I’ve received a number of noteworthy anecdotes from around the state — particularly in the southeast — from Battle ‘10 readers at the polls. Here are a few, with more to follow as polls close.
Chester County:
In West Chester, PA (25 miles outside of Philly) – Gerlach’s district (which went for Obama and Kerry and Rendell) – the polls were a ghost town at 8am.
Bucks County:
I voted a little after 10 am, hoping to avoid the lines before morning rush hour. I still waited for about 10 – 15 minutes. According to an R committee member, the turnout for this time of the morning was heavier than usual. People were leaving to come back later due to the line. Not sure how to read this, but since this area tilts R, I hope it’s a good sign.
What will the narrative be if Dems take a beating with high turnout?
Delaware County:
My wife and I went to the polls at 9:50. We are in PA-7 (Meehan [R] / Lentz [D] – House Seat vacated by Sestak to run for Senate). There was no line at all – we walked right into the booths.
We were voters 194 & 195 out of about 1600. Volunteers stated that there was a line (as there always is) at the opening, but it had been light since. They predicted that the turnout would be less than 30% …
Montgomery County:
Went to the polls at about 9am today in Perkiomen in Montgomery County, PA and my neighbor, a GOP committeeman, told me that 400 had already showed up, which was already about 20 percent turnout. He later told me by 10am it was up to 600, with heavy GOP turnout.