‘I don’t trust mail-in voting’ Even with record early voting, thousands head to polls to cast a ballot in person

By all accounts, this is going to be a historical election.

More people than ever voted early - either mailing an absentee ballot or casting their vote at county courthouses.

Even with all of the early votes cast, there were still lines at many polling stations on Tuesday.

In addition to handing ballots to voters and keeping track of who had voted, poll workers had additional responsibilities sanitizing voting booths as well as the pens voters used.

Reporters from the Southeast Iowa Union fanned out across Henry, Jefferson and Washington counties to talk with voters who were casting their ballots on Election Day.

Here what voters and poll workers had to say.

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Inside Mt. Pleasant Veterans Hall, Bob Griffith, the lone veteran poll worker at the location, said the hall had seen a steady stream of voters since the location opened at 7 a.m.

'People started showing up 10-till, and we had a line of about 10 people,” he reported.

Outside of Griffith, who has worked at polling stations for the last 15 years, and another worker who helped for the first time during the midterms, the site had a crew of fresh faces.

'Everybody is brand-spanking-new,” Griffith said.

Throughout the day, Griffith could be seen flitting from table-to-table, checking on the workers and answering questions.

'It's especially nice to get the young people involved,” he said.

With the ongoing pandemic, many first-time volunteers stepped up to fill a void left by older workers who may not have felt safe continuing to help out at the polls.

Kate Wridinger, a first-time volunteer, made rounds with a rag and spray bottle to clean tables.

'I just knew the poll workers who typically work are elderly and just wanted to do my part and … make sure they didn't have to put themselves at risk,” she said. The volunteer added she felt the polling location had 'good measures” in place for workers as well

Wridinger, who voted early herself, said she initially thought Election Day would be less busy, which hasn't been the case.

'They said, for the general election each ward would typically have 200 people. I know at our ward, we're already at 75, and it's before lunchtime,” she said.

- Ashley Duong

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At the West Chester Community Building, poll worker Beverly Zehr said that voters got an early start.

'They were out there standing in that room when we opened,” Zehr said. 'Those people were ready to go.”

Poll worker Sandy Dickenson estimated that at least 50 people voted in the first hour the polls were open in West Chester.

'I'm surprised how heavy it's been,” Dickenson said.

In Wellman, 357 people had voted before noon, according to poll worker Ellen Miller.

That was just ahead of the 332 who had voted before noon in Kalona.

'We were very busy when we opened,” poll worker Corine Welte said. 'We've had very little downtime.”

She added that the county's new ID scanners have helped speed up the voting line.

'It's our first year scanning IDs,” Welte said. 'It goes a lot faster.”

- James Jennings

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The warm day made it pleasant for voters to wait outside the Washington County Courthouse.

Those in line joked about getting pizza delivered, or setting up a beer tent.

Eric Schoonover and Bruce McAvoy had been waiting outside for around 20 minutes and were only halfway to the door.

They chose to vote in person on Election Day because it is old-school and traditional to go to the precinct.

McAvoy said he knew who he was going to vote for, and didn't care much for the 'slander” ads.

Another voter Emily Walker agreed with McAvoy, saying the advertisements didn't impact her decision and with modern streaming services such as Netflix, she didn't see the ads very often.

Poll worker Martha Sherman said there was a consistent flow of people all day through the courthouse. While many were registered, there were still a few people who were registering at the poll.

At the Washington YMCA voting location, there were no morning lines and people were able to get in and vote right away. By 1 p.m., 199 people had voted.

Poll workers who have worked at previous general elections said this election has been the busiest they have seen.

Jolene Colthurst started working as a poll worker around 2015 after she retired. She said the last presidential election was busy, but not like this year.

While the line continued throughout the day, Poll workers Pat Fritz and Cohurst said voters were polite and appreciative. Even when the computer went down for around a half-hour at noon, workers said those in line were patient and understand.

'It shows how caring people are,” Fritz said.

- Caitlin Yamada

' ' '

Around 12:30 p.m., 18-year-old Kobe Borntrager walked into the Kalona Community Center to vote for the first time.

'I think it's important that youth get more involved in voting,” Borntrager said after casting his first-ever ballot. 'We saw in the last election that the youth did not get out and vote.

'Young people do make a difference with our voting.”

Charlie Penelton also voted in Kalona.

'I've always believed voting in person is a better choice,” she said.

