Residents wait in line for historical vote
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Election Day
Election Day was Tuesday. Area voters cast their ballots and react to the results.
JANESVILLE — Ben Hayd, 3, and his stuffed cow had been waiting in line at the First Lutheran Church polling place for about 25 minutes.
Neither Ben nor his cow planned to vote, but the little guy needed a ride to school, so he had to wait in line with his mother, Becky Hayd.
Ben and his mom joined hundreds of other Janesville voters who waited between 10 minutes and an hour to vote first thing Tuesday morning.
And while business at polling places was busy at 7 a.m. and steady throughout the morning, it could have been worse.
"The city of Janesville has 8,000 absentee ballots it has to count," said Charlene Meiklejohn, chief polling inspector at Wilson School. "A lot of people voted early."
At First Lutheran, Dennis Condon, a third-grade teacher at Monroe Elementary, was waiting behind Ben and his cow. He arrived early but was worried about getting to school on time. You can’t necessarily count on third-graders to sit quietly and read until their teacher gets in.
But his students do understand the importance of voting.
"We’ve been doing a government unit since the beginning of the year," Condon said. "The campaign bus came to our school."
Janesville high school students run a mock campaign, with students representing candidates from both parties.
Condon couldn’t remember how many electoral votes Monroe had, but he knew they were players.
Jack Morehart, farther back in line, said this was one of the most important elections in the country’s history.
"We’re definitely at a turning point," Morehart said.
Asked to name more important elections, Morehart picked 1932, the year Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected, and 1860, the year Abraham Lincoln was elected. Both men provided crucial leadership for the country during difficult times.
Christine Hanson, who waited only briefly at Wilson School, said for many years she didn’t vote at all.
"After Kennedy was assassinated, I lost interest," Hanson said.
But in the last two decades, she’s been concerned about the way the country was going. Members of Congress are in office for so long that "they don’t realize what’s going out here," she added.
"Maybe my vote won’t count, but at least it will be there," Hanson said.
Nov 4, 2008 at 8:46 p.m.
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You cannot wear any political items, or even have a bumper sticker within 30 ft of the polling places.
Nov 4, 2008 at 6:05 p.m.
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THE POINT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE, ljs64 , WAS THAT U R NOT SUPPOSE TO BE TURNED AWAY FROM THE POLES FOR WEARING A T-SHIRT ETC BACKING A CERTAIN CANIDATE. IF THE PERSON AT THE POLL SAYS U CAN'T VOTE BECAUSE U R WEARING SOMETHING BACKING A CANIDATE U CAN BORROW A SWEATER OR JACKET TO COVER IT UP. THIS QUESTION WAS ASKED YESTERDAY ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA
Nov 4, 2008 at 4:36 p.m.
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I hope the majority of voters today base their decision on more than "a show I was watching" like the information ame8736 gets from the media.
Nov 4, 2008 at 2:38 p.m.
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AGAIN, no one in Janesville will turn you away for wearing an Obama or McCain shirt, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE AGAINST THE LAW. Wear whatever you want!
Nov 4, 2008 at 1:35 p.m.
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AGAIN They said on a show I was watching yesterday that if u do wear say at-shirt that is backing someone and they turn u away u can just borrow a sweater or jacket to cover it up and then when u are done give it back to the person u borrowed it from
Nov 4, 2008 at 1:19 p.m.
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Barack the vote... Barack the vote!!!
Nov 4, 2008 at 12:55 p.m.
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Truth - Wear as in clothing
Where as in location
I hope you pay closer attention to the ballot
Nov 4, 2008 at 12:36 p.m.
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Wisconsin DOES NOT have a law banning clothing or campaign paraphernalia worn by voters. Only electioneering, "undue attention", or "causing a disturbance" are illegal.
http://www.wisn.com/newsarchive/17585683...
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The GAB has *asked* voters not to wear such items to the polls, but this is not something that can be enforced by law.
Nov 4, 2008 at 12:22 p.m.
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>>>>>>Just so people know, if you where anything backing a party or candidate, you will be turned away at the door. Unless my polling place is the only one that is practicing that.<<<<<<<<
I believe this is covered by the law of no campaigning within 100 feet of a polling place,,,,
Nov 4, 2008 at 12:18 p.m.
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They said on a show I was watching yesterday that if u do wear say at-shirt that is backing someone and they turn u away u can just borrow a sweater or jacket to cover it up and then when u are done give it back to the person u borrowed it from
Nov 4, 2008 at 12:10 p.m.
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Another way your vote won't get counted is if it gets "misplaced..lost, or somehow destroyed.." And then there is the possibility of "machine" error. You voted for "X", but it recorded "Y"..
Nov 4, 2008 at 11:40 a.m.
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Just so people know, if you where anything backing a party or candidate, you will be turned away at the door. Unless my polling place is the only one that is practicing that.
Nov 4, 2008 at 11:29 a.m.
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This is an HISTORIC vote. An HISTORICAL vote is one that is in the past. *sigh*
Nov 4, 2008 at 10:33 a.m.
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or if it get canceled out by the other person in your household DUH!
Nov 4, 2008 at 10:22 a.m.
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RE: "'Maybe my vote won’t count, but at least it will be there,' Hanson said".
The only way your vote doesn't count is if 1) you don't vote (duh!), or 2) the elections officials somehow don't count it. So barring #2 (and regardless of who or what you vote for), if you vote, your vote counts!
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