A Three Hour Vote

After months of waiting, reading, watching, and discussing, this morning I cast my vote in the 2004 general election. Georgia is one of the lucky states offering early-voting, and from the looks of it, the turnout this year is going to be huge.

My wife and I arrived a little after 7 a.m. -- a few moments after they opened the doors -- and there were already hundreds of people in line. There were so many people in the Decatur Courthouse that security was forced (fire codes) into blocking the front door, which started a new line of voters outside the building. The entire process, from our arrival to walking out the door, took three hours to complete.

I spoke to a woman who was handling the crowds, and she said that between Monday and Wednesday, 20,000 out of 400,000 registered voters in the county had already voted, and that the crowds were growing larger each day. At the rate they were going, she predicted, approximately the same number of people would vote early for the 2004 election as the entire turnout of a "normal" election.

It's possible the majority of voters were simply trying to avoid Tuesday, and the actual voting day turnout could be light. But if the energy and determination I saw this morning was any indication, next Tuesday is going to be a mob-scene. I just hope the good team wins.

Update (10/29/04): A coworker of mine is voting today, and like me arrived at 7 a.m. It's now past noon, and they're still standing in line. Five plus hours.