Welcome to election day, and a new voice -- Candace Page -- on Vt. Buzz. I've covered politics in Vermont off and on since 1974 (gulp). I'll be offering occasional election tidbits here until the polls close at 7 p.m. and then results and a little analysis as we collect them at the Free Press. This is a two-way street, so join in with comments, results from your hometown or questions. For newcomers (Mom, you know who you are), just click on "comments" at the bottom of any post.
I'm just back from voting in Chittenden 3-4 (Burlington's Ward 1) where there was a steady line even at mid-afternoon. Also a steady line at the voter registration table, handling pleas from voters who were in the wrong polling place, had moved since the last election or didn't know where they were registered.
After reports of voting difficulties elsewhere in the country, it was heartening to watch Voter Registration Board member David Conrad sort out problems so people could cast their ballots. While most voters were in and out in 5 minutes, Dudley Riggs, 37, spent nearly 30 minutes consulting with Conrad and filling out forms because he'd been deleted from the city voter list though he still lives in the city. He didn't regret the time spent. "I'd be the ultimate chump if I don't vote," Riggs told me. "You can't be critical if you don't vote -- and I AM critical."
-- More and more voters are casting absentee ballots. Nearly 4,700 were requested in Burlington, more than in the 2004 presidential election. Sam Hemingway reports that a quarter of the Charlotte checklist voted absentee. Clerks were still opening ballots five hours after the polls opened. In South Burlington, 20 percent of voters turned in early ballots.
-- I don't know about you, but this is one year when I'm almost as interested in U.S. House and Senate races elsewhere as I am about the Vermont outcome. Here's a tip from the national politics beat: polls in some Indiana U.S. House districts close at 6 p.m. GOP incumbents are challenged in the 2nd, 8th and 9th districts there. Will the supposed Democratic tsunami roar -- or fade to a breeze? Indiana results could give an early indication.
-- Candace Page