I keep saying I’m going to give up my role as a Minnesota Associated Press (AP) election stringer, something I’ve done for three or four years now. It almost seems like an unnecessary job. With the fast posting of election results on the Cook County website, it seems silly to be standing by at the courthouse to call in election counts to the AP as precincts are reported. I can get just as much information on the elections via the county website sitting at home on my couch.
The small AP payment doesn’t really make it worthwhile to pack up my cell phone, my laptop, and my work for the evening to set up shop in the courthouse lobby. Every year before the election, I think I’ll surrender my duties to someone else who is interested and who can use a little extra cash. Someone else who wants to stay at the courthouse until midnight or 1:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m.
But then I receive my “Greetings AP Election Stringer” notice with its instructions on calling in the results. Every year it is a little bit different. This year, for instance, there was a strong focus on how absentee ballots are handled. It is up to each county how to count those ballots—at the same time as the regular ballots for a cumulative total as the evening wears on or after all the regular ballots have been counted then added in. In case you are curious, Cook County did it both ways this year.
For the August Primary, election officials waited until the entire precinct had been counted and then began the count of absentee ballots. It took a very long time for any precinct tallies to be announced. For last Tuesday’s General Election, election officials assigned some election judges to count the absentee votes simultaneously. If the regular precinct ballots were ready before the absentee ballots were complete, precinct results were released as “preliminary.” Once the absentee vote count was completed, it was added and the precinct count was adjusted and released as “final.”
It is interesting watching the process, to see county staff scurrying to the corners of the courthouse to consult with election judges. It is uplifting to hear of the election judges’ careful consideration of a voter’s intent. All of the election judges, regardless of political party affiliation, appear to do their best to respect the rules of a democratic election. As Election Judge Lou Terrizzi of Colvill said to me as I waited in the lobby—”If there is voter fraud in this country, it isn’t here in the Cook County courthouse.”
Each year when I get my AP stringer notice, I am torn—should I sign on again, to be part of the excitement? Do I want to visit with the election judges as they take a break for a cup of coffee or snack (including a nice assortment of homemade treats, made by county staff)? Do I want to stand by to see the boxes of ballots brought to the auditor’s office by tired ballot counters? Do I want to be part of the cadre of reporters across the country that keeps the national news sources up-to-date?
As I write Unorganized Territory
this week, I’m doing just that, acting as the AP stringer. I’m sitting in the courthouse lobby, waiting for another precinct to finish its counting so I can make a call as Minnesota reporting unit #24016. I’m pondering whether it is worth it or not. Then Auditor- Treasurer Braidy Powers cracks me up with a corny joke. “Sorry for ‘stringing’ you along,” he chuckles.
I’m thinking this is the perfect job for a political junkie. I might not give up my AP stringer gig after all.
If God had wanted us to vote, he
would have given us candidates.
Jay Leno
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