Observations of a voting judge

Our county voting officials should be very proud of the way our voting occurred in Cape Girardeau County. The Cape officials should be able to pat themselves on the back, yell from the rooftops and pound their collective chests because of the way our elections went. However, they won't and/or can't because they are guided by professional conduct. However, I can boast for them. They set up a team approach, and I was on the one of those teams. I served for almost two weeks through Nov. 3. This letter is not about politics. It is, however, a letter to reassure all voters that your vote counted. If you listen to the Washington folks, we didn't have a fair election anywhere. That is not true in Cape County. For more than 200 years we have held elections that worked, and so did this one. You may not like the outcome, but our county held a fair and accurate election.

Ms. Kara Clark Summers and Mr. Allen Seabaugh built, managed and supervised this election. They created teams of two persons representing the major parties -- Republican and Democrat. The team I served on was no different. As with all teams, we issued each ballot, signed off on every one. If by chance an error or issue arose, each team, both members, would work to resolve the problem. We worked together to see the issue fixed. We faced issues regarding out-of-state, inner state, non-registered and other situations. In short, through this process each team worked together to ensure every legal vote was counted.

My concerns are with the voters who did not show up. This year was the worst election, with mud slinging, negativity and false claims abounding. What will it take for more voters to show up? We had a little over 70% of voters come to the polls. My apprehensions are that we as a divided nation must become more engaged. That means knowing our candidates and what they stand for. Also, holding them accountable for their actions and words later. To those 70%, I say thank you for your participation in the election and our government. It does work and will survive.

Rick Murray is a resident of Jackson.