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Photos of unusual US polling places: beauty salons, laundromats, and some guy’s garage

Laundromat voting
AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast
Voting at a 24-hour laundromat in Chicago
From our Obsession
US Election
By Gloria Dawson
Published Last updated This article is more than 2 years old.

Americans typically vote in schools and government buildings, but not everyone. The US Election Assistance Commission suggests that a polling place “should be located close to major traffic arteries for easy access.”  There’s nothing in the guidelines to stop election officials from picking restaurants, garages, or laundromats, and sometimes that’s exactly where voting takes place. Here are some photos of the most unusual polling places in the United States today:

AP Photo / Eric Risberg
People wait in line to vote at the Neptune Society Columbarium, a public storage of cinerary urns, in San Francisco.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
The Gallegos residence is converted into a polling station on election day in Stockton, California
AP Photo / David Duprey
Voting at the Holland Land Office Museum in Batavia, New York
AP Photo / Jerome Delay
A Mexican restaurant turned polling place in Chicago
AP Photo / Jerome Delay
Food is set at a Mexican Restaurant turned polling place in Chicago
AP Photo / Mike Groll
An auto dealership is turned into a polling place in Albany, New York
Getty Images / Kevork Djansezian
The garage of the Los Angeles County lifeguard headquarters is used as a polling place

 

 

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