Smiles and Lines; Early Voting Goes Smoothly at the Fairgrounds

Stuart Hill stood at the head of the aisle, cordoned for the line of voters who stretched from him to the front door and beyond at the Industrial Building at the Natrona County Fairgrounds.

Hill and Natrona County Commissioner Dave North, who is not running for reelection this year, smiled indefatigably as they waited for one of approximately 20 poll workers to hold up a numbered sign indicating they were ready for the next voter to walk over and sign in.

When a number went up, Hill or North pointed to that poll worker and motioned the voter at the head of the line to exercise their constitutional right.

Voters behaved calmly, sometimes chatting quietly with others in line.

No complaints were heard about the line that began forming a half-hour before the polls opened at 7 a.m. Voters usually were in and out in five minutes.

Election worker Candice Young was among the election workers who raised a number.

Compared to previous elections during which workers blinged out with patriotic hats, pins and other regalia, Young was almost alone with her glittery tiara festooned with red, white and blue stars. "I do this every election."

Despite the morning voter rush that didn't end until 7:43 a.m., Young and the others wore smiles throughout despite some new voting wrinkles this year.

The process changed somewhat slightly this year compared to the past:

Another Wyoming House District (62) was created in the county, and extends from Evansville east to the Converse County line.
Some legislative districts were reconfigured.
And a lot of people indicated they would change their party affiliation to Republican so they could vote for incumbent GOP U.S. House Rep. Liz Cheney, who faces a challenge from Harriet Hageman, endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Cheney has garnered the wrath of Trump and Trump's supporters in Wyoming, for her chairwomanship of the Jan. 6 Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection on that date in 2021.

Ardell Breed, manager of the whole show at the Industrial Building, oversaw the approximately 75 judges.

Redistricting did not prove to be a problem, Breed said.

"We have a few precincts with split districts, but they know what they're doing and its running real smooth today they're getting in and out pretty fast," she said.

Most people who changed their party affiliation did so during the absentee voting that ended at 5 p.m. Monday, Breed said. "I've only seen a couple here today."

Sarah Bieber, a volunteer computer election judge, said she never had worked an election before.

Bieber helps the poll workers as they verify voters' identification and print their stickers to be presented to those working at the 14 precincts in the Industrial Building.

"We're very well-staffed for this election, it's been nice to keep things moving and running," she said. "There are a lot of logistics that go into running an election."

The polls close at 7 p.m.

Bring acceptable identification: