By Staff
Make the voting process fast and efficient
During the first hour of its operation, nearly 200 voters had made their decisions known at the Brewton Community Center voting precinct. Perhaps some of that was driven by the threatened severe weather, although hopefully it was due to this area's concerned citizens who wanted to make sure their voice was heard.
Making those voters wait 20 minutes in line will do little to encourage them to return to the voting booth the next time around, though. Upon entering the center, voters were instructed to get into one of two lines. It was the voters who happened to have a last name that fell within the first half of the alphabet that endured the longest wait this morning.
While one line was empty, dozens of voters stood patiently, and some not so patiently, to cast their votes. There did not appear to be confusion over un-registered voters, rather it was simply a matter of numbers.
While no amount of planning by election officials can predict who will vote when, in our view, the possibilty of a strong turnout needs to be acounted for. By having more than two lines for voters to work their way through, the process could have been sped up considerably. In the future, we hope that officials will recruit additional volunteers to help make the voting process move more smoothly.