Election Day

I was pleased to see my friends and neighbors exercising their right to vote this morning. My wife voted before me and I went when she got home. We both waited in line about 50 minutes. When I left the building, the line was as long as when I entered. This is great. People are engaged.
Observations:

• It always amazes me how many people vote in our small city. Port Washington only has a little over 10,000 people. Our polling site has only two wards - 5 & 6. While I was in line, I believe only 5 or 6 people voted in the 6th ward. They could have used a second line for the 5th ward.
• The 50 minute wait was about three to four times longer than during the Primary in September, which was a more typical wait. We live in a Republican dominant area - some say Ozaukee County, WI is the second most conservative county in the country. The wait in 2000 was probably closer to 30 minutes. It may be a 'timing' thing - I voted after work in 2000 and in the Primary.
• We had poll observers! There were two individuals 'observing' the polls. The man was behind the volunteers with a palm pilot. I wonder what database he was looking at? The woman was roaming throughout the room. (We vote in an elementary school gymnasium)
• My wife indicated that when she voted, the ballot box was not working. The poll workers were collecting ballots to be entered when the box was repaired. My ballot was initially 'spit' out, but worked when I turned it over.
• Many people commented that they were going to be late for work, but they stayed. Good. A presidential election takes priority over 15 minutes of work.
• The volunteers at the polling site were doing a great job of communicating to the people waiting in line. Every few minutes, one of them would walk down the line asking, "Is anyone from the 6th ward? (to have them get in the proper line)" and "Does anyone need to register or change their address?"
• At one point, all seven booths were empty. This added a little frustration for the people in line who could see all the empty booths, while they were still in line. It turns out that one of the poll workers need to take a 'bio-break' and the fill-in took longer to find names.