Dear Editor:

  Most life-long voters in Dallas County have voted in the same precinct for most of their lives.      

  They come to know their poll workers by name, but rarely if ever know how the other precincts in Dallas County are being conducted. 

  Tipton High School has been a part of Dallas County for several generations, it is now a middle school called Tipton-Durant.

  It is not located in an area like Selma High or Southside, where you pass it every day.  Tipton-Durant is a school you would never see unless you were going there. 

  Many local citizens may not know that Tipton-Durant is home to the largest voting precinct in Dallas County, where 3058 voters are registered, and approximately 1350 of those voted this week including absentees.

  On Tuesday, Nov. 6, I served as a poll watcher at the Tipton-Durant School precinct for the general election.  

  It was my great privilege to work with a great group of poll workers. 

  The inspectors and clerks were very serious about their work, they conducted  the election according to the law, and were friendly and fair to all voters.   

  I came away with tremendous respect for the job done on Tuesday by Chief Inspector William Langdon, Inspector Greg Olds, Chief Clerk, Cindy Soles, and Clerks, Willie Bonner, Kimberly Bonner, Sandra Soles, and Carolyn Bonner.

  I had never met or spoken with any of these individuals prior to Nov. 6. 

  What I can say is that if every poll worker tried as hard as these individuals did to comply with the elections laws, we could all go to bed on election night knowing that a fair and honest election had been conducted. 

  However, good poll watchers are always needed because the inspectors and clerks can’t see everything going on inside the precinct. 

  Now a word about the voters at Tipton. 

  These voters endure long lines to receive a ballot and they endure equally long lines just to insert their ballot in the single voting machine available, all while exhibiting great patience. 

  Many of the voters are coming off shift work, are tired, have families waiting on them at home, and yet they are serious about voting, which is commendable. 

  I just wish they wouldn’t all regularly vote straight party ballots, but that’s