What’s It Like at Polling Places Around the State?

Taking voters’ temperature on Election Day.

By Rhonda FanningNovember 8, 2016 12:02 pm,

It’s the day the nation has been waiting for – Election Day. Voters are lined up at the polls and reporters are floating around getting reactions. We spoke to three reporters on the scene around the state.

Amy Bishop, reporter for Houston Public Media, checked out the Montrose area starting at 6:20 a.m. She says there were already three people lined up at that time.

“By the time 7:00 rolled around and the doors opened, there were more than 30 – I would say even 40 people who were standing in line,” she says. “A lot of people obviously were on their way into work. There were some people who looked like they had just rolled out of bed and threw on some flip flops to come in. … By the time I left, the line had diminished a little bit.”

Krystina Martinez, reporter at KERA in North Texas, went to an elementary school in East Dallas, and before that, a library. She says the rain didn’t deter people from lining up, but she has had trouble getting peopel to talk about their vote.

“This is a really polarizing election,” she says. “You’ve heard the reports about people have lost friends over this. Social media has become a really polarizing place because of how vitriolic this election is and it seems some people are just afraid of volunteering their political leanings in such a tense political time.”

Mose Buchele, reporter at KUT in Austin, says he’s seeing a lot of enthusiastic voters at a supermarket in Central Austin. There were lines out the door before the polling place opened. He spoke with a few of the first in line.

Here’s what one voter said:

“It’s actually my first presidential election. I just made myself a U.S. citizen a couple years ago, so it’s a very exciting time. And the line is not that bad. We came in earlier to be able to be the first and be able to go to work.”

Post by Beth Cortez-Neavel.