--- title: 2016 Election: America's Oddest Polling Stations description: Voting booths popped up in the most unlikely of places canonical: https://time.com/4563502/weird-voting-places-2016-election/ author: Andrew Katz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-09T05:03:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:20.871Z article:section: Politics og:title: From Pool to Pool Hall: America's 10 Oddest Polling Stations og:description: Voting booths popped up in the most unlikely of places og:url: https://time.com/4563502/weird-voting-places-2016-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt485ad02ef99699af/6988ad99a988ca13f66ba14e/weird-voting-election-day-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2016 Election America Votes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: From Pool to Pool Hall: America's 10 Oddest Polling Stations twitter:description: Voting booths popped up in the most unlikely of places twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt485ad02ef99699af/6988ad99a988ca13f66ba14e/weird-voting-election-day-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # From Pool to Pool Hall: America's 10 Oddest Polling Stations  by [Andrew Katz](https://time.com/author/andrew-katz/)  ## Andrew Katz Nov 9, 2016 5:03 AM UTC  People cast their votes at Echo Park Pool on Nov. 8, 2016, in Los Angeles. People cast their votes at Echo Park Pool on Nov. 8, 2016, in Los Angeles.Jae C. Hong—AP  by [Andrew Katz](https://time.com/author/andrew-katz/)  ## Andrew Katz Nov 9, 2016 5:03 AM UTC Tens of millions of Americans set out on Tuesday, Election Day, to cast their ballots in the contentious presidential election, most for either Republican nominee Donald Trump or his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. By midnight, Trump was ahead of Clinton with a few battleground states still in play: Nevada, New Hampshire, Michigan and Pennsylvania among them. Many voters had ventured into classrooms and places of worship, having waited minutes or hours in lines that snaked out the doors and along sidewalks or city streets. A smaller majority, however, found themselves at ballot boxes in a variety of odd locations. Here, after all the polls had closed, is a selection of some of the weirdest polling stations across the country: from a laundromat in Chicago and a garage in Philadelphia to a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles and a Ford dealership in Ohio.  People cast their votes at Echo Park Pool on Nov. 8, 2016, in Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong—AP  Jocelyn Hernandez watches her mother Gabrele, vote at the Su Nueva Lavenderia on Nov. 8, 2016, in Chicago. Charles Rex Arbogast—AP  Voters cast their ballots in a polling location inside Mike's TV and Appliance Nov. 8, 2016 in State College, Pennsylvania. Jeff Swensen—Getty Images  Voters cast their ballot in the U.S. presidential election at Marie's Golden Cue on Nov. 8, 2016, in Chicago. Jim Young—Reuters  A voter casts his ballot inside the garage of Chobert Decorators during the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8, 2016, in in Philadelphia. Charles Mostoller—Reuters  Voters cast ballots at the Swedish American Museum in the 2016 presidential elections on Nov. 8, 2016, in Chicago. Tasos Katopodis—AFP/Getty Images  Democratic polling judge John Ramirez, right, is reflected in a mirror as he assists a voter as she fills out her ballot at Delia's Beauty Salon on Nov. 8, 2016, in Chicago. Charles Rex Arbogast—AP  Voters cast their ballots at the Donnell Ford car dealership on Nov. 8, 2016 in Salem, Ohio. Ty Wright—Getty Images  Voters cast their ballots under a mural depicting rural Mexico at the El Mercadito Mariachi restaurant polling location on Nov. 8, 2016, in Los Angeles. Eugene Garcia—EPA  Libby Benedict, right, votes at the Neptune Society Columbarium as her dog, Stella, looks on, on Nov. 8, 2016, in San Francisco. 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