4-H Club visits Town Hall for preview of Election Day

OREGON – Members of the Blackhawk Crossing 4-H Club learned about the voting process Monday inside one of the oldest polling places in Ogle County one day before Tuesday’s national election.

Leader Lisa Hinrichs of Oregon brought the 20-some 4-H kids to the Pine Creek Town Hall, 5527 West Pines Road, strategically located between Oregon, Polo, and Mt. Morris for a preview of the voting process from three veteran election judges.

“We were planning our meetings and I looked at the dates and figured it was a good idea to come and see how it works,” Hinrichs said as her troupe walked into the historic Pine Creek Town Hall – the 126-year-old building where residents of Pine Creek Township, commonly called “Pinecrickers – still cast their ballots on election day.

“This is where we vote,” Hinrichs told the now-assembled club members. “These election judges are going to share with us a little bit about how voting works.”

Election judge Sheryl Hopkins of Polo said she rises early in order get everything set for the day. “I get up around 3:45 a.m. We have to get here by 5 a.m. to get everything ready before we open at 6 a.m.,” said Hopkins.

“We have to get everything set up before the polls open,” said Judy Nixon of Mt. Morris. “We will have people here at 6 a.m. and then we are here the whole day, until 7 p.m. when the polls close. It is a long day.”

Judges then count the number of ballots cast and compare then to the number of ballots they received (based on the number of registered voters in that precinct) and make sure that the number of ballots is consistent with the number of voters who checked in at the polling place.

“We count the number of ballots used and they have to match with the number we have left over – how many we have left compared to how many we started with,” Nixon said.

Election judges representing both the Republican and Democratic parties then transport the locked ballot box to the Ogle County County Clerk’s Office in Oregon where the votes are counted.

“I get kind of excited when we have a Presidential election because a lot of people come out to vote,” Nixon said.

And she emphasized the importance of voting. “It [the election] may not come out the way you want it to,” she told the 4-H kids, “but you need to exercise your right to vote. One vote really can make a difference.”

Election Judge Duties

In addition to opening and closing the polls, other duties of election judges include: ensuring that every person qualified to vote is permitted to vote; give assistance to voters with disabilities; are responsible for the proper and lawful conduct of the election in the polling place; return required election equipment at the end of Election Day; be responsible for all election materials; give instructions in the method of voting when requested by a voter; and maintain order in the polling place throughout the day.