Long before the sun rose on November 5, poll workers, election judges, and the many, many hands that work to hold elections were at work. Voting machines were brough to polling places around 5:30 a.m. to be arranged and set up before voters could begin streaming in.
The crush of people expected to turn out for the election, the closest in a generation by all measures, is enough to warm Hastings city hall all by itself. Assistant City Administrator Kelly Murtaugh spoke to keeping the city hall heat off until now, despite recent lows in the 30s because otherwise by the end of the day the room would be sweltering: “We made sure not to have the heat on due to body heat.”
Minnesota, like much of the rest of the county, has experienced a surge in early in-person voting, bolstered in part by new state laws that allowed for 18 days of early in-person voting as compared to the previous 7. According to Murtaugh, more than 300 people voted this way at Hastings City Hall on November 4, with more than 2000 voting in the total 18 days of early in-person voting.
City Councilor and candidate for Minnesota House seat 42B Jen Fox spoke to the extent of the electorate she was running for who had already voted. According to Fox, by election day, more than 45% of the voters in her prospective house district had already voted.
The morning of election day, long before voters were lined up outside, election judges and poll workers set up signs detailing how to vote, the rights of voters, and unspooling “I voted” stickers. Fifteen minutes before the polls were set to open, Co-head Judge Tom Churney of the ward 2 precinct 2 polling location at St. John’s Lutheran Church led the workers in the oath, asking judges to swear to “prevent fraud, deceit and abuse in conducting this election. I will perform my duties in a fair and impartial manner and not attempt to create an advantage for my party or for any candidate,” before signing their names on the oath. It was an oath taken in precincts across the city, across the state, and across the county, underpinning an election process that is certain to be challenged and doubted no matter who comes out ahead.
For Churney, however, the long day of co-head election judge stretching from 5:30 a.m. to sometime after 10:00 p.m. was not a chore: “It’s really enjoyable […] it’s a way to give back.”
By the time voters began lining up inside and at the front door of polling places, rain had begun to fall in the 40-degree twilight. For many like resident Deb Reinardy, who was the first voter to arrive at Ward 2 precinct 3 location Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, getting to the polls early was a matter of necessity before going to work. Many across the city were in the same position sneaking into the polls before heading to their jobs.
“I’m feeling a little leery,” said Reinardy. It was a sentiment echoed by many at polling places across the city who waited in anxious quiet in lines in polling places across the city before donning their red sticker as they left.
For many, it was a long day of work, overseeing hundreds and thousands of voters come and go, with the results of at least the presidential election potentially not being available for days to come.