Observations At One Polling Place

This morning, I worked a Pike Township polling place for Allison Maguire and Paul Ogden, both of whom are running for School Board in the northwest corner of Marion County. I observed some things about the volunteers staffing the polls that I found interesting. The polls opened at 6am.

5:55 - I am the only volunteer present. I have my Ogden & Maguire t-shirt on, and have a stack of palm cards ready to go.

6:00 - A second volunteer shows up, for a Republican candidate. He has no materials. His local precinct chair hasn't run the materials to him yet.

6:05 - A third volunteer shows up, for a non-partisan school board candidate.

6:10 - The voters start to arrive in earnest. Three more volunteers for school board candidates arrive.

7:00 - Two volunteers show up to promote the slated Democratic candidates.

7:15 - Three more volunteers show up to promote the slated Democratic candidates.

8:00 - The AM rush is over.

8:05 - I begin to leave my post as scheduled. Five volunteers for Republican candidate for US Senate John Hostettler show up. I make a point of saying to the volunteer who still doesn't have his materials, loudly enough for the Hostettler folks to hear, "Now that the morning rush is over, I'll be leaving."

So, to sum up: The Libertarian is early and prepared. The Democrats are late, and then over-staffed. If the Republicans are on time, they're unprepared. If they're prepared, they're hopelessly late.

Reminded me of life in general.