Welcome to my blog, or should I say to the ramblings of an old man. I doubt that my ramblings are of much value, but at least I have an opportunity to share them.  So, please be kind and humor me. If nothing else of value stands out in these thoughts, I hope that you at least sense the value I place on a daily walk with the Lord.  That walk is what has provided me with motivation and a sense of purpose throughout my lifetime.  My prayer is that you, too, are experiencing this direction and joy in daily living which is available to everyone who puts his trust in Christ.  So, thanks again for joining me.  Please don't go without leaving some comments here so I can get to know you better as our paths intersect today in this blog.

Friday, November 9, 2012

An Interesting Day!


On Tuesday I served as Judge of Elections for the fifteenth time.  Doing the job right involves quite a time commitment.  In addition to attending a training session, I probably spent at least 12 hours in preparation of materials and setting up the precinct.  On the day of election we spent 16 hours and later it took another two hours to return materials, keys and equipment.  I don't get any travel allowance, but I do get some pay, about $3.70 an hour, so obviously I don't do it for the money.  But I am continually amazed at how people act.  Now I know that I shouldn't be, especially after 39 years in public education, but I am.  People ignore signs and directions. They can't get in the proper lanes even if there are three sets of directions posted for each lane.  They can't follow exit signs to leave at the proper place.  Despite a sign at the front door that all cell phones are to be turned off, frequently you hear phones ringing and people talking on them, even in their voting booths.  Now legally, photo ID's were not required this time even though we were asked to request them.  But showing us an ID can actually cut a person's registration time in half.  And that can be so helpful when you are processing nearly 1,500 voters.  So I posted a large 2'x3' yellow sign where I thought voters couldn't miss it which said that ID's weren't required but showing one would speed up their wait time.  It asked them to present one.  The majority did so.  However, many walked right by the sign, that was right at their face level, and didn't read it.  And there were some (guess which party) who loudly exclaimed that they would not show one because they were opposed to it.  Unbelievable!  And their opposition and refusal just slowed things down for them and for the folks behind them in the lines.  Some wondered why we were now using paper ballots, even though this was the 14th election since the lever machines were replaced with paper ballots.  Where have they been?  But my biggest problem came from folks who weren't registered.  Several of them hadn't voted in many years and were no longer on the rolls.  After taking time to call the election office to get an answer, I had to tell them that they didn't vote in the last two federal elections.  A notice had been mailed to each of them warning them about being dropped.  Of course, all said they never received one and several took their disappointment out on me.  One proclaimed that he was a veteran and should be allowed to vote anyway.  Another told me that she can't believe that this would happen in America.  Another told me that this was the way that election outcomes were controlled.  Some had moved, even years ago, but had never had their registration changed.  Because of the possible requirement of photo ID's this year, the media has been filled with announcements urging people to call ahead to make sure that they were registered.  But I guess these folks either don't read or watch tv or just ignored the recommendations.  It was just easier to blame their failure on the government or on me.  After a day like this, you wonder why any volunteers continue to give of their time and energy.  At times it can be a very thankless effort.  In my case, I have decided that I have just two more elections until my term runs out and I am not running again for another four year term.  However, there were some positives.  With a great team of workers we were able to process many voters in a short time.  I doubt that any voter took more than 15 minutes to get through in our precinct.  We did process 175 in the first 45 minutes.  And, thankfully, we finished the day at a reasonable time and all of our figures balanced out correctly the first time.  But even more importantly, this time we did have a few folks who took the time to tell my poll workers "thank you" for serving. That was nice and I am thrilled that many of those working with and for me were recognized in this manner.  I am exhausted but proud that we processed so many efficiently. And, believe it or not, my group allowed me to start the morning with prayer and I think that was why God permitted us to accomplish what we did.  As far as the abuse and blame that was sent my way, I was a teacher for 39 years so this wasn't a new experience.  It seems today that everyone's carelessness is somebody else's fault.  And that is the summary of my 15th election as Judge of Elections - just two more to go!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

RAH, RAH, RAH!!!!! Good for you! Thank you too.