To the Editor,
On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, I voted in my first municipal election. I had never voted in a city election before, although I had voted in a couple of general elections. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I should vote in this one, as I had failed to remember to research the propositions and the candidates for office beforehand.
I decided at the last minute, after reading a bit about the propositions—what was in the local paper, anyway—that I would at least vote on them. I wasn’t even sure if that was allowed, but I figured I would ask if it was okay to do that.
I noticed right away that there were no signs out by the road—as there were in the general election—that even indicated the polling location for my city. I was glad that I had read the paper just the day before, or I might have forgotten. I also found it strange and decided to ask about it when I got inside.
I was told by the election worker that there are visible signs on the door—which I had noticed—but that “they” (meaning the election board, I guess?) were not “in charge” of the polling location’s signage and whether or not they decided to use it to “advertise” the voting spot publicly.
As she took my Government Issued ID and checked my registration, I quipped that it just seemed to me that more people might actually vote if they saw the sign near the road to remind them (you cannot see the signs on the door from the road), and although another poll worker agreed with me, this particular one said, “You wouldn’t want some people to vote!”
Her attitude, which seemed at the very least to be undesirable for a public worker, prompted me to reply, “As long as they are US citizens, I think it would be great if everyone voted.”
As she handed me a ballot, she responded that “you just don’t know; some of these people’s behavior!” I grabbed a pen, and left her with, “Sometimes I don’t agree with the behavior of a lot of these people we’ve voted for.”
As I looked over the ballot, I realized that I forgot to ask about only voting for the propositions, so I just raised my voice a bit and asked if that was ok (I was pretty close to the poll workers’ table), and I was told that “whatever I wanted to do with my ballot was my choice.”
I left, feeling good about having voted, hoping that I would be able to do a better job of it in the future, but I also felt a bit saddened by the poll worker’s attitude. It made me feel that she, like some others, consider voting to be better left to the upper crust—those who know “how to behave.” Is that right?
Barbara Gay
Clinton, MO
