Can you feel the tension in the air?
From my New York City vantage point, I see news junkies in overdrive and long lines at polling places. The bloggers are poised, the networks say they
will exercise caution in calling winners, and election returns viewing parties are bound to be late night affairs.
It goes without saying: We're going to be bleary-eyed tomorrow.
There
was a fair amount of confusion at my polling place this morning. There simply were not enough volunteers helping guide people into the right lines. There were no signs telling us where to go. For
example, if you hadn't saved the yellow voter confirmation card that came in the mail stating your district number and polling place, you had to go to a table where a person manually checked your
address and district number. Once you had your district number, there was a fair amount of jostling to find the correct line for a voting booth.
My district, number 32, had a long line with a
few problem cases. There were people who were given incorrect district numbers and had waited in line elsewhere; several people who had moved and weren't listed in the paper voter rolls and required
paper ballots; and others who just didn't know how to work the voting machine, forgetting that one must pull the lever first, prior to voting! The two volunteers were burdened with people's questions
and frequently interrupted. They appeared to have no help in answering the same questions over and over.
A cop hovered outside the polling place with a reporter from the WB11. Instead of
reporting on the real story, chaos and confusion in the gym at the Robert F. Wagner Middle School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, they were waiting for a visit from P. Diddy.
No one
announced it; I heard the cop talking to his buddy over the radio mentioning that rap impresario/actor Sean "Puffy" Combs was due to make an appearance at the polling place.
The voting system is
broken, yet a TV reporter stands patiently on the sidewalk waiting for P. Diddy.
Meanwhile, two of the country's most influential newspapers have packed their online sites with election coverage
issuing alerts as to what readers can expect and when they can expect it. For example, WashingtonPost.com offers live discussions with political experts throughout the day.
At 6 p.m.,
Washington Post and WashingtonPost.com reporters and editors will offer instant analysis and reporting from around the country. The Web effort is supported with extensive multimedia.
Another interesting feature from WashingtonPost.com is Channel Surfer. The feature will track how the TV networks are calling the presidential race in each state. Extensive links appear to enable
readers to track key Senate races.
Not to be outdone, NYTimes.com offers an interactive election guide that looks at the campaign by the numbers, offering an electoral college calculator, swing
state analysis, Congressional races, polls, and historical data.
NYTimes.com will also feature real-time election data for every national office race, a forum for readers to share experiences at
the polls, live commentary from former New York Times political reporter Frank Bruni, and a Web Watch column that collects political news and information Web-wide.
Now, it's off to the
races. I wonder how many nails will be bitten to the quick today.