Voting: Memphis Report
Right on Red’s sister voted this morning, reporting that she waited in line for 45 minutes in the rain.
One person I talked to got to the polls at 7 am and encountered people that had been waiting since 6. His wait was about 45 minutes in a very Republican part of town.
Another person, also in a Republican part of town, arrived at 8:30 and waited a little over an hour
These numbers are not bad, especially when you consider that the wait in early voting lines was frequently in excess of two hours.
I waited for nearly 2 hours today. A neighbor of mine showed up to work as a poll worker at 5:30am and there were people there who had arrived at 4:30am to stand in line and vote. In that regard alone this has been the most extraordinary election in my memory. Perhaps, we jaded Americans have become a bit more realistic, and humble, watching the Afghans and the Iraqis in their respective first encounters with self-determination. Maybe its not just a virulent partisan divide, but a healthy dose of old fashioned patriotism, too. We can hope.