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Working at polls an honor, pleasure

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Editor,

On Election Day, I had the honor and pleasure of monitoring one of the ballot scanning machines at the Linderman School gym, the polling place for several precincts in and around Polson. Up at 4:30 a.m., at the polls by 6, on my feet until 8 p.m. when the polls closed and another hour-plus tabulating results and checking out at the election office.

So, where was the honor and pleasure part?

The energy in the gym that day was exhilarating. Although the situation was serious (voting), the atmosphere was almost festive. Friends greeted friends. Teachers brought their students to get a taste of the election process. Parents brought their children. Most participants seemed to actually enjoy the process of voting.  

In spite of a variety of physical limitations, many came to the polls in person. One woman was released from the hospital just to vote, a port still in her arm. She came in a wheelchair pushed by her husband, who had promised the doctor that he would return her to the hospital immediately after she voted. And age was no deterrent. Several people in their 90s came to the polls.

When returning from a short break, I witnessed a young girl skipping out of the gym, a huge grin on her face. She threw her arms in the air and exclaimed: “I voted!” She and several others were proud first-time voters.

More than one foreign student came to see how our system works. And it does work.

The people who came to the Linderman gym and all the other polling places throughout this country make it work. Not big money, not nasty ads – only the voters. What an honor and pleasure it was for me to witness the practicing of one of our most important freedoms.

Thanks to all you who voted.

Jackie Ladner

Polson

 

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