Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Election Day-Northwoods Style

Case filled in as an election judge yesterday because one of the usual people was ill.  He and other judges arrived at 6:30 am to open the town hall and set up the equipment.  Voting was from 7 am to 8 pm.  Yes, thirteen long hours.  There are 320 registered voters in the Town of Spider Lake.  (Illinois folks - just think township.  There are no "townships" in Wisconsin.  They are called towns.)  Forty-eight came out to vote.  Elections were for school board (2 contested seats), county supervisor (one contested seat), and town board members (2  seats running unopposed).  It certainly wasn't a glamorous election.  Writing this on Wednesday I can tell you the results that all the incumbents won.  At 8 pm, the judges counted the electronic votes, paper votes and absentee votes (2 this time).  Then they put away the equipment.  Case was home after 9 pm.   I don't know what he earned, but it wasn't enough in my opinion. 

Case said he learned a lot.  I ventured a guess, "How the wheels of democracy roll at the grassroots level?"  "No," he replied.  "After each voter left, I was filled in on their story.  I was fresh meat for the usual judges to tell the tales." 

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