The Grapevine: Rewinding Decades to How Elections Worked in Harrison County and a Father's Day Note
By Rosalyn Queen on June 18, 2020 from The Grapevine
It seems that another election day has been put in the book of history. This probably was the strangest election that I have ever participated In. There were no campaign rallies, no community dinners to attend, no speeches to critique, but there were television ads and newspaper ads. As for me there was little to help me make up my mind on which candidate to support.
Needless to say I did not need dinners, rallies, etc. to give my support to my grandson, Ben Queen. I did vote by absentee ballot and I did choose to vote for other candidates on the ballot. I won a few and I lost a few, but I did my civic duty.
On Election Day eve we all gathered at a local restaurant to watch the totals come in. By 10:30 p.m. they were reporting only one precinct in Harrison County And I decided to go home and wait for the returns there.
As I sat at home by myself, I thought about previous elections and our activities on Election Day. In the early 1960s we were allowed to stand outside at the polls where we would hand out cards of our politician as the voters entered the polls. We hoped this would remind them to vote for our candidate. Some of us drove cars and went to homes to drive voters to the polls. Eventually we were prohibited from standing at the polls and the car pick ups dwindled.
When the polls closed, we went to the Court House where several tables were set out in the downstairs front hall and most candidates had at least one representative there taking the count as the ballot boxes came in. When the boxes came in a representative from the Clerks office was there to receive it. They had a copy of the results of that precinct that they gave to the person at the table calling out the individual totals. This was a long lengthy process as each name on the ballot was called for both parties. I remember sometimes sitting there till six o’clock in the morning till the last precinct came in. It was kind of exciting being a part of this process. Representatives from the newspaper and television were there and as soon as we were able to determine who a winner might be, an interview was held. As the night went on the crowd would dwindle, but there were several times when it might take the last precinct in to determine a winner. The next day the Clerk would release their totals, and usually we were correct with them.
At that time this was just an important step in finalizing a campaign. Now this has been replaced with technology and I feel sorry that those involved in campaigns will never get to participate in this event. We still get the results. A small reminder of days gone by.
A happy Fathers Day to all you fathers. This Fathers Day I have thought of my father many times. I have been involved with my plants on my patio And it reminded me of my dad and all the hard work he put in gardening. I can still see him coming to my house and to my sisters with the first zucchini from his garden. He had to wait till he got two so as not to slight either one of us. I hope you all remembered your fathers with something just a little special. To the father of my children, to my sons and son in laws and to my grandson, I am proud of you and you make every day Fathers Day.
Stay healthy and keep in touch. Until next week “Now You Have Heard It Through The Grapevine.”
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