working the polls

I worked as an election judge yesterday. What a day! It was incredible seeing the number of people who wanted to have their say. As a poll worker it was a long, BUSY day. When I showed up at 5 am (to prepare for the 6am opening) there was already a long line. It was astounding. At one point I had to run outside after a woman who left something and I could see the line stretch into the parking lot and round the building with no end in sight. I hope someone took a picture because it was truly amazing. Once we processed the voters and ok'ed their eligibility, we offered them the option of marking their paper ballots as they stood, leaning against the wall or against a table (instead of in a privicy booth). As a result there were wall to wall people voting in the room, but we did process them through as fast as we could and I only knew of one compliant all day (other then the drunk we had to call the police to eject from the building at closing time). Overall it was a really good experience and one that I very happy I won't have to do again. Only presidential elections are this crazy and this was a record breaker for presidential elections.