Early Voting 2018 thread of doom

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

57 minutes ago, horncyclist said:

Schumer no offered a deal for his wall. The truth is they don't give a shit about immigration. Probably like it cause of cheap labor. They just want to use it as an issue to scare people and gain power.

Very profound, I'm surprised no one else has caught on to this tactic.

[Chrispy 132]

1 hour ago, Homercles said:

 

If they live here in CP then they should be used to seeing Indians. Parts of my neighborhood are predominantly of dot heritage.

As someone who works with more Indians than any other nationality, has regular conference calls with people in Bangalore/Mumbai, has an Indian best friend and spent several months there...I was confused why some of my Indian neighbors were very western-friendly while others would never even wave back.

I asked an Indian coworker and his response was another question:

Aditya: “Does grandma and grandpa live in those houses that don’t wave?”
Me: “Yep”
Aditya: “It’s another world in there dude”

I think about that a lot. I tend to get along with my Indian coworkers well because I collect Ganeshs, can crack jokes about the traffic there and interpret various head nods reasonably well...but didn’t consider that a third generation living with the family would have such a huge impact on cultural integration.

Indians are people like everyone else and one of the most diverse places/cultures/politics you’ll ever know. I’ve been all over Europe, lived in turkey for three years, spent a week in San Salvador, Penang, Bali, all over the Philippines, going to Thailand next year, along with the usual Mexico and Canada...but there is absolutely no place as varied and exotic as India.

 

Can you ask about the head nodding back and forth when talking? 

[SimonBolivar 10,958]

Certainly looks like it's slowing down today. Only one Travis county station has a wait of 30 minutes or more.

[GRHorn 105]

Exciting times. I don’t anyone call tell what will happen. My strongly conservative small town had an all time record 680 voters yesterday. So the enthusiasm looks to be on all sides. 

[bolverk 29,671]

Currently, standing in line outside Gardner Betts right behind Maria of Taco Express fame.

[Kyrie Eleison 9,312]

[Biff Tannen 45,678]

22 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Currently, standing in line outside Gardner Betts right behind Maria of Taco Express fame.

How is it?  I may be going there at lunch.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,819]

2 hours ago, bernorange said:

I've seen several Surly peeps advocate the same action for the Dems in various threads.  I even responded to one saying that straight ticket voting is lazy and dumb.  The drumbeats of the tribes are quite loud right now.

I generally wouldn't vote straight ticket because there are some races where I might vote libertarian.  Plus you have to read up on local races and propositions to vote on those anyway.  

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

1 hour ago, Chrispy said:

Can you ask about the head nodding back and forth when talking? 

My racist Irish friend said it was ingrained from the British slapping them around.

[Biff Tannen 45,678]

The voting wait time map also got rid of the phantom St. Ed's polling location.  Glad to know I wasn't completely losing my mind yesterday.

[bolverk 29,671]

31 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

How is it?  I may be going there at lunch.

I pulled up just before 10am and walked out about 10:30. Not horrendous. They've got 10 voting booths and only let five people in at a time. When I arrived, I was 17th in line outside. Leaving, it looked like about 25-30 were waiting outside.

[bolverk 29,671]

37 minutes ago, Kyrie Eleison said:

That's her, but she has her hair dyed blonde now (probably because she's gone gray).

[bolverk 29,671]

34 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I generally wouldn't vote straight ticket because there are some races where I might vote libertarian.  Plus you have to read up on local races and propositions to vote on those anyway.  

Yeah, but you better write your list down on paper. I pulled out my cellphone to look at the Austin Chronicle endorsements and one of the poll workers snapped at me. I guess they're not allowed in the voting booth.

[Celery Man 20,939]

1 hour ago, Chrispy said:

Can you ask about the head nodding back and forth when talking? 

[Celery Man 20,939]

2 hours ago, Jiggy-Z said:

Went there this morning. Had to use the men's room, but cops and ems had a guy in the restroom area common hallway on a stretcher.  They were not using the restrooms but still would not let me take care of business.  ended up using employee restroom.  Cop was pretty short with me. they could have easily blocked the common area hallway and not has any trouble.  Cops.  I guess I should be thankful I am still alive, but then again I am white and look like a construction guy so the odds were in my favor.

Report from the field.

