Poll workers stay busy with heated primary

Joe Hornaday
Greensburg Daily News

May 06, 2008 05:18 pm

— As political yard signs multiplied exponentially and dotted the landscape of the county and surrounded the many polling places, citizens flocked to the polls to cast their votes in the May 6 primary.
While recent political discussions have been dominated by the presidential race and the ongoing battle between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, races at the local level in Greensburg sparked a high level of interest as well. The contests between Matthew Bailey and Lora Reed Williams for Decatur Superior Court Judge and between state senator candidates Jean Leising and Jeff Sponsel had become serious competitions, according to many voters. The county commissioner races for Districts 1 and 3 had also garnered much attention.
When the voting finally got underway, polling place workers began to notice a steady influx of voters. According to most workers, the polling places had never seen so much activity.
“It’s been come and go,” Joe Stanley said, an inspector for the polls at the Fairfield Inn in Greensburg. “It’s been a good turnout so far.”
Stanley noted that when the factories let out and people get off work, the polls would be much busier than they were during the day.
“Seeing people come out to vote in such numbers makes it all worthwhile,” Stanley said. “It’s rewarding to be a part of the system.”
Barbara Manus, one of Stanley’s fellow poll workers, added that, before the after-work rush, the voter turnout had been surprisingly steady.
Greensburg residents Bill and Ruth Beard, two voters who cast their ballots early in the day, noted that their interest was not focused on the local races, rather they were interested in the presidential race.
The polling station at the Greensburg Community High School was also very busy, and poll worker Mary Dickman noted the excellent turnout.
“We have as much already as we did at the last election,” Dickman stated. “There is alot of interest.”
At that time, there were still several hours left in the day.
“This one is really bringing out the people,” she said.
However, Dickman did note that some voters were grumbling about having to vote a straight ticket.
“People are often torn between the presidential and local elections, but the presidential election is overriding the local,” she explained.
Dickman also said that at her polling station, a few college students traveled all the way from Bloomington to vote in the primary.
Beverly Stiers, a poll worker at the Knights of St. John Hall, claimed that her station had people lining up early in the day despite having four voting machines. Ivan Nading, the inspector at the Hall, added that at the half day mark, 42 percent of registered voters in the precinct had cast their votes either on the day of the primary or through absentee voting.
“We haven’t had a big lull,” Stiers said.
Stiers, like all of her fellow poll workers, did expect that the polling station would be swamped with voters when the local businesses let their employees leave.
“More people are coming out for the presidential race, but the judge race is sparking the most local interest,” Stiers added.
The poll workers at the Greensburg Decatur County Public Library reported more than 400 voters had cast their choices at the halfway point of the day, which according to them was a remarkable voter turnout.
With several of the precincts reporting, voter turnout was shaping up to be very high. The polls stayed open until 6 p.m., and at that point, only voters who were inside the polling place at the deadline would be allowed to cast their ballots.

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