All but one of the poll workers at the Marshalltown Library polling location were volunteering for the first time. Lynne Carroll checked in voters for her first election this year. She said the traffic was steady through the morning. She and her fellow poll workers arrived at 6 a.m. to finish setting up for the day. She was on duty until 10 p.m.

“I decided that I could help with the election because I have the flexibility with my job,” Carroll said. “Voting is the way of being an American.”

Pete Grady was helping sanitize voting booths and pens after each voter at the Library. It was his first time working an election as well.

“There were a lot of folks who couldn’t [work] because of COVID,” Grady said. “Fortunately I’ve been healthy and I don’t have any underlying health concerns. We need to have an election and we need poll workers. I thought this would be the time to do it.”

T-R PHOTO BY JOE FISHER — Voters and poll workers were separated by plastic barriers for safety at Marshalltown Public Library on Election Day. Voting booths were sanitized after each voter, as were pens.

La Carreta delivered burritos, chips and salsa for poll workers in Marshalltown. The restaurant closed for Election Day so its employees could vote. Owner Alfonso Medina said he would pay his regularly scheduled employees for the day off.

First-timers

Paige McWilliams and her father Robert McWilliams shared a high five after exiting the polls. It was 19-year-old Paige’s first time voting.

“It felt good,” she said. “It felt like I had some control over what was going to be happening.”

T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM — Marshall County election official Steven Ryan helps first-time voter Benjamin Dugan place his ballot in the machine at the YMCA on Tuesday.

They agreed the outcome of the presidential election would lead to controversy and drama. Robert said he would be tuning in as polls closed.

Twenty-year-old Anna Garcia also planned to watch the election coverage closely. She was also a first-time voter.

“It’s just the opportunity to vote for the first time,” she said of her reason for hitting the polls. “I feel pretty good.”

Benjamin Dugan, 19, also participated in his first Presidential election at the YMCA.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” he said.

Dale Jones, 24, gets done with his shift as a Marshall County poll worker on Tuesday, and prepares to cast his own ballot. This was Jones’ first time working at the Marshall County polls.

However, Dugan was ready for the election to be over and done with.

“Every other commercial, there is a candidate ad,” he said. “It’s annoying.”

Dale Jones, 24, spent part of Election Day as a first-time election official. He saw an ad on Reddit and knew governments were short on poll workers due to many of them being in a high-risk category from the COVID-19 virus.

“I have always been interested in politics,” Jones said. “It is way less stressful here, without watching the election results.”

He was an enthusiastic Bernie Sanders supporter and did not see the same excitement among voters at the YMCA. However, Jones said he did encounter some people who did not see a point in the process.

“They were already disappointed asking why they even bothered because their candidate was not going to win,” he said. “It was only a couple people, but they are stuck in my memory.”

Unconventional election

Jim Little of Marshalltown has been voting in the general election for about 50 years. He said this turn at the voting booth was no different from past years for him.

While the process was the same, Little said he feels different about this election.

“It scares the hell out of me,” he said. “I don’t want a Democrat anywhere near the constitution or the government.”

At Redeemer Lutheran Church, Luke Ericson, 33, said he felt it was his civic duty to cast his vote. After serving in the Iowa National Guard for 13 years, he said whoever is commander-in-chief is extremely important to him.

“I know this race is not like any other,” Ericson said. “I hope people accept the results. If Trump wins, I hope people realize there will only be another four years. If Biden wins, we will have to accept we lost, but we will get it next time.”

He said America as a whole will be better off if people can finally come together and accept whatever the outcome is.

Miller Middle School was a new polling location this year, due in part to COVID-19 making the Iowa Veterans Home unable to host visitors.

“We still have over 200 [voters] that have come out and it’s what, 12 o’clock,” chairperson Cindy Brodin said.

Brodin has been working elections for five years and expected to see a record turnout.

“More people are seeing the way the world is and they’re coming out and wanting to vote,” she said. “You should get out and vote to make the change that you need to make.”

Many voters expressed a desire for the election to end and for better relations in the future.

“I hope, going forward, we can put this year behind us and get more conventional elections,” Ericson said. “Where we can debate ideas rather than point fingers and blame others for our problems.”

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Contact Joe Fisher and Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611.

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