Albuquerque caucus is packed

(shakes head)
odd isnt it..

Thanks for the first-hand account!

Glad the turnout was high there. I was just starting to hunt down some info about that.

Soz
The voting closes as 7 p.m. There is over an inch of snow on the ground and it is cold. At least the voters could wait in line inside.

As I was driving hom, I saw the Lady Diane in her car just before she turned off to her street. I didn't honk at her because I didn't want her to run off the road. :wink:

BBB

I couldn't caucus because I tried too late to change my registration. (I was as pissed at the dems as the repubs when I moved here and registered independent for the first time.) Glad it was busy, whomever they all voted for.

Osso
There is a huge parking lot around the building where the voting was taking place. By the time I left about a half hour later, there wasn't a parking space to be found. People were waiting in their cars to park.

It's wonderful that so many people are voting. That mob was there waiting for the place to open. I'm glad I voted early. There will be lots of people in line to vote after the 7 p.m. closing time, so results will be late. Plus, paper ballots were used that have to be hand counted. Don't expect any results news until after 11 p.m.

BBB

I'm jealous. We don't vote here for a long time yet.

engineer


Engineer, I helped you out. I voted once for myself and once for you. How's that for being a good buddy?

BBB

Caucus Voting Becomes 'Chaos'
I'm so glad I voted as soon as the polling place opened. How could the idiots not realize there would be a massive voter turnout? Didn't they pay attention to what was happening around the country. Why does New Mexico continue the caucus system instead of a mail ballot?---BBB

Party Says Counting Provisional Ballots Could Take Days
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Party Says Counting Provisional Ballots Could Take Days
By Jeff Jones And Raam Wong
Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer

Now comes the time-consuming process of checking each provisional ballot to ensure it qualifies.

Thousands of provisional ballots were given to voters who cast ballots outside of their designated caucus site, voters whose names couldn't be found on the Democratic party's rolls, and voters who had requested absentee ballots but decided instead to vote in person.

But midafternoon Wednesday, ballot boxes were still being delivered to a northeast Albuquerque accounting firm where the counting will take place, and the counting had not begun. Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón said the count probably will take days. "It is a time-consuming process," said Democratic Party Executive Director Laura E. Sanchez.

Some problems from Tuesday's vote continued Wednesday in Northern New Mexico. A middle school in Chama served as the sole polling location for a snowy 30-square-mile area that included Tierra Amarilla and Dulce, and one voter called the Journal to complain that the distances that people had to travel from Dulce to Chama effectively disenfranchised them. Lydia Archuleta, the volunteer who managed the polling site, said Chama had been used during the 2004 caucus as well. She acknowledged that voters may have stayed at home after hearing that Chama had been declared a disaster area because of heavy snow. But she added that the roads were clear all day Tuesday, and none of the 324 people who cast ballots complained.

One voter said there was so much confusion at Santa Fe's Capshaw Middle School during midafternoon voting that poll workers couldn't keep track of who had signed in on voter registration sheets, raising the possibility of voter fraud.

Colón said that in rural areas where it was not practical to get ballot boxes back to Albuquerque on Tuesday night, it was not unusual for caucus site managers to report their results, seal the boxes and take them home to be delivered to Albuquerque the next day.

Sen. Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, said caucus planners should have foreseen a larger turnout, given the record numbers of voters that had cast ballots elsewhere. "From what I am hearing, the caucus itself went very well. I'm disappointed the party wasn't ready for the number of people who were there," Sanchez said. "It seems like there should have been more ballots available."