Linemen Vote

 Recently, I had lunch with "Suzie".  Suzie is a candidate for ministry and I serve as her Mentor.  In the context of the conversation,  Suzie mentioned that she had not seen her husband in eleven days!   Then she went on to tell how he is a utility lineman and volunteered to go to NYC/Long Island to help out following Hurricane Sandy and her damage.

My first reaction was to thank her for all the work they are doing to restore power to people without  (which also included my own family for quite a while.)

Suzie learned from her husband that the thing that upset the men the most was the fact that they could not vote, as Election Day was soon approaching.  I admire what Suzie did, and am amazed that it was even possible, under the circumstances.  There were two different Board of Elections involved, both in the general area of Ithaca.  Suzie collected absentee ballots from both of the Election Boards, which  opened after hours in order to accommodate their need.  She drove the ballots to the city, gave them out, had the workers fill out the ballots and sign them.   The signatures were already on file at their polling places, but they needed to receive the the original absentee ballots with signatures to compare.  Suzie then brought them back--a trip down and back in a day, so all the volunteer linesmen could vote.   I appreciate so much the fact that ways were found for the affected people to vote in such extenuating circumstances.

My hat is off to Suzie, the Boards of Election, the linesmen.    Now that is ingenuity, and flexibility, not to mention dedication, and democracy, at its best.

God Bless America!