Anyway, got in line and monitored my progress for 15-20 min and figured it would be 1:15 wait.  Plus guy in front of me smelled funny, so I left to try another time.

so otherwise a normal day at ben white randalls then

Edited October 23, 2018 by Celery Man

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

Are there any pros or cons to voting/not voting in uncontested elections?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,511]

I can't find an overall early vote total for the top 15 counties (65% of the Texas registered voters) so creating the following until the SoS website catches up.  Some counties don't seem to report their early vote totals or at best they report it to the press only.  There are also some conflicting reports for other counties so no guarantee of accuracy for all.   I added the Trump/Hillary breakdown for reference.   

[Fozzz 152]

 

Los Tigres concert was a good idea.

Edited October 23, 2018 by Fozzz

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

3 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I can't find an overall early vote total for the top 15 counties (65% of the Texas registered voters) so creating the following until the SoS website catches up.  Some counties don't seem to report their early vote totals or at best they report it to the press only.  There are also some conflicting reports for other counties so no guarantee of accuracy for all.   I added the Trump/Hillary breakdown for reference.   

Just incredible.  Am I reading this right?  4x in El Paso?  4x in Dallas?  3x in Harris?  Wow.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,511]

1 minute ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

Just incredible.  Am I reading this right?  4x in El Paso?  4x in Dallas?  3x in Harris?  Wow.

These are what they're reporting, and I'm only including in-person voting.  Harris County had another 50K mail-in received on Day 1 and earlier.  

[Js1 85,319]

3400 people voted at the Metropolitan Services Center yesterday.

2500 at the early voting location in Spring (ugh)

2000 in Kingwood (ugh)

2200 at Trini Mendehall

1100 in Acres Homes

1200 at the Fiesta near NRG

https://www.harrisvotes.com/Docs/Uploads/EVPA.pdf

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,511]

Just now, Js1 said:

3400 people voted at the Metropolitan Services Center yesterday.

2500 at the early voting location in Spring (ugh)

2000 in Kingwood (ugh)

2200 at Trini Mendehall

1100 in Acres Homes

1200 at the Fiesta near NRG

https://www.harrisvotes.com/Docs/Uploads/EVPA.pdf

With the rain, I bet Houston has a poor total today.   I want to vote but I don't need to stand in line when it's raining.  

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

These are what they're reporting, and I'm only including in-person voting.  Harris County had another 50K mail-in received on Day 1 and earlier.  

Are mail ins included in the 2014 number?  Or are they missing from both?  (interested in knowing the multiplier here.  does it go up because mail ins will be added to 2018 to match what was done in 2014, or is it fair to say nothing could happen because mail ins were not in the 2014 number either)

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,511]

1 minute ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

Are mail ins included in the 2014 number?  Or are they missing from both?  (interested in knowing the multiplier here.  does it go up because mail ins will be added to 2018 to match what was done in 2014, or is it fair to say nothing could happen because mail ins were not in the 2014 number either)

The 2014 numbers definitely do NOT include mail-in ballots.   For the 2018 #s, its difficult to tell especially when its a news story reporting it.  for example the Hidalgo County tweet above looks to be the #s combined (at least for 2014 #s)  but it doesn't state that.   If you notice a mistake, let me know.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

El Paso is the coolest of the above.  It went from nobody voting to everybody voting in one cycle.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

I'm interested in seeing how increased turnout changes the partisan split in the counties.  Are Ds really underrepresented at the polls, so higher turnout is good for the left?  Or is that something Ds say to themselves as a moral victory every time they don't get an actual victory?  

It'll also be a tough year to extract that information because the current climate probably makes more people than usual switch party sides.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,869]

46 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I can't find an overall early vote total for the top 15 counties (65% of the Texas registered voters) so creating the following until the SoS website catches up.  Some counties don't seem to report their early vote totals or at best they report it to the press only.  There are also some conflicting reports for other counties so no guarantee of accuracy for all.   I added the Trump/Hillary breakdown for reference.   

Several takeaways and a question:

If you look at counties 16-30, you get another ~2M registered voters and up to approximately 88% of the electorate. Would also be interesting to see the numbers for those counties compared to and alongside the top dogs.

I'm not really understanding the Trump/Hillary numbers unless it's as simple as the higher number corresponds to 'color' of the winner. Is that the case?

