. "I heard about people waiting hours in line for early voting. This was a piece of cake."

Rybak, 28, said she had been following the election, but one real signal to her came on her doorknob last night. When she returned from work, there was a door hanger from the Obama campaign, telling her where and when to go vote.

"He's really done what a good campaign should," she said.

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FALLS CHURCH, VA. - Lunchtime voters at the Jackson Middle School precinct in Falls Church, Va., were in for a pleasant surprise.

Those arriving at the polls around 11:30 a.m. were able to walk straight up to their choice of electronic machines or the paper ballot stations.

"Lines were out the door this morning," said poll worker Katie Wolffe.

Voters in the northern Virginia precinct only had four questions on the ballot, which helped to speed up the process. An occasional voter was in the wrong precinct, Wolffe said, but otherwise things went well.

Wolffe, 28, worked at the poll location four years ago, as well as attending Jackson when she was in middle school.

"I've seen people coming in who I graduate with, who are saying it is their first time voting," she said.

Volunteer outside handed out "Obama" donuts - noting that the treats were in the shape of an "O." Voter Bernell Brown took one, saying he came out to the polls because he wants new faces and new ideas.

"Do we need change?" he asked, chuckling. "Oh yeah we do."
Brown said he cast his ballot in a matter of minutes.

"The longest part of the process was looking up my name," he said.