Letter to the editor: Witness to a fair election

Two generations of my family have worked the polls in Westmoreland County, with 307 precincts, and Harris County, Texas, with 803 precincts. My mother has been working the polls for 25 years, and my brother worked the polls in Texas for the first time. I have not worked the polls for many years, and thought this would be an interesting election, so I worked this year.

This is not about who you voted for; it is about upholding the integrity of the voting process. If it were not for the poll workers, how would you vote?

All three of us can attest to the fairness of our precincts. At all three precincts, there were strict guidelines for opening and closing the polls, and all had a poll watcher. The judge of election in my precinct called several times to the county Election Bureau with questions, all of which were answered promptly.

You can’t vote twice. In my precinct, some voters who had applied for and received mail-in ballots decided they wanted to vote in person. Those who brought the ballots to the polling place surrendered them to be “spoiled” (voided) and voted on the spot. Those who did not bring the mail-in ballots were allowed to vote with a provisional ballot. Our registration binders indicated who had applied for and received mail-in ballots.

One voter in my precinct came back after he voted with a gift card to a local restaurant for all poll workers. He thanked us for enabling him and others to vote. All voters were very respectful and were happy to have their voices heard through the U.S. voting process.

Milyssa Ross Sassos

Greensburg