How Election Day looks from the inside

During the Aug. 18 primary election, I was a Teton County election judge. It was a wonderful experience. 

Our county clerk, Maureen Murphy, assigned me to the Old Wilson Schoolhouse. The team included two Teton County Clerk’s Office employees, an information technology expert from the Teton County Sheriff’s Office and eight volunteers.

It was a long day — 14 hours — during which we recorded 674 votes. We never left the building. 

It was a very rigorous process. Unlocking the ballot counting machine involved multiple numbered tags, several seals and signatures from three judges who witnessed each step of the process. Individual ballots — there are 42 varieties depending on where you live — were carefully sorted and counted at the beginning of the day.

At the end of the day, we counted the unused ballots and the spoiled ballots, i.e., ballots where people made a mistake and wanted a redo. Spoiled ballots were carefully marked so they would not be processed, and then put in a secure file. All of this was reconciled with the number of ballots cast.

I spent most of the day on a computer, checking people in. The computer program was pretty simple. In most cases, it took about 30 seconds. If someone had an address change or had not voted recently, then we needed to update their information or reregister them. Any mistake on the form and it would not print. The voter then reviewed and signed the printed form, which I also signed, dated and immediately filed in a secure location.

We even kept all the trash in a secure location. (Let the record show that Hansen ate two meat sticks.)

I have a few takeaways from the experience. There was a great vibe in the room all day. People were unfailingly polite and friendly. 

This was my first election judge rodeo, so a few times I took longer than I should have. Everyone was pleasant about it. A few voters grumbled about now having to show identification, but it was basically a nonissue. The clerk has records on everyone. There have been only four cases of voter fraud in Wyoming in the last 25 years, and none since 2014, according to the Heritage Foundation.

However, people really did not like being told they had to choose by May 13 whether to vote in the Republican or Democratic primary. This is more than three months prior to the primary election and before we know who is running for office. 

I probably checked in close to 200 voters. I sent about 10 home without voting since they were registered as “unaffiliated” and could not change their party status and vote. For decades, Wyoming voters could show up at the primary and choose whether to vote as a Democrat or Republican. The so-called Freedom Caucus and Secretary of State Chuck Gray took that right from us. 

Ironically, if you had never voted, you were allowed to register on the spot and choose the party ballot you desired. Even crazier, if you did not vote in the previous election and were purged, you could show up, reregister, and choose your ballot. So, only regular voters get punished by the early declaration date.

At our primary election on Aug. 18, it was overwhelmingly clear that voters — Republicans and Democrats — cherished the voting process. Given what I saw that day as an election judge, if Trump tries to interfere in the Nov.3 general election, it will not go well for him and his sycophants.