Election Day

The second Tuesday in November is Election Day in the United States. Dena and Lynda are doing their civic duty by working at the Polls in the little town of San Manuel, Arizona. Their job is to check in voters, verify identifications, and give directions to the next station (behind).

Since this is an off-year election only one issue, School District Funding, is on the ballot for this Precinct. Voters are sparse because most voters in the area now mail in Absentee Ballots. So far today as of about 2 pm, only about 30 voters have appeared, but the polls will be open until 7 pm. The ladies kindly covered the deck of cards that they were using to pass the time between voters. We had a nice visit about how peaceful this voting place is, as compared to some emerging countries where the Army is called out to protect the voters and the Poll Workers.

At one time, San Manuel was the location of the World's Largest Underground Copper Mine and bustling with activity. Now the Mine is closed, the Smelter dismantled, and the Giant Smokestack was demolished by dynamite a couple of years ago. Now San Manuel is a quiet little town with high unemployment but a very nice High School and two Elementary Schools.