The original caption on this undated photo says, "After you have completed casting your ballot, move the large curtain handle to the left. This will record your vote, wipe off the 'X' marks and return all the voting levers to an upright position, before opening the curtain." (Bettmann, Getty Images)
It’s Election Day, and we hope you made your way to the polls to cast a ballot.
There were more options than usual this year: An increased number of early-voting locations were made available, and some states expanded absentee voting due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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No matter how you voted, or who and what you voted for, technology is certainly on our side these days. But it wasn’t always this way.
Check out some of these photos, below, from Getty Images, for a peek into what things looked like in years past.
As a voter prepares to cast her ballot, an unidentified precinct official clears the machine by pressing a button on a side panel in Jamestown, New York in 1965. (Automatic Voting Machine Co/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
A hand as it inserts a ballot into a box during the U.S. presidential election in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Nov. 2, 1948. (United States Department of State/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
A woman, Miss Ann Patrick, right, a presser at Premier Cleaners and Dyers Plant, places her vote into a ballot box, voting in the first consent election held in D.C. under the Wagner Act, with Hyman Milman, left, head spotter in the Needle Wholesale Cleane, on July 31, 1937. (Gado/Getty Images)
An unidentified Mennonite drops his ballot in the box at the Community Voting Center in Paradise, Pennsylvania, Nov. 2, 1948. (PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
An over-the-shoulder view of an unidentified woman as she demonstrates how to use an IBM voting machine in 1966. The voter casts a ballot by punching holes in a card, which then drops into a ballot box. (International Business Machines/United States Information Agency/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt casts his ballot during the 1927 elections. (Getty Images)
A view of voters at a polling station in Dunn Loring, Virginia on Nov. 8, 1960. At fore, a women places her ballots in one of two boxes; one for presidential and one for congressional candidates. Behind her, other voters wait to check in with election officials and receive their own ballots. (Edwin Huffman/United States Information Agency/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
A young man, Leroy Simpson, left, places his vote into a ballot box, after instruction from Elmer House, right, a precinct judge at Smallwood School on Nov. 5, 1946. (Gado/Getty Images)
An unidentified voter holds his son as he drops his ballot into the box in Iowa City, Iowa, Nov. 2, 1948. (Getty Images)
An elevated view of precinct election officials as they open ballot boxes and begin a hand count of votes in Virginia, Nov. 8, 1960. (Edwin Huffman/United States Information Agency/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. votes, as his wife, Coretta Scott King, waits her turn, Nov. 3, 1964 in Atlanta. (Getty Images)
A hand presses the switch, marking a selection in a 1970s-style voting machine. (Getty Images)
The original caption on this photo reads, "Voting on this Election Day, on which he has hoped to be the Republican presidential candidate, Ronald Reagan accepts a pre-marked sample ballot from his wife Nancy, who has just completed marking her own ballot as the two voted in this 1976 election. Reagan, queried by reporters, said he wouldn't rule out nor rule in, the possibility of trying again for the presidency." This was shot in Pacific Palisades, California. (Getty Images)
The original caption on this undated photo says, "After you have completed casting your ballot, move the large curtain handle to the left. This will record your vote, wipe off the 'X' marks and return all the voting levers to an upright position, before opening the curtain." (Getty Images)
A view showing empty voting booths during the Senate elections in 1986. (Getty Images)
Outside a building materials and feed supply store, a police officer watches as an official hands out ballots to a line of prospective voters during the U.S. Presidential election, Nov. 4, 1924. The election was won by Calvin Coolidge. (National Photo Company/Interim Archives/Getty Images)
President Kennedy's feet are the only part of him visible beneath the curtain of the voting booth as he casts his ballot in the Massachusetts Senatorial election, Nov. 8, 1962. (Getty Images)
Standing at voting stalls in a fire station, Chicagoans punch their ballots to elect a governor and a host of other state and local officials. Voter turnout throughout the state was heavier than expected. (Getty Imags)
A hand pulls the lever on a 1970s-era voting machine. (Getty Images)
In Los Angeles, Gov. Ronald Reagan, accompanied by his wife, Nancy, votes in the California primary election. Reagan, the candidate who is unopposed on the Republican ballot, said he believed it was a "good thing" for the GOP to have a favorite-son delegation rather than an open primary. "It helps bring unity to the party," he said. (Getty Images)
Not exactly the same scene as zipping your ballot into an optical scanning system, is it?
