Election Day, amazingly non-political!

So, since I had the sub today, and today is elections in Oregon, I was vote counter... And that was about all I did today.  To wit:  I came to the door to open up for the morning, and there were 47 ballots that had been pushed under the door.  45 were fine, 2 looked like an accordion, and had to be straightened out before I could put them in the ballot bag.

Yes, a bag.  In fact, it looks a whole lot like a saddle bag for a horse.  Turnout was pretty good, and when the gent came by to pick up the morning haul, he grunted mightily when he lifted it!

I was in at 7 a.m. to open up, but people were so intent on reading the little hours of operation sign, they didn't pay attention/see me at the desk, and went back to their cars to leave! Launch to the door, wave, and get them back... So, a quick sign, OPEN ELECTION DAY 7 AM TO 8 PM.  Ahh, no more problems...

Ok, small problem. I put it on the same side as the hours of operation, and everyone started trying to open the door on the wrong side.  Quick change!  Ahh, no more problems...

(You see where this is going, right?)

Almost all the folks coming in at that point didn't know where the ballots went.  SIGNAGE TO THE RESCUE!  A nice sign with an arrow pointing to the box, telling them to put ballot in slot. Aaah, no...
Who am I kidding? I was still asked about every other time where the ballots went!  Oh, well.

I would try and greet everyone as they came in, and thank them as they left.  That lead to one gent turning around and looking completely bumfuzzled.

"What are you thanking ME for?"

"For making the effort to vote."

I swear, I heard gears grinding... "Huh. Ok. Bye."  I wonder if he's still pondering the thought.

Most of the rest of the day was either "You're welcome", "No, Thank You", or one very disgruntled gal who growled, "Yeah, for the good it did, screw 'em all..."

"Uh, well, have a nice day?"  She did laugh at that.

I think my favorite, though, was a lady that brought her son in, and showed him the voting 'booth' set up over the ballot bag.  It's mostly for show, but it can be used as a privacy screen if someone actually wanted to vote there.  So the lady lifts up the little boy, and says, "this is what Mommy used to vote on."

Little guy pipes up, "why don't you now?"

She smiles, and responds, "Silly, we vote by mail, that's why Mommy needed the pen last night!"

So, after the tally was figured, (I left a bit after 3), we had taken in 300+ ballots at that point.  My replacement no sooner had her tush in the chair when 3 more came in at once, while the phone started ringing.

So, no matter the candidate, levy, bond, etc., that was there, people were making an effort.  And, in the end, I consider that the important thing.

(And better yet, I didn't get any lectures on why X candidate was the worst/best/only!)