Election days are always tense, but Madison’s polls had an odd stillness to them. The anxiety of such an important event was blunted by the friendly attitudes of the helpful poll workers.
In the large basement of Trinity Lutheran Church, workers eagerly greeted voters coming down the stairs, pointing new voters towards a special registration table set up to guide them through the process. Workers were friendly and helpful, answering any questions needed to help first-time voters participate in their important civic duty.
Across the room, several tables were set up with signs ordered alphabetically, guiding people toward the next step with warm and welcoming faces. As I answered questions and received my ticket to get a ballot, I was comforted by lovely conversation. For a moment, I could ignore the anxiety in the air that seemed to follow election news everywhere.
One worker carried stacks of absentee ballots, carefully and patiently feeding them one at a time into the voting machine.
According to some workers, turnout at that point had been more than 2,000. Quite a few votes, and yet the polling station felt oddly deserted. Only a few other people came in and out, more an occasional trickle than the line of voters I’d expected. Even during COVID-19, I remembered a larger crowd.
Talking to fellow voters afterwards, I heard stories recounting similar experiences from other poll stations. Kind and friendly poll workers, but very quiet stations.