Making sure every vote gets counted

The Mabra Center on Martin Luther King Drive in Talladega, just blocks away from Talledega College, saw a steady stream of voters coming in and out this afternoon.

By 2 p.m. today about 700 people had cast their votes at the community center. Poll worker Marie Player said that was a good turnout so far for a mid-term election. She said that many of the voters tended to be older but she was optimistic that later in the day more younger voters, especially students at the college, would turn out. One Talledega College student who voted this afternoon stopped by to say hello to Marie, who greeted her with a big hug and a congratulations for voting.

Marie also noted that Talledega is home to two other schools, the Alabama School for the Blind and the Alabama School for the Deaf. There had been several voters who are blind who had already cast their ballots, she said, and pointed out with pride the machine which offered accessible voting. That's part of the job of a poll worker, she said, to make sure that all people who are eligible to vote have access to their right and assistance if need be.

Many voters trickled in during my visit with Marie. All the poll workers were pleasant and happy to help folks who had questions. Many of the voters seemed to know eachother and the poll workers, so this polling place also took on a social atmosphere. That's part of the joy of working an election, Marie said. The poll workers have a family atmosphere filled with teamwork, she said, and "we have fun doing it." Besides, "People are nice and we all work well together," she said. "It takes a lot of people to run the polls," she said, pointing out the line of volunteers busily handing out ballots to voters. "They're all good workers, dedicated, enthusiastic....We enjoy eachother and what we're doing."

Marie retired as a cooperative extension service county agent supervisor after 34 years on the job. She's just a people person and helping out at the polls is part of that, she said. She is ready with a smile to answer any questions the voters may have, and she cheerfully takes time to explain to a reporter how the ballot counting machines work and what the process is if a ballot can't be read by the machine. If a machine does not read the ballot, then the voter fills out another one and a team of election workers will try to figure out why it wouldn't be accepted. For example one voter filled out his ballot with a regular pen this morning instead of the special felt pens supplied at the polls. It took a bit of thinking but eventually the poll workers realized that was why the ballot couldn't go through the machine. Care and attention like that are essential to making sure an eleciton goes smoothly and every vote is counted, said Marie.