Lower East Side, Late In the Day: No Lines! Lots of Obama Votes

By late afternoon on Essex Street, the line to vote at Public School 20 was non-existent, and voters trickled out at five-minute intervals.

Which is not to say voting here was entirely seamless.

"The machines were weird," said neighborhood resident Nikki, 30, emerging from the gymnasium in a black puffy jacket after voting for Obama. (She asked that her last name not be used). "I've voted before, but I had to ask how to do it. I'm kind of worried about that actually, because what will happen to the people who aren't so sharp? I don't know if they'll be able to figure it out."

"It's a bonk process," she said. "Kind of prehistoric." She said it took her 15 minutes total.

Lower East Sider Danny Rivera, 23, had also voted for Obama, but not with a lever. "My name wasn't on the list, so I had to do an affadavit" he said. He thought perhaps it was because he hadn't voted in the last election, because he knew he was registered. He was with Maritza Alimonte, also 23, who had voted for Obama earlier in the day in the Bronx. They couple was confident Obama would win, but they were not Obamaphiles.

"I don't trust him," said Ms. Alimonte. "I don't trust any of them."

Others were more idealistic: "I'm here to get that whiff of democracy I didn't get from my mail-in ballot!" said a biker in a neon cap leaning against the schoolyard fence, talking on his cell phone as he waited for a friend.

Sam, 24, who works in the mayor's office, emerged in a suit and stylish orange scarf and carried a briefcase. "I feel good!" he said. (He also gave only his first name). Voting had taken him five minutes total. We mentioned that Mr. Bloomberg had braved considerably longer lines to vote. "We met with him after that," said Sam. "I think he got haggled in the voting line about term limits."