It’s 8 a.m. at Madison Community Center. The vote tally is 167. The Election Chief says this is the first time in six years that she has been working the polls that there have been over 100 people voting before 8 o’clock. She adds, “It usually picks up at 8.” And at 8:30 the parking lot is full.

Susan Berkeley, Registration Clerk, says there have been quite a few people so far and also quite a few spoiled ballots due to ranked choice voting. She says the election worker brings the spoiled ballot and the voter over to her and she marks SPOILED on the ballot and gives the voter instructions and a new ballot. Berkeley says she came at 5 a.m. and will be there all day and evening until everything is finished. 

Robert McLaughlin, a Republican poll worker, stands on one side of the sidewalk outside the building with his pink information sheet while Democratic poll workers Linda Roman and Shirley Kauffman stand on the other side with their blue voting instructions. The three agreed to stand together for a picture in the interest of bipartisan cooperation. They speculated there have been a few voters at a time but  a steady stream since they have been there. 

Allison Larmee and Hadley Griffin sit outside Madison Community Center at a table with donuts, homemade cookies and rainbow rice Krispy  treats. Their table is a familiar sight every election as students man the Model UN table of bakery items to raise money for their event.  Laramie says this is her fourth year at the table “and my last” and today is really cold. Larmee says she thinks there has been a bigger turnout this year than she remembers in previous years. Next year she will be able to vote. Griffin adds that she will be 18 mid-November, just too late to vote this time but she knows who she would have voted for but was not inclined to share that information.

Voting brings out the munchies