Oprah Winfrey spoke on her live panel on Friday about voting early in Chicago, Illinois, where she lives. She said she went to the polls early and waited in line because she has her live show and didn’t want to be late. Oprah waited for over an hour, during which she joked that she heard some ladies behind her saying “That’s Oprah, you know who she’s voting for.” Once she voted, Oprah said she was scared and shaking to discover that her vote for president hadn’t been registered by the machine when she went back to check. Luckily she was able to fix it though and record her vote.

“I was worried that there’s gonna be such long lines, and I have a live show,” Winfrey said, justifying her decision to vote early.

She waited 72 minutes to vote, only to have a near-meltdown in the booth.

“When I voted yesterday electronically, the first vote that you vote for on the ballot is the presidential candidate. It was my first time doing electronic, so I didn’t mark the X strong enough, or I held down too long. Because then when I went back to check it, it had not recorded my presidential vote,” she said.

She then simulated her meltdown, shaking and breathing heavily while stuttering out the words, “It didn’t record my presidential vote.”

[From The Huffington Post]

She reminded us to “Make sure you double check” if your vote was recorded on an electronic voting machine.

If you have any problems at the polling booth at all - including your right to vote being challenged or irregularities with the voting equipment - you cantext message and twitter your story to NPR (National Public Radio) which is monitoring the elections and reporting on issues. Almost none of us has the ability to reach a national audience like Oprah, but working together and using technology we can make sure that our stories are heard.

a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/31/oprah-opts-for-early-voti_n_139869.html”>The Huffington Post has the video of Oprah talking about her voting experience.

Photos are of Oprah at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday dinner in London on 6/25/08. Credit: Solarpix / PR Photos