Hardworking poll workers exuded professionalism, respect I saw firsthand the voting system can handle its responsibilities
I worked long hours Tuesday as a roster judge and want to compliment all the employees and volunteers I worked with, as well as the voters who were patient and cooperative with the whole process.
We reported at 5:30 a.m. and saw voters lining up at 6. At 6:15, we were notified that the electronic check-in system had been overwhelmed processing all the early voting so we were switching to the printed registration instead. Going old school!
Every voter was understanding and cooperative with delays as we got up and running. I did not hear a single complaint. The first few hours were busy but it tapered off throughout the day.
Nearly half the registered voters on our rolls had voted early or requested an absentee ballot. Out of the 426 voters who came in, only 24 had to vote provisionally. Not a single voter was turned away without being able to cast a vote. The team worked with each voter to straighten out paperwork, address changes, identification confusion, etc.
We applauded every first-time voter from teens to one elderly woman to new citizens of all ages.
Iwas very impressed with the competence, organization and overall commitment of the Franklin County Board of Elections for this election. And I thank the board of elections and the voters for trusting me during this election.
Marie Haines, Columbus
I volunteered to be a first-time poll worker on Nov. 3. I must say I was totally impressed with the entire process. The Franklin County Board of Elections provided excellent training materials and classes and, when experiencing a computer glitch on election morning, had the necessary paper backup ready to go at each voting location.
The 12 poll workers — half Republicans and half Democrats, ranging in age from 35 to 82, both men and women, from different races and walks of life, most of whom had never met before — worked together in a friendly, civil and earnest (and a masked!) way from 5:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. (15 hours) and made sure that every voter was treated politely and respectfully.
I also learned that our voting system is designed well to ensure all voters were legally eligible to vote, did not vote twice and were voting in the correct precinct, especially in a year with a record number of mail-in ballots cast.
It was a wonderful example of how and why our great democracy works.
Bob Behal, Bexley