My Debut as Inspector

It was yet another voting day in Huntsville this past Tuesday. This go-around was for the general municipal election for the city. There was only one office to vote for in my precinct so needless to say there wasn’t much thinking to do. We voted a total of 142 people, which is a great deal more than we voted in the primary run-off back in July but still hardly a drop in the voter pool bucket.

The inspector for my precinct had knee replacement surgery last month and decided not to work this election and so the duties of inspector fell into my capable hands. I’m also happy to report the lady that messed up the clerk’s list last month was on vacation so I didn’t have to deal with the headache of her getting us off count for the day. In other words, I had a good crew and a smooth day.

I stopped by the precinct on Monday afternoon about 4:30 to set up the poll. It took me about 40 minutes to get everything set up the way I wanted it and to take care of everything that could be done the night before. The morning of voting, I made a run by Hardee’s to get everyone a biscuit. Our usual inspector does this each time we vote and so I thought it would be a good idea to do the same thing for everyone. We all arrived around 6:00 a.m. Tuesday morning and signed all the papers and envelopes and took the oath of office and by 6:15 a.m. we were done setting up and ready for our first voter. Of course, the polls didn’t open until 7:00 a.m. so we were ready with lots of time to spare.

The day went off without a hitch. We had a very slow yet steady pace of people come in to vote. Per usual, we ordered Steak-Out for lunch which was delicious as always. Mid-afternoon, I made use of the church’s walking track and walked for about 30 minutes to pass the time and try to get in a little physical activity. One can begin to feel like a sloth sitting around for hours on end.

I brought loads of things to do throughout the day. I knocked out some Bible study lessons and prepared for my Wednesday night three-year old class. I cut coupons and played games on my Kindle and I also wrote a few blog posts, this one included.

About 5:00 p.m. I started getting everything ready for the closing of the polls. Since we had made it out in record time back in July, I wanted to try and get out just as quick this go-around, especially since I would be the one taking all the ballots and results to the courthouse. We closed the polls at 7:00 p.m. and I got the reports printed out, signed and in their proper envelopes and everything loaded into the car by 7:09 and was at the courthouse five minutes later. I made a quick run by Publix downtown to pick up a few items that were on sale before heading home, making it in the front door by 7:35 p.m.

It was a successful day as inspector at the polls if I do say so myself. This was our last voting day until the general election coming up in November which will hopefully be much busier and more entertaining than this particular election.