Melissa Bell said that she voted in person because, 'I don't trust mail-in voting. I'd rather do it in person. I'm old fashioned.”

- James Jennings

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At 6 a.m., voters started to line up outside of the courthouse in Washington.

Inside, poll workers set out face masks and pens, preparing for the busy 16-hour day.

By the time the doors opened, there were around 15 people waiting outside.

At 11 a.m., 144 people had voted at the courthouse.

- Caitlin Yamada

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Both first-time voters and returners in Henry County were excited to get their ballots in on Election Day.

36-year-old Lindsay Myers, who has voted in every midterm and general election since she turned 18, voted in-person at the Salem City Hall around noon.

'I like to see my vote counted right away. I know it can take a while for the absentees to be counted and added, and I wanted to make sure they weren't going to wait for my vote,” she said.

34-year-old Brady Grimm, who turned his ballot in at the Mt. Pleasant Veterans Hall, said the 2020 election was the first time he had voted.

'It feels good … this election, for sure, I felt it was extremely necessary to vote this time,” he said.

Grimm added he 'wasn't sure about the whole early voting thing” and wanted to go in-person to get his ballot in.

- Ashley Duong

' ' '

Bernice Lee came to the Parkside Recreation Center in Wellman with her son, Jerry, and Jerry's wife, Ange.

'We just knew all the time we were going to do this,” Bernice said.

Ange added, 'I don't trust the mail any more.”

'It's tradition,” Jerry said. 'I think, come Election Day, you should come out and vote.”

Nelson Overholt, who came to Parkside to vote with his wife, Jamie, said he decided to vote on Election Day for the convenience.

'With early voting, as far as going down to Washington, I didn't want to drive all the way down there,” Nelson Overholt said. 'I want to make sure my vote counted.”

Janie Overholt added, 'I'm just doing it to voice my opinion.”

- James Jennings

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Jim Salts, chair of the Ward 1 precinct in Fairfield which welcomed voters to cast their ballots at Fairfield High School, said Tuesday afternoon that voting was light. But he attributed that to so many absentee ballots having already been cast. He said about 700 absentee ballots were cast before Election Day in Ward 1 alone.

He said that another 143 votes had been cast by 2 p.m. Tuesday, which meant that more than half of eligible voters in the precinct had already voted with the polls open another seven hours.

Sarah Nordyke was among those who cast their ballots on Election Day. She said she opted to vote Tuesday instead of voting absentee because she wanted to ensure that her ballot counted, and she felt more comfortable doing so in person. When asked what issues she cares about, Nordyke said 'respect for human life.”

Lauren Bunyar voted at the high school as well on Tuesday. She said her first experience voting was in person, and she loved the energy she felt. She said absentee voting just doesn't have the same vibe. Bunyar, age 26, said the issues she cares about include climate change, early child care and the Affordable Care Act.

Lisa Myers teaches math at Fairfield High School, so she didn't even have to leave the building to vote. Myers said she's always been a firm believer in voting on Election Day because she wants to give herself as much time as possible to research the candidates. She said one issue she cares strongly about is education policy.

- Andy Hallman

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It wasn't just voters that Election Day drew out to polling locations - demonstrators for and against abortion rights stood outside the Mt. Pleasant Veterans Hall on Tuesday, hoping to serve as one final reminder to voters about what is on the ballot.

Randy Beary and Jack Swarm, Mt. Pleasant's building and zoning administrator, organized a small group of demonstrators who stood in a line across the street from the polling location with signs that read 'Vote to End Abortion!” and 'Babies Are Murdered Here.”

'The grand goal would be if people would see our signs and walk in and vote that way,” Swarm said.

'We want to make people aware that this still is happening and babies are being murdered in our nation,” Beary added.

Swarm said he hopes the demonstration communicates to voters that 'there are a lot of moral issues on the ballot.”

Across the way from the group, Hailey Wax stood alone with hand-drawn signs that read 'My Body, My Choice,” and 'Love is Love.”

The 22-year-old, who decided to stand on the opposite corner as a counter-demonstration after seeing Swarm and Beary's group when she voted that morning, said she had not planned on demonstrating on voting day.

'I work third-shift, but ... I saw them out here and thought, ‘Well, I will, too,'” she said.

Wax added her intention is not to sway voters but instead to show support for others who agree with and support abortion rights legislation.

'I want people to feel like … there are other people out there. It's not just those kinds of people out there,” she said.

- Ashley Duong