LEWISTON — During the afternoon shift change last week at Longley School, where the mayoral runoff election was taking place, some of the longest-serving election workers were saying goodbye for the day while others were just arriving.

Some, like Nancy Mennealy and Vera Parent, caught up for a few minutes as their shifts overlapped. Others, like Joan St. Hilaire, volunteered to work the entire 13-hour day.

St. Hilaire, who has been working Lewiston elections for more than 25 years, is among the longest-serving in the city. During most elections, she’s the warden at the Green Ladle polling location for Ward 6, where she’s used to being there all day.

She arrived at Longley at 6:30 a.m. and was planning to work through the hand-counting process once polls closed at 8 p.m.

“I enjoy doing this. You meet a lot of people, and it’s fun,” she said.

Due to the short turnaround between the Nov. 7 election and the runoff, machine-compatible ballots were not used, so results from the runoff were hand counted. St. Hilaire said it reminded her of when she first started working elections, back before voting machines were used.

St. Hilaire said she started going to elections in 1972 when her father was a city councilor. She remembers working elections at the Lincoln Street fire station. She started by “working the books,” which is looking up names and handing out ballots, then became ward clerk, and then warden. She’s lost count of how long she’s been warden.

Because the runoff election took place at a single polling location, the clerk’s office is able to consolidate poll workers who normally work other locations. The added presence helps the election run smoothly.

Most voters were in and out in five minutes, and there were never any lines. Part of that might have been tied to the low turnout, but there were also more than enough volunteers to hand out ballots and dozens of voting booths.

St. Hilaire added that during the pandemic a lot of older election volunteers decided to stay home, and they’d like to find ways to “get the younger generations involved.”

While the runoff’s low turnout was not known at the time, St. Hilaire said Tuesday that there’s “no excuse not to vote” now with how many options there are, including absentee, early voting, drop boxes and more.

City Clerk Kathy Montejo said there are six elections in the current 12-month cycle in Lewiston, which is very unusual. Usually the average is two or three. That has meant much more coordinating for election workers.

She said her office is “always recruiting people” and always trying to get the word out. The city hires and trains about 150 Lewiston residents for most elections. There’s an average turnover rate of between 10%-15%, she said.

But, she acknowledged, the need for election workers can also be applied “to every other town in the state of Maine.”

Election workers are paid $75 for a half-day shift.

Rena Sehl, who was also working Tuesday afternoon, has been volunteering at the polls for eight years. She started after she retired and had friends who worked elections.

She likes the social aspect as well as paying attention to local politics. Sometimes if there’s nothing on TV, she’ll tune into the livestream of Lewiston council meetings, she said. It was the first runoff she’s worked, but she usually works the Longley polling location.

Typically a lot of election volunteers are retirees due to the hours on a typical workday, but Sehl also believes her generation is more civically involved.

In recent years, as questioning the validity of election results has become more common in politics, St. Hilaire said she always urges people to volunteer to work a local election.

“If you question how an election works, come work and you’ll see the process,” she said.

Know someone with a deep well of unlimited public spirit? Someone who gives his or her time to make the community better? Nominate him or her for Kudos. Send a name and the place where the person does good deeds to reporter Andrew Rice at arice@sunjournal.com.

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