Smooth Sailing For Haverford Township Voters

By John C. Nolan

My coverage of Election Day 2004 in Ward 7, Precinct 1 of Haverford Township started out with some excitement. As I approached the polling place (the Brookline Volunteer Fire Department), a bit of intrigue seemed to be brewing. A teenaged girl – clipboard in one hand, Starbucks latté in another – ran up to me and asked me to sign a petition to reelect Commissioner James McGarrity. Immediately, a woman in her forties ran up to me, yelling, “That’s not what it’s for!” My immediate reaction was that “Jo Jo Starbuck” was trying to trick me into signing something, and that the older woman was trying to warn me about it. However, I quickly discovered that the two women were working together, that the petition was actually about re-zoning, and that the older woman was correcting the younger one. As the two women bickered about the purpose of the petition, I slipped by them (not wanting to sign a petition for an issue I was not familiar with) and made my way toward the entrance to the polling place. On my way to the entrance, I was handed a ballot for the Democratic Party. However, the representative of the party remained outside.

The polling place was quiet, with a minimalist layout. Two voting machines – the kinds with curtains and levers – were located at the far end of the room and were overseen by a single member of the voting committee. Along the adjacent wall was a long table behind which four older women (all members of the voting committee) sat. The waiting line was short and I very quickly found myself going through the process of preparing to vote. The first woman asked for my name (but not for any form of identification), found my card in a book, tore it out, and asked me to sign it. This card was passed to the second woman, who entered my information in her voting log, and then passed the card to the third woman, who entered my information into her log.

At that point, I was ready to cast my vote. I walked up to the booth, and the committee member overseeing the booths asked me if I had any questions regarding the working of the booth. I confirmed with him that my perception of how to operate the booth was indeed correct, and I proceeded to cast my vote without incident.

After voting, I spent some time observing the procedures in the voting place, but I found that everything was moving smoothly and without incident. Voters came in, were processed through the line quickly, cast their votes, and left. The committee member manning the voting booths answered question from anyone who was unsure how to work them, but did not enter the booths with the voters.

At no time during my observations was anyone prevented from voting. The only occurrence that came close to being an ‘incident’ involved a man for whom this was his first election as a Havertown resident. He waited in line, and explained to the first woman that he was not sure if he were in the right place. She did not find his name in her book, and told him that the second woman would know where he needed to go. The second woman said that, because he lived on the North side of Earlington Road, he would probably have to go either to the Synagogue or the Annunciation Church. However, she wasn’t completely sure either, so she referred him to the third woman, who was not only unsure about where he should vote, but also unsure whether the Synagogue was operating as a polling place this year. Finally, the fourth woman at the table confirmed that he definitely needed to cast his vote at the Annunciation Church. The man thanked the women for their help and left.

Apart from that incident, voting went smoothly for all who showed up. Considering that I live and vote in a quiet, middle-class suburb, this is not surprising. To the contrary, with so many news reports focusing on denied access to polling places, absentee ballots being discarded, and voter registration forms not being processed, the lack of controversy was rather comforting. In spite of all the potential for problems, Ward 7, Precinct 1 of Haverford Township was operating efficiently and doing its part to make sure that every vote gets counted this year.