Dateline Dayton — After Election Day last Tuesday, the voters in Ohio, and especially in my community of Kettering, have spoken.
My experience, though, was a fiasco. I arrived at my voting location about 6:20 a.m., with voting to begin at 6:30. I was second in line.
The precinct workers acted as though they hadn’t the foggiest idea what they were to be doing. This year it was decided — by a smart person in charge — that we would use electronic signatures. That probably would have been okay if they had provided the password to more than one person. The only person with the secret password had a flat tire. She was late arriving. No one even knew where she was or the nature of her problem until she walked through the door.
In the good old days, the precinct workers came from the neighborhood. The same people were present every time there was an election. If they didn’t already know you, after a couple elections they did.
The same smart person in change felt stability was not a good idea. He moved poll workers to different precincts in the county. A flat tire would have been no problem in the old days. A fellow worker could have brought her. Perhaps she even could have walked.
At 6:45, the only person ahead of me made it to the table to sign in. Five minutes, she still had not been able to sign in. Workers motioned for me to come over. I handed them my driver’s license, and I was found in the system. Now I could vote, couldn’t I? No. They had to find the first person, which they finally did. Now she could go and vote. No. No voting machines were operational
I finally was able to vote and get back in my car by 6:58 for something that should have taken five minutes at the most. Many people don’t vote for a variety of reasons. If this nonsense continues, there will be others who will feel it’s not worth the hassle.
On issues I did well, with the outcome of two of the three on the ballot going the way I voted. The one that didn’t go my way was Issue 2, the collective bargaining reduction that became a national topic of conversation. It was a referendum on a new law relative to government union contracts and other government employment contracts and policies. I voted in favor. The majority voted against. I only hope that when services are needed, we will have the police, fire and public nurses available to respond. Cities must be able to control their costs. If these departments are going to dictate to their employer, I can see these services being eliminated or downsized. I hope I am wrong.
On the candidates, I might as well not have voted. None of my choices for City Council and the School Board were elected.
My community of Kettering is spending money foolishly. I thought it was time for change. The good old boys needed to go. The majority spoke, and I guess there’re happy and willing to pay the price for four more years of wasting taxpayer dollars. The same is true for the School Board. Maybe next time I will do better?
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
