Elections workers deserve respect, kindness

It seems like every time we turn around these days, there’s another disruption to the 2024 election season.
The attempted assassination of one presidential candidate and the withdrawal of another may leave people feeling uncertain, wary, maybe even a little bit afraid. But one thing we know for sure is that election officials and workers across Dodge County are prepared to oversee safe and secure elections on Aug. 13 and Nov. 5.
Over the past few months, elected officials have completed preparations by appointing election judges and setting canvassing boards. Poll workers will be trained and ready to help voters at precinct polling places in your community.
Election equipment undergoes testing to make sure it’s all working properly. According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office, “Before every election, local election officials test all equipment to be used in that election. For the preliminary testing, ballots are marked with assistive voting devices, a set of pre-marked ballots is fed into the ballot tabulators, and the machine’s totals are compared with the pre-determined results.”
If you want even more information about voting equipment, the Secretary of State website has an entire page devoted to describing it all in detail.
Whether or not you trust that information is up to you, but you can absolutely trust your local election workers.
Why? Because you probably know them.
These folks from our community and the Dodge County elections staff are our friends and neighbors, and they deserve respect and appreciation for the role they play in making sure every local vote is counted.
Yes, tensions often run high during elections, especially when there’s turmoil across the country. It just doesn’t make sense for anyone to take out their frustrations on people who are just doing their part in our elections process.
We hope that next month and in November, you’ll treat election workers with kindness and understanding and thank them for a job well done.