Holy shit, I would not want to live in Montgomery county. I don't know what's there and I don't want to (again, if I'm reading correctly and 73% voted for Trump). And a 52k (18.5%) increase in registrants in that county in 4 years is pretty astounding.

Williamson Co had the highest % increase in registrants at 22.2277%, just beating out Denton at 22.2214%. Interesting that the north burbs of Austin, Dallas, and Houston were all among the highest in new registrants.

Edited October 23, 2018 by Longhorn_Fan68

[Js1 85,319]

4 minutes ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

I'm interested in seeing how increased turnout changes the partisan split in the counties.  Are Ds really underrepresented at the polls, so higher turnout is good for the left?  Or is that something Ds say to themselves as a moral victory every time they don't get an actual victory?  

It'll also be a tough year to extract that information because the current climate probably makes more people than usual switch party sides.

Since Texas doesn't have party registration, you can't really look at that.  Looking at you, NBC News.

Now, you can look at trend lines instead (good turnout in urban counties + high turnout in suburban counties in a year where female, college educated women and the suburbs are turning away from the GOP bigly + ACTUAL PEOPLE VOTING in Hidalgo/El Paso) to get good news. 

[longhorndude 146]

About to do my civic duty. Mid day at Randall’s in Round Rock and supposedly it’s been pretty much this since yesterday. I usually walk in and out of here pretty quick.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,511]

5 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

I'm not really understanding the Trump/Hillary numbers unless it's as simple as the higher number corresponds to 'color' of the winner. Is that the case?

 

Those are the percentages for both Hillary and Trump in 2016 for that county.  3rd parties account for the remaining percentages.  I included this to understand how the county trended overall 2 years ago.

[Gil Bang 25,949]

4 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

First day of early voting in Louisiana today starts in 10 minutes.

At my early voting location and there are four people at the door plus some people waiting in their cars in the parking lot.  It is also raining.

Isn't it always raining in that godforsaken place?

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

13 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

 

Williamson Co had the highest % increase in registrants at 22.2277%, just beating out Denton at 22.2214%. Interesting that the north burbs of Austin, Dallas, and Houston were all among the highest in new registrants.

Seems to be the more partisan the area, the greater the registration increase.  Makes sense.  In heavy D areas there is a big motivation to have a registration drive for the State D party, and in heavy R areas the R Party would focus its registration efforts.  Just help those people get to the polls and they will do the heavy lifting for you.  Lowest registration increase up there is naturally Nueces, which is the 49/47 county -- the only purple one.

[Woland 733]

No line in Melissa, TX. Beto will get at least one vote at that vote center.

[Longhornfan1024 1,707]

Line out the door and around the corner again today at the FAC during lunch.  

[sushihorn 3,233]

Massive increase in early voting looks like a statewide phenomenon.  Lubbock Co 9,191 vs 2,408 in 2014 (+280%).

http://kfyo.com/over-9000-voters-cast-ballots-in-lubbock-county-on-the-first-day-of-early-voting/

 

Midland Co 3,546 vs 756 in 2014 (+380%).

https://www.texastribune.org/2018/10/22/texas-early-voting-turnout/

[gmr548 16,576]

PSA - Randalls at 183/Breaker has a manageable line if you're in the area. I'm on track for about 20 mins or so but it has gotten a bit longer behind me.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[happyfunball 481]

4 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

PSA - Randalls at 183/Breaker has a manageable line if you're in the area. I'm on track for about 20 mins or so but it has gotten a bit longer behind me.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

I was going there but instead went to Round Rock ISD around the corner as online said shorter wait. Waited probably 15 minutes and decent demographic split between age, race, and gender. Probably skewed to late 20s - 40s more than any other age group.

Edited October 23, 2018 by happyfunball

[Homercles 10,205]

Can you ask about the head nodding back and forth when talking? 

Just a form of non verbal communication, like your drooling

[gmr548 16,576]

I was going there but instead went to Round Rock ISD around the corner as online said shorter wait. Waited probably 15 minutes and decent demographic split between age, race, and gender. Probably skewed to late 20s - 40s more than any other age group.

 

It's mostly white olds here but there are sizable chunks of younger and minority folks here. Gender probably 50/50, maybe sight majority women. I feel like I'm typically the only person at this polling location under 45 so I'll take it as a win.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

16 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

 

It's mostly white olds here but there are sizable chunks of younger and minority folks here. Gender probably 50/50, maybe sight majority women. I feel like I'm typically the only person at this polling location under 45 so I'll take it as a win.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

I was at fiesta and you got the fiesta appropriate racial mix, but it was all olds.  I was probably the youngest at 39. 

[MidTexHorn 822]

38 minutes ago, sushihorn said:

Massive increase in early voting looks like a statewide phenomenon.  Lubbock Co 9,191 vs 2,408 in 2014 (+280%).

http://kfyo.com/over-9000-voters-cast-ballots-in-lubbock-county-on-the-first-day-of-early-voting/

 

Midland Co 3,546 vs 756 in 2014 (+380%).

https://www.texastribune.org/2018/10/22/texas-early-voting-turnout/

I was just about to post the Midland numbers. My three takeaways:

1) I have no doubt that there will be a higher percentage of Dem voters in that mix than usual, what with all of the influx of oilfield workers and Houston young professionals plus the Beto factor.

2) I have no doubt that Midland will still vote overwhelmingly red. The high turnout in Midland is definitely a sign that everyone, red or blue, will be turning out in record numbers.

3) I still think this bodes well for Dems, as they have way more room for improvement than Repubs. Still a very big uphill climb for Beto et al though. The Dem hope that the Repubs might not turnout out due to complacency or due to some sort of ambivalence over Trump or Cruz was a completely false hope. Anecdotally, my Facebook feed full of fired up religious and gun nuts from my family and friend social circles told me that before we saw these early voting numbers. The reds will turn out. Will the blues? Our nation's future kinda depends on it, but I'm with Brisket on this one. I'll take a double Balvenie.

Edited October 23, 2018 by MidTexHorn
add stuff

[gmr548 16,576]

I was at fiesta and you got the fiesta appropriate racial mix, but it was all olds.  I was probably the youngest at 39. 

When I left the lone had gotten significantly longer - as long as it wss after with yesterday. Probably 50 yards to the door. Got younger while I waited too. Still pretty white. But it gives me hope that the youths aren't fucking around.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Chrispy 132]

32 minutes ago, Homercles said:

 

Just a form of non verbal communication, like your drooling

 

Ouch, I thought you may have some insight is all.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,511]

Stopped by the SPJST Lodge in the Heights (Houston) as the rain was stopping.  Led to only a 5-10 minute wait.   As I was leaving, the line appeared to be about double that time.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

So Travis County Early Voting Day 1 exceeded the Presidential Election Year Early Voting Day 1 by a couple hundred.  In other words, the orange line is above the green line right now.  Lulz.

 

[DaysOff 7,947]

3 minute wait in the sticks of Comal County.

[4th&Five 41,526]

10-15 minute wait at the library on Grove (off Riverside) just now. 

[Born to Run 6,569]

Over an hour wait in Lakeway today at 2. I spotted multiple walkers and canes, two MAGA hats and several Beto shirts. Olds behind me were discussing Sharia Law and mooslims! One of the Magats looked sheepish standing next to a younger group in Beto gear.

With over an hour wait, there’s gonna be an old dropping dead in line.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,511]

Updated chart with "official" numbers from the state site:

State site now updated for the top 30 counties representing 78% of the total registered voters: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/earlyvoting/2018/oct22.shtml

Previous early voting totals:  https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/earlyvoting/archive.shtml

At this point, I don't know if it's worth comparing it to 2014 as most counties are currently tracking close to a Presidential race.  In some counties (Collin, Denton, El Paso, Cameron, Nueces) surpassed Day 1 totals from 2016.  

[Guest]

FWIW...

I've been doing early voting by the library at Grogans Mill and HEB in the Woodlands for years.  I pulled in there today and you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting some car in the parking lot jamming up the flow of traffic.  Line of voters was at least 30-35 folks out the door.

I have never seen it remotely close to that crowded for early voting.  people had pop-up canopies like tailgating so they could lobby folks as the walked from their vehicles to the polls. I loathe this horseshit regardless of affiliation.  It is insulting as hell, but oh well)

I can't say which way they are leaning politically, but Montgomery County traditionally is one of the more conservative counties in the state.

I drove right the fuck out of the parking lot and went to buy beer at HEB...LOL.  i ain't standing in line that long to vote unless it was the last day.