BBC News has a good summary of the various problems (and dirty tricks) that have been reported across the USA in this election. That it doesn't seem to be systematic is reassuring but some of the stories are downright annoying…

Glitches and hoaxes as US votes (BBC News):
…CNN reported a number of hoax calls, e-mails and flyers had been distributed in various states, some designed to convince people that voting had been postponed.

At George Mason University in Virginia, someone apparently hacked into the e-mail system and generated a message telling students the vote had been postponed until Wednesday.…

My dear friend Patti has voted and sent in the following report from Stow, MA:

Where did you vote (City/State):

Stow, MA
 

What time of day:

I voted at ~ 5:00 P.M.
 

What were the conditions like?

It was busy, but not too crowded. I was greeted at the edge of the line by a poll worker who explained immediately that the listings were by street, instead of name, as has been the case for years. I got to the right line and had a nice friendly chat with the ladies working there about the change to street order from name. One said it was the way they had done it for years, and it's much easier, because you can have multiple persons with the same name. They were jovial and upbeat.
 

What kind of voting machines?

I filled in my circles, checked out, and when I put my paper ballot in the ballot-sucker-inner-reader-thingie, I noted that I was voter no. 2868.
 

Did you see any voter challenges?

n/a
 

If you voted absentee, how did that work out?

n/a
 

Anything else you want to add?

I was voter number 2868. As of December, 2007, there are 4403 registered voters in Stow, so this is a pretty good turnout, particularly with three hours to go after I voted.

My goodness, I am glad this is over. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…

Thanks Patti, love to you and Bob.

MOTL member Sherwin has voted and sent in the following report from Chicago, IL:

Where did you vote (City/State):

Chicago, IL
 

What time of day:

Early morning
 

What were the conditions like?

A sparse amount of people were there. I didn't have to wait long for the staff to get me going. I was in a school gym.
 

What kind of voting machines?

They had 2 voting machines that were touch-screen. Everything else was by paper and fed into a machine to be counted later.
 

Did you see any voter challenges?

No, didn't see nor were subject to one.
 

If you voted absentee, how did that work out?

I did not vote via absentee ballot.
 

Anything else you want to add?

Not much else to add. Quiet polling place and was in and out in 10 minutes.

Thanks Sherwin!

The Gilroy Dispatch has an interesting story about the high turnout of first time voters in Gilroy, California. Hopefully they are there for Obama, because the average Obama voter would probably be more likely to vote no on Proposition 8.

First-time voters flood the polls (The Gilroy Dispatch):
…Bret Earle, who voted no on Prop 8, also went against the school and library bonds because “we're in hard time now.”

In a comical tone, he added that he voted against Prop 8 because gays “should very much be a part of the misery that is marriage.”…

ULev reader Nathan has voted and sent in the following report from San Jose, CA:

Where did you vote (City/State):

San Jose, California
 

What time of day:

Noon
 

What were the conditions like?

There were very few people waiting in line, although the guy who came just after me had a wait since all the polling booths were occupied.
 

What kind of voting machines?

We used paper ballots and we had to connect two lines with a pen mark to indicate our choice. I'm not sure what that's called. [Editor: I believe these are called "connect-the-arrow ballots".]

Last election we had touch screen and the election before that I seem to recall using hole-punch.
 

Did you see any voter challenges?

n/a
 

If you voted absentee, how did that work out?

n/a
 

Anything else you want to add?

The polling place changed for me for the first time since I started voting. It used to be about two blocks away, at the elementary school across the street and I'd walk there to vote. This year, they moved it to the closest high school, about half a mile or more away, and a I drove to a parking lot across the street and walked to the campus.

Thank you Nathan!

My MOTL friend Kyle has voted and sent in the following report from Moultonborough, NH:

Where did you vote (City/State):

Moultonborough, NH
 

What time of day:

around 9:00 this morning
 

What were the conditions like?

The polls were hosted at the police station. I needed to register on site, but it was pretty quick and well organized. I was in and out in about 20 minutes. Because it's such a small town, there wasn't much outside campaigning other than a few local candidates. Much different compared to voting in Manchester, where the primary process took me about an hour due to the sheer volume of people turning up to vote.
 

What kind of voting machines?

NH uses a fill-in-the-dot system, perhaps that's what you mean by optical scanner? Simple system that seemed to work very smoothly. People were in and out very quickly.

Thanks Kyle!