Scenes From A Poll: Back Bay

Location: Boston Public Library

Time: 5:30pm

It's a good thing that there are millions of books for voters to read while they wait on line at the Boston Public Library. Of course, not everybody has to queue; while there's a quick skate for Ward 5 Precinct 8, the line for Precinct 9 was more than an hour long at 5:45pm, and is probably much worse than that by now. People were entering in flocks as I was leaving; the wait was all the way up to the information desk and heading for the front door (though there's no need to bring it outside if they just snake up in the giant foyer).

It's a funny group at the BPL, with obvious tension between the wealthy older folks who typically vote there with no problem, and the college and graduate students who are seemingly ruining their evening. Some were also there this morning, but left because of even longer waits. Is there a complicated issue that's leading to such backup at the Precinct 8 station? Maybe, maybe not. But from my observations there are absolutely lots of students out in general today, and I haven't even been to Allston-Brighton, which I hear has its own issues.