Elections can be a lot of fun. It's interesting to follow the races and then when you enter the voting booth, you have your say. For the politicians, it can be kind of glamorous; their faces are plastered all over town and on TV and in the newspapers. But none of it would work without the hard-working people behind the scenes -- the poll workers.
Poll workers put in long hours at very little pay. They are at work before dawn and are there until long after the voting is done. Many of them have done it for years. And their work does not go unnoticed.
"The county clerks and the commission are very grateful for these people," said Lewis County Clerk Mary Lou Myers. "We appreciate it more than they know."
Across the state, hundreds and hundreds of people give their time and talents to making election day go as smoothly as possible. These are not professionals; they are people who care about the process and want to make it work.
Sadly, a good many voters don't share their entusiasm. So many have the opportunity to cast their ballots but don't. It frustrates the poll workers and it should frustrate all of us. It's like preparing for a dance, but nobody shows up. Nobody likes to stand at the punchbowl all night with nothing to do.
We, too, appreciate the work that all poll workers did on Tuesday. They'll be back in November to do it all over again. We hope that if you didn't vote this week that you'll reconsider and show up to do you duty in the general election. So many people have labored to make it easy for you.
Today's editorial reflects the opinion of the Exponent editorial board, which is comprised of James G. Logue, Kevin S. Courtney, Patrick M. Martin, Matt Harvey and J. Cecil Jarvis.