A drizzling rain failed to dampen turnout at the polls, at least in my Illinois County. My polling place was filling up fast at 7:30 this morning. I’m hearing anecdotal reports from friends and acquaintances around the state that lines are longer than they’ve ever seen.

A word to Illinois voters re: write-in candidates. Note that write-in votes in Illinois are only counted for candidates who have filed a declaration of intent to be a write in candidate. The only write-in candidate I’m personally aware of is Mark Kuhnke, who is seeking to provide an alternative to Illinois voters dissatisfied with the choice between Alan Keyes ® and Barrack Obama (D). (Don’t construe this as an endorsement, by me or TCP, of any of these guys).

Although Illinois is a very safe state for Kerry and Obama, the mechanics of voting are still interesting. Here, as in most states, voters are not asked for ID at the polls. They are asked, however, to sign a card, which the election judge then compares against the signature on file from your registration. This is a very reliable system, as the state of Illinois goes to great expense to staff each polling place with handwriting experts and forensic document examiners who can render an immediate judgment on whether or not the signatures match.

Oh wait, no they don’t.

Related post at TheSpoonsExperience.