Voters Pleasantly Surprised by New Voting Machines

Prospect Heights residents marched through the crisp fall air to  early Tuesday morning, where they cast ballots for a number of state-wide races being decided this election day.

Headed into Tuesday, there were concerns that , but voters leaving and P.S. 316, Prospect Heights' two primary polling stations, said the new process didn't give them any problems.

"It went very smoothly," said Matt Wood, a 37-year-old St. Marks Place resident as he left P.S. 9. "I was expecting there to be problems. But shouldn't we be voting on mobile devices by now?"

"There's nothing really confusing about the new system, I don't know what the big deal was about," said Heather Griffith, a 40-year-old Prospect Heights resident who voted at P.S. 316. "I was anticipating some issues but the new process was really pretty straight forward."

Some voters said they still prefer the old voting system -- Zeig Stern, a 22-year-old Green Party voter at P.S. 316 said he found the previous process to be more clear -- but most people seemed to be pleasantly surprised by the ease of the machines.

There was a steady of trickle of voters at both P.S. 9 and P.S. 316 throughout the morning, but neither site seemed to be experiencing long waits. There were no lines to vote at P.S. 9, and there were only short lines at P.S. 316 around 8 a.m.

Several voters said that, on average, it took about five minutes to complete the voting process.

Historically, than elections where the presidency is at stake and, given the lack of a morning rush, this election appears to be no different.

However, there are people who proudly vote in every election, no matter the stakes.

"I vote all the time," said Karl Anderson, a construction worker who votes at P.S. 9. "I think people should have to vote. You should get a $1,000 tax credit if you vote."

"I always vote every election because its my civic duty," said Tina Jones as she left P.S. 316. "It's the only way to make sure good people get into office."