When Mary Dean Rose first started working polls in Oktibbeha County in the 1970s, elections looked different than they do today.
“I was back in the day when they read out the ballot and you tallied (by hand),” Rose told The Dispatch Monday. “We go way back, in the ‘70s.”
Rose will manage the polls at the Oktibbeha County Circuit Court complex during Tuesday’s election, as voters go to the polls to decide the country’s next president, along with state and local races across the region. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The day will not just be long for poll workers, but also busy, Rose said.
“I’ve got three that work with me that have worked with me for several years, and that’s our main goal, to make sure that your vote counts,” Rose said of her fellow poll workers.
Rose started out as a poll worker while she was attending Mississippi State University. She was encouraged by her parents, who were also poll workers, to get involved as a way to support the civic process. After she graduated, she just didn’t stop.
Rose worked at the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District as a fourth and fifth grade teacher – a position she held for about 28 years before retiring from the district. But whenever an election was coming around, she would always try to take a personal day to help with the polls at whichever voting precinct she lived nearest.
After retiring from SOCSD, Rose took her current part-time job at the circuit clerk’s office as deputy clerk during court sessions, where she has worked for 16 years. But she has helped run polls in the same building for even longer – about 25 years.
She has seen county elections that are so slow that only three voters came into her precinct the whole day. But she has also seen races so tight that they are decided by almost the exact same number of voters.
“It is serious business,” Rose said. “Everybody says, ‘oh, my one vote won’t count.’ Oh yeah, it might. In our district here, with supervisor elections, we’ve had them where they’re two or three votes away.”
While Rose has never had issues with a disorderly voter on election day, some voters can get frustrated or confused about where their polling place is or why their name is not on the voter rolls. But she has had an issue with a losing candidate calling her work into question.
“That was back in the day of (former Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk) Angie McGinnis, when she was here,” Rose said. “And she came in and she said, ‘of all my poll workers, you better know she’s done it right.’ And we were right. But he lost, and he was questioning (the result).”
With how close elections can be, and how important every vote is, Rose said it is important to make sure nothing goes wrong on election day, and everyone on her team does their jobs right the first time. Election commissioners train all poll workers annually, she said, making sure they know information on how to set up a polling station, affidavits, absentee ballots and more.
The day before an election, Rose said, she always tries to make sandwiches for her team of poll workers and the staff of the circuit clerk’s office to get them through the long day. The next morning, the poll workers gather for a quick refresher meeting. And then, the polls open.
Rose said election days are always fun, since she has worked with some of the same poll workers over the past few elections. Still, she expects Tuesday to be nonstop.
“We laugh, and we’ve cried sometimes from being so tired we can hardly hold our heads up,” Rose said. “And (Tuesday) is going to be crazy. You know, presidential elections, there is no downtime.”
While the day is tiring, Rose said, she loves getting to see people throughout the day, especially those she hasn’t seen in four years. She also enjoys the effect her work has.
“It’s such a rewarding job, I think,” Rose said. “Everybody’s vote is in your hands.”
Rose said she is retiring from her position as deputy clerk at the circuit court office in a few days when the current court session ends. But along with working part-time at the Horsefeathers antique mall, traveling and making quilts, she still plans to help out with the polls whenever she can.
Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk Tony Rook said Rose is an “exceptional individual,” and he acknowledged her dedication to public service Monday in a text message to The Dispatch.
“It’s very unusual to find somebody with that much experience concerning the election process,” Rook wrote. “She brings knowledge, wisdom and expertise to each election. Her reliability and dependability are second to none. I hope she stays with us forever.”
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