McCain and Friends

Early Voting - Day 2

Today is the second day of early voting in Oklahoma. This is the same deal as yesterday with one exception: Polls close at one PM today. So get up a bit early to vote today.

According to reports, there were long lines and congestion at the polls yesterday, but the lines moved very quickly. Although the wait in some places around OKC was quite long, here in Tulsa it was only about 45 minutes.

One of my fellow denziens on SoonerKos who lives in the area reported that parking was a real issue. He suggested:

If you plan on going to The Election Board be prepared to park a couple of blocks away and walk. There is plenty of street parking on Denver or Cheyenne in The Brady Heights Historic District. There was a very long line of cars waiting to park at the Election Building so to help ease congestion come in from the north and park at one of the Churches or on the street.

Also, remember no campaign gear is allowed. Be considerate and bring a coat or sweater to share with any of your neighbors who didn't get the message.

The reports I got were that roughly 5,000 people voted yesterday in Oklahoma County (OKC) and 4,000 in Tulsa County.

Attack of the Robots

From the Obama youtube channel:

More Early Voting

I've seen reports from both Tulsa and Oklahoma City that early voting lines are quite long, but manageable. In both cases the lines are snaking out around the board of election parking lot. However, reports are that the lines move fast. Wait time in OKC this morning was about an hour, and in Tulsa 45 minutes.



Make sure you budget yourself the proper amount of time, but please get out and vote as soon as you can.

First Day of Early Voting

Today is the first day of early voting. Just come on down to your County Election Board offices (see my previous post for directions) between the hours of 8AM and 6PM. For Tulsa County voters that is 555 N. Devner, in downtown Tulsa.

One thing I neglected to mention is that state law prohibits you from entering the polling place wearing any candidate supporting materials. So leave your Obama buttons and shirts at home, or put on a sweater over them. I'd like to ask everyone to bring an extra sweater or jacket to lend in case one of your neighbors in line did not realize this. Some of them might object to voting topless.

If you can't come in today, there is also early voting Saturday and Monday. Please try to vote early this year. The line will probably be shorter, and it will help prevent polling place directed shenanigans from taking your vote away.

Obama Visit
We weren't successful in securing an Obama visit to Tulsa this cycle. However, he will be visting Springfield MO tomorrow night. That's about a 3 hour drive from Tulsa. So if you are up for that kind of road trip, check out the info here. I checked out the venue and it seats about 8,000.

Obamathon

In case you missed it (like you were stuck in a closet last night or something), here's Obama's infomercial

Tomorrow - First Day of Voting

If you missed yesterday's deadline to request an Absentee Ballot, than you are going to have to go vote the old-fashioned way: in person.

The good news is that the first day you can do that is not November 4, but rather tomorrow, October 31. That is the first day of early voting in Oklahoma. The other days are Saturday, November 1, and Monday November 3 (the day before the general election).

Early Voting does work a bit differently than regular voting. You do not go to your normal polling place. Instead you must show up at your County Election Board sometime between 8AM and 6PM. The Tulsa area election board offices are:

• Tulsa County: 555 N Devner Avenue.
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• Osage County: 630 Kihekah Ave., Pawhuska
  
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• Creek County - 230 E. Hobson Ave., Sapulpa
  
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• Rodgers County - 216 S. Missouri Ave., Claremore
  
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• Wagoner County - 208 N Lee Ave., Wagoner
  
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There is no guarantee that the lines won't be as long on early voting days as they will be for the general election, so budget yourself an hour or so, particularly in Tulsa County. However, if one of these days is better for you than Tuesday, this is when you want to vote.

I sent in my absentee ballot yesterday, so I can tell you from experience that getting the actual voting behind you removes a bit of the stress. So vote early if you can.