Our polls in Anchorage were mostly at a central location, the Egan Center, and opened at 4:30pm. My husband and I (and kids, all with their Ron Paul buttons!) showed up at 4:15pm. (A couple of districts caucused at How How Chinese Restaurant.)
The kids were on the lookout for Ron Paul signs the whole way and someone did a good job putting them up along the way from where we were to downtown where the voting was.
When we got to the Egan Center there were two guys standing out in the freezing cold (seriously it was like 4 degrees) waving Ron Paul signs.
Went in and KTUU was doing an entry poll which I made sure I gave my two cents in. You can see those results here: http://ktuu.com/Global/st...
EDITING TO FIX THAT LINK: http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=7828365
Next thing we saw were a bunch of Romney signs and a supporter giving out stickers, then a Huckabee supporter with signs.
It was PACKED. They definitely were NOT ready for the turnout. I mean PACKED.
We went to the table for the district we're in, and were told we couldn't vote without our registration cards (never received them) because the voter records weren't there yet. We said we'd wait until they got there. About 5 minutes later they arrived. Neither of us were listed, which we were told by the poll worker was because the records were three months old.
So next we got to wait in a very long line to register. This was interesting since I thought you had to be registered 30 days prior to the election to vote, but no one asked us when we had previously registered or even if we had. Anyone could show up and register and vote. I wish I would have know that, I could have brought more people with me! But I thought it was 30 days. I'm not sure what happened there, I may have misunderstood? It was pretty crazy.
Once we got through that line we went back to the table for our district and signed in and received out ballots. We voted on paper (YAY!) and Ron Paul was somewhere in the middle of the list if I remember correctly.
Cast our votes for Ron Paul, then called the other supporters I was pestering and made sure they got to the polls, knew about the registration thing (some were registered within the last 3 months). They all got in and out within 20-30 minutes from what I heard after, so I think maybe things calmed down some after we left. I know I got at least 6 there who have never voted in a caucus before, and two switched parties to do it.
I wasn't able to stay for the convention which started at 6pm. It took more than an hour and a half just to vote.
But overall impressions... I saw no obvious McCain support. No stickers, hats, etc. I saw a few Huckabee supporters. Lots of Romney stickers. And a pretty good amount of Ron Paul. I'd say Ron Paul had the second biggest group of *obvious* support but since there were lots of "unmarked" people (lol) and Romney's crew were giving out stickers at the door, I think that probably had something to do with it.
There were definitely people from Dr. Paul's campaign there, and lots of very strong supporters trying to connect with each other and determine delegate stuff.
I'm crossing my fingers, saying a prayer, and hoping for good news soon!
(Not a troll, been a lurker here for several months, just hadn't registered or posted.)
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