Takin' the Blog for a Walk
Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Email Brien at howlinblog@yahoo.com.
Tuesday's primary
Tuesday was first time for me as chief inspector at the polls when I actually had time to prepare. I felt ready, but things can go wrong, though it would have been embarrasing to make mistakes with such low numbers.
One third of all my poll workers didn't show up the morning of the election. Three other people were scheduled to work with me but only two showed up. Off to a bad start, but we still had the minimum. I'd now be working the poll books, but voting would have to stop when one of us visited the restroom. An odd amount of poll workers is required by law with a bare minimum of three, depending on the election. Reason being, in the case of a discrepancy or dispute, there'll always be a tie breaker. A vote in a vote so to speak.
Voting was light, reflecting the 10% turnout, though Ward 7 did run out of ballots. We encouraged use of the Edge touchscreen machine and many took us up on this offer to learn a new, high tech way of voting.
We had extra workers around mid day, but would have been short in the evening and at closing. One of the poll workers from previous elections stopped by but couldn't work the close. Fortunately for us he changed his plans after talking to Gina at City Hall, and with his help we finished the day with no mistakes. Our ballots were turned in by 9:30 which is many hours earlier than the last time and probably wouldn't be possible in busier elections.
I was very satisfied with the entire day, but the thing I think about most is the voter early in the morning who wanted to talk to us about the temporary shelter in the neighborhood. I hope she realizes poll workers can't hold political conversations at all and have to keep conversation to a minimum when voters are present. I for one wouldn't want to be forced to wait behind someone holding up the line because they're in a heated discussion with poll workers. Thank you for coming out to vote, but try to keep the politics in the booth. thanks
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