In America, we have the right to vote. We also have the right to sit at home and not vote. Apparently, the voters of El Paso County have given the county election department the idea that, if it’s not a major election, they’ll sit at home rather than go to the polls.This was evident to me on Election Day, my first time as an election judge.I have voted in every major election since my 18th birthday, but recently I had the urge to be more involved in the process, ergo my application to be an election judge.I was assigned to Meridian Ranch Elementary School for precinct 334. We had five election judges, with one no-show, so we were short-handed from the beginning. We served a steady stream of voters all day, with the predicted rushes at 7 a.m., noon and after school. We ran out of ballots about 4 p.m.Initially, people were understandably upset. Many had planned to stop by and vote on their way somewhere else; some had children with them; several had commitments for the evening that couldn’t be changed. Once the would-be voters realized the ballot issue was not the fault of the election judges, an attitude of acceptance prevailed.We had quite a crowd, many of whom had waited an hour or more. We checked addresses and IDs. We informed everyone they could leave and come back, or wait. The school night custodian brought chairs and tried to make everyone as comfortable as possible.State patrol officers finally arrived with hand-numbered ballots, and we quickly finished processing those who had signed in and then started processing those who had been waiting in a line that had formed.I would estimate about 100 people at precinct 334 were affected by the ballot shortage, most by a longer wait. We had perhaps six people who had signed in, left, and did not return to cast a ballot. In all, we had more than 430 ballots cast at our polling place.I understand that other polling places had larger crowds and an increased number of irate people. According to a Nov. 2 article in the Gazette, 80 precincts throughout the county ran out of ballots.The following people deserve kudos:The people of Falcon and the rest of El Paso County voters who remained patient, the election judges who remained calm and flexible, the principal and staff of Meridian Ranch Elementary School for the hospitality shown to the judges and all the polling places for giving up space.Yes, we have the precious right to vote, as well as the right to abstain. But perhaps the only way we can guarantee that we’ll continue to have the right to vote is to do it, every time, even for the perceived not-so-important issues. Rights neglected may become rights lost. And it may be our only way to ensure enough ballots for everyone every time.
