It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Well, things have been pretty hectic lately.
So, today was a nice long day. I did my civic duty today, as I have done for the last six elections in this state… I worked at the polls, as a precinct inspector.
Five o’clock in the morning… Alarm goes off. Wake up, take a quick shower, get dressed, and make sure the updated roster, ballots, and everything else is in my car.
Take off, pick up a coffee at 7-11 on the way, and head over to the polling place.
5:45… Arrive on scene, and there are already people starting to line up to vote. Perhaps they mistook today for “Black Friday” at Best Buy. Sorry, there are no Wii’s for sale here today.
So, with my clerks arriving at 6:00 am, we start to get the place set up for polling. I stopped by the night before to set up the voting booths, but there are items I cannot leave, such as the ballots, the ballot box, the inka-a-vote plus machine, and the ballot machines. All the things needed to create an election must be with me until election day. You know, just in case the custodian is late and doesn’t open the doors for the polling place by 7:00 am, we can “set up shop” outside and take votes. The main rule is simple: The Voting Never Stops.
So, now that we’re set up, 7:00 arrives, and the magic words are spoken: “The Polls Are Now Open”
What a madhouse.
We had a line going around the block. My first position assingments failed miserably. You see, we have two precincts sharing a single polling place – a green table, and an orange table. I was the Orange table. The Green line was moving fast, but the Orange line was moving along slowly. People were getting upset, and complaining.
I found the bottleneck, and moved her to a better suited postion, and the lines started moving again. So much so, that by 10:30, the tables have turned – our line was the shorter of the two lines.
Funny thing — All the people who made a mad dash to vote in the morning… made for a lot less people at the end of the day.
I could continue the timeline, but I am so tired after working a 16-hour day, that I am going to bed.
But I will say once again…. What a way to end the night…. 666 voters. (That doesn’t count the 63 “provisional” ballots and the 33 “mail-in ballot dropoffs” we received.)
yawn
