ELECTION DAY SCENES FROM BLUE YORK

After spending a week in sunny Florida gently mocking the state's famously incompetent Board of Elections and offering my sincere pity to the many voters I witnessed waiting in 2, 3, or even 5 hour lines to cast their ballot early, I woke up this morning in Brooklyn to find:

A big ol' line.

My neighborhood, Prospect Heights, is probably among the most enthusiastic about Obama in the country, with signs up in almost every storefront and underground Obama t-shirts, often adorned with bright gold colors and sequins, all over the place. Nonetheless, it was impressive to see an actual long wait to vote in a safe state. As I walked towards the subway, an older black man in a pickup truck started blaring his horn at passersby. I thought he was trying to get them to move out of the way, but once he got their attention he put his head out the window and shouted "Hey man, you voted yet?" then proceeded to admonish anyone who said they hadn't by wincing and yelling "Come on! Don't you know what day it is?"

Then on the way to work in Manhattan on 13th Street and 7th Avenue:

Even bigger line -- this one wrapped well around the block. I don't remember turnout being this impressive in NYC in 2004. I waited all of 2 minutes to vote on the Upper West Side that year. The state is as safe Obama as can be, so running up the score doesn't make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but it is encouraging to see the enthusiasm that's marked this election alive and well in Blue York.

As for me, I voted absentee at the Manhattan Board of Elections office two weeks ago and It took five minutes -- silly Floridians and their crippling long lines!