On the front lines of historic voting

Volunteer Port poll workers who generally receive thanks instead of threats are already busy with thousands of early voters as turnout predictions top 90%

A DEDICATED CORPS of election workers was on hand at Port Washington City Hall to handle in-person early voting last week. They included (from left) Holly Ostermann, Joan Meyer, Pat Loose, Ralph Luedtke, Patti Luedtke, City Clerk Susan Westerbeke and Chief Election Inspector Mary Quentin. Photo by Sam Arendt
By 
KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff

If you drove by Port Washington City Hall early this week, you might have thought it was election day.

Lines for in-person early voting stretched outside the building, with people lining up to vote before the doors of City Hall opened, City Clerk Susan Westerbeke said.

“You had to wait in line longer than you normally would (on election day),” she said, adding some people left, saying they couldn’t wait as long as they had to and pledging to return when the lines were shorter.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, the first day of in-person early voting, 452 people cast their ballots.

The process slowed to a crawl at one point as large municipalities came on to the WisVotes statewide computer system used to print voter identification labels that are affixed to the ballot envelopes, Westerbeke said.

A week later, more than 3,700 absentee ballots had been issued by the city, and Westerbeke said she expects that number to be close to 5,000 by the time early voting ends at 5 p.m. Friday.

Throughout the early voting period, Westerbeke added, there have been 15 to 20 people registering to vote each day, a number she expects to increase throughout the rest of this week.

Overall, Westerbeke said, she expects turnout to exceed 90%.

“There will be lines. It’s a presidential election. You’re going to have the maximum number of voters,” she said.

Staffing the polls will be a corps of 50 to 60 volunteer poll workers.

At a time when questions are being raised nationally about the integrity of the election and threats are being made against election workers throughout the country, Port’s poll workers generally haven’t had to deal with these issues.

“We hear ‘thank you for volunteering.’ ‘Thank you for your service’ all the time, Chief Election Inspector Mary Quentin said. “No one has shared with me that they’re nervous (about working the polls).”

“Our poll workers have been with us for a long time and they’re very dedicated,” Westerbeke said. “The voters recognize them, and that’s comforting too. There’s a trust factor there.”

Given today’s political climate, some people come to the polls with questions about the process, she said, and the poll workers will explain it to them.

“Often they’ve heard something on TV or read something and they come in with a perception,” she said. “Or they’ve heard about something happening in another state. Every state has its own election laws. People repeat things and think it’s happening in Wisconsin, or they hear something’s happening in Milwaukee and think it’s happening here.

“Sometimes it’s just a matter of educating voters,” Westerbeke said.

Poll workers also assure them that while things may happen elsewhere, “We can’t control the national stage or what happens statewide. We manage our municipality,” Westerbeke added. “There are layers and layers to the process here. There’s a chain of custody for ballots from the beginning to the end. Elections are safe.”

More common than voters questioning the election are people who try to vote in the wrong place, the women said.

Sometimes, it’s people whose mailing address differs from their actual address, such as people on Port’s south side who have a Grafton mailing address, or people who stop at City Hall to vote instead of Town Hall.

Quentin recalled once when some Milwaukee residents who were traveling through the city stopped to vote after seeing the “Vote Here” sign outside City Hall.

“It’s usually people who vote every four years. They think, ‘It’s a federal election, what difference does it make where I vote?’” Westerbeke said.

Tuesday’s election promises to be busy for poll workers, who stay after the last voters have voted to process the ballots and ensure every vote is counted.

Throughout the day, poll workers will feed the absentee ballots into the system when lines slow down, but those not processed during the day are handled after the polls close.

It’s a process that takes hours, and it’s followed the next day by canvassing.

“We check, check, check,” Quentin said.

Early voting continues this week at Port City Hall from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Thursday, Oct. 31, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1.

On election day, the polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. A photo ID is required to vote. All voters in line at 8 p.m. will be allowed to cast their ballots.

People may also register to vote at the polls.

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Ozaukee Press

Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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