Elections offices aren’t perfect. But we darn sure try to be
Coming off the back of yet another highly successful election, from the nonpartisan point of view of an elections office professional at least, the unwarranted accusations of fraud or tomfoolery still plague the discourse of our political landscape. 99.99% of what we accomplished was perfect, but it’s important to understand that these elections are run by humans and humans aren’t perfect. But we darn sure try to be.
In Seminole County, we have 82 precincts. Those precincts are staffed by an aging generation of trained election workers who we have the utmost respect and admiration for. Our election workers are your neighbors. They are the people you run into at the grocery store and the ones you sit next to on the weekends. They’re humans and humans aren’t perfect. But they darn sure try to be.
Your neighbors working the polls are there at 5:45 in the morning and don’t leave until the last person has voted and the closing procedures have been performed. For many, that results in at least a 14-hour day. They’ve given up their Tuesday to be a part of democracy and to ensure its integrity. For that we are eternally grateful. Your friends working the polls go through hours of training to prepare for the election and show up on Election Day, or on multiple days during early voting, and perform to the best of their ability as they embody the motto of our office, Ensuring Your Choice Counts. They’re humans and humans aren’t perfect. But they darn sure try to be.
Ensuring your choice counts is a lot of work. I wish we could provide everyone with an in-depth behind the scenes look at just what it takes to get you that piece of paper, and we do try to be as transparent as humanly possible, but reaching 350,000-plus voters is difficult. None of us, from the supervisor to our election workers at the polls, show up to work with the mindset of “How can I mess something up today?” Each and every day (not just two or three times a year in even years) we show up to make sure that each and every one of you has the opportunity to physically represent your beliefs and ideals in the form of a vote. But we’re humans, and humans aren’t perfect. But we darn sure try to be.
People make mistakes. It happens. It’s a natural part of humanity; we’re fallible. Rarely, however, does simple human error turn out to be part of a conspiracy to overthrow the very democracy we defend every day. Rarely does a small error escalate to accusations of fraud that are baseless and very personally taken. Many don’t realize just how personal these accusations become. Any attack on our office, its people or its actions immediately questions the integrity of each and every one of us involved in putting this together. We’re here to do all of this for you. We’re humans and humans aren’t perfect. But we darn sure try to be.
If I could leave you with one lasting thought it’s this. Before you go posting onto social media about something you saw or experienced and how it’s fraud and the entire world is crumbling down, take a second to think about your neighbors who are there working for you. Take a moment to consider that something might be a simple mistake and a phone call to your supervisor of elections or a conversation with the clerk at the precinct might be able to fix it. Take a single breath to consider that a candidate may have lost simply because they did not get enough votes, that maybe what you read and hear in your own circles don’t reflect the majority at large. At the end of the day we’re all in this together. Regardless of party, color, orientation, what have you, we are here to ensure your choice counts. We’re not perfect. But we darn sure try to be.