JaxVotes – News4Jax’s Election Blog

Since long lines were expected two women came out to the Mary Singleton Center and passed out water and granola bars to people as they exited the polls.  They had no reason but to make sure voters didn’t have any excuses to go home and not vote.  But since most people are in and out….it was just a little treat for voters to take with them on their way home.

I’m headed home now as well….thanks everyone at the Mary Singleton Senior Center for making my morning so enjoyable.   I’ll be glued to the television tonight..Channel 4 just like all of you…right?  Give me a break if I’m a little tired in the AM.

No lines, no wait, no problems for the most part.  Voting today seems to be a breeze in Duval County.  But that’s not the case all over the state.  Miami is reporting some problems including 1 to 2 hour waits.  Early voting certainly seems to have worked in Northeast Florida.

Just a note students from Jacksonville Art Institute are catching this moment in history.  Working on a documentary about the candidates, issues, voters and the role that race plays in this election.  We’ll have their story in the 5pm show on The Local Station.

Unbelievable…we’re an hour and a half into early voting and there have been NO lines at the Mary Singleton Center in Springfield.

People continue to get in and out.  One viewer wrote it and I’ll repeat it…..no excuses!   Even if you have to book it to work,  you’ll be fine, you won”t even be late.  Again it’s still early but so far so good!!

The first voters at Mary Singleton talked with us this morning about this historic vote. Gary Green was first in line at 3:30. There has been a steady stream of people heading to the polls but they’re heading in and out in about 5 minutes. With 46 percent of people early voting Jerry Holland said you should thank an early voter today for a smooth election day…at least it’s smooth so far!

The first voter at Mary Singleton Center showed up at 3:30am this morning. He wanted to make sure that he was able to vote and didn’t want to stand in line. He’s a Senator Obama supporter and said he was encouraged not to vote because of poll numbers showing Obama in the lead. But he says this historic election is too important and he wants his vote counted! So if that meant standing in line before the sun that’s what he will do.The doors opened this morning at 6:00am for people to wait.

I voted this afternoon at Regency Library at 4:30. There was a line wrapped around the building. Poll workers said about 1400 people are voting there a day. The line moved quickly, I would say the entire process took less than an hour and I’m glad I stayed and didn’t put it off until tomorrow. It was also interesting to hear people talk about their decisions and how some were even undecided until this week. We can say for sure this election has brought many people together, getting them talking regardless if they agree or not. A healthy debate never hurts. I’m hoping that we won’t forget this energy after Tuesday.

Day one of early voting and there were major problems. 7 of the 15 early voting sites had technical difficulties. Which meant a late night for poll works and lawmakers who wanted to make sure that everyone’s vote counted. Representative Audrey Gibson, Mia Jones, and others were on hand this morning for a press conference assuring their constituents that they will be there to monitor ballots that did not run through the machines and that you should trust election officials to do their job properly.

This morning at the election headquarters on Monroe street, many people showed up right at 7am thinking the sites would be open. Don’t forget early voting starts at 10am-6pm. Every one we talked with wants to see their ballots run through the machine. This is a very important election and people do want to be disenfranchised.

The canvassing board is holding an emergency meeting at 1pm today at Gateway to address yesterday’s problems.