Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for the Bradford-Journal Opinion
The town clerks of Bradford and Newbury both reported smooth sailing at their local polling places last Tuesday.
As of midday Election Day, both towns had seen decent voter turnout, and potential issues from the morning had been worked out before the expected post-work rush, the clerks said.
For his first general election since becoming Newbury town clerk this March, Chuck Schulze opened his day trying to remedy voter confusion over the mail-in voting process.
“People didn’t realize that the absentee ballot that you got in the mail was also your ballot if you want to vote in person,” Schulze said.
Because of that misunderstanding, many voters were unaware they were supposed to bring the ballots to vote in person, he said.
That could have caused a ballot shortage, as the team were only given 400 while setting up in the gym at Newbury Elementary School. Luckily, Schulze said, he realized he could print more ballots if needed. His team had blank paper the voting machines could read, he said — and he had tested it himself to make sure the failsafe would work.
Otherwise the day went smoothly, he said, and school officials had no issues with the polling place being in their building, which was open all day. A large mat stretched over the floor to protect the court surface, and voters could follow clear signs across town to avoid any confusion on where to go.
Over in Bradford, things also seemed calm. Officials weren’t sure how turnout would compare to previous elections.
“It’s hard to gauge because the last time we did complete mail-outs was also Covid, and a lot more people voted by mail,” said Nikki Tomlinson, who has been the clerk in Bradford for about two years.
But she said more and more people have been voting in the past few elections, and poll workers that afternoon described the atmosphere as positive. Someone had even brought over cookies to lighten the mood.
With Tomlinson at the check-in desk, volunteer Larry Coffin presided over the ballot counting machine.
Bradford born and raised, Coffin has been retired from his career as a high school social studies teacher since 2006 and loves working the polls because he sees so many of his past students. During his career, Coffin taught about voter preparation and helped many of his students register to vote, he said. So working at the polls was something like full circle for him.
Coffin said voters had been “wonderful and cordial. People are willing to ask questions if they don’t quite understand the process.”
He seemed to have fun with the process, too.
“Let’s wait for the green check,” he announced to each voter as they put their ballots in the machine — before presenting them with a sticker and a smile.