As we all breathe a sigh of relief that the 2026 mid-term elections are over, some are

celebrating while others are lamenting the outcome. With so much division already, this is a

good time to remember that we don’t always have to be so serious, even when it comes to

voting.

I have served at a polling station for the past few election cycles. It is long. It can be tedious.

And did I mention that it is long. But it is also fulfilling.

Maybe it is just our precincts (we have two in the same building), but we manage to have a

good time throughout the day as we carry out our civic duty to our community and to our

country.

By the end of the day, I had numerous anecdotes, some which can be passed along here;

others that fall into the “what happens at the election precinct stays at the election precinct.”

These are the ones that can leave the polling station:

Everyone has to present a piece of identification, usually their driver’s license, so addresses

were a constant topic of conversation, especially the longer, more complicated rural addresses.

This topic led to the story about my oldest son and his unfortunate introduction to the longer

Emergency (E911) address. For those who don’t live in the country, rural residents had their old

rural route numbers replaced several decades ago with standard street names and physical

house numbers to help emergency personnel find their location. A numerical, logical address

tends to be more helpful than the “turn left where the old school house used to be and follow the

road past the house where Mr. Fitzgerald grew up.”

But for my son, the implementation of the new E911 address was ill-timed.

During his kindergarten year, they were tasked with memorizing their home address. So one

day, he lumbered off the school bus, grinning from ear to ear because he had finally mastered

his rural route and box number. After a high five in the drive-way, we wandered to the mailbox

as the bus continued down the gravel road. Inside, there was an unexpected letter announcing

our new E911 address.

His head hung low, he realized he had to start all over.

So as each person entered the polling station for our rural precinct, I felt sympathy for everyone

who had memorized their rural address only to start over with the helpful - but not as easy -

address.

As we spent an entire day sitting in one location, poll workers tend to develop some strong

opinions about the process, creative ways to pass the time and innovative ideas to help voters

along the way.

More than one voter had to return to their vehicle for a pair of reading glasses. While not a huge

inconvenience, we want to help the situation and proposed having a basket of readers available

at the check-in table, each labeled with the different strengths.

When my mother passed away at the age of 60, I was just 34 years old and had the task of

cleaning out her house. I couldn’t wrap my head around why there were reading glasses in

every room, in every desk, in every nook and cranny. Now I get it and so do the people coming

in to vote.

Finally, voting can be a family affair.

Some married couples came into the precinct together, maybe making it a date night. Others

voted separately but reassured us that their other half would be in later in the day. We’re not

judging but like Santa, we had a list and we had plenty of time to check it once, twice, 12 times.

It was so great to parents bringing their children along to witness the electoral process, showing

how important it is to exercise your right to vote. My youngest child got to cast his first ballot

during the mid-term election, a tradition I hope he continues throughout his life.

But perhaps the best time of the day was when young parents arrived at the polling station with

a baby in tow. You know it’s a small town when they opted to leave the baby in the carseat

carrier at the front table with the poll workers as the parent ventured to a back table to fill in their

ballot.

While we acknowledge that we have no official authority to implement our own rules, our

precinct debated whether to make it mandatory to leave all babies with poll workers. Just

another way to help with our civic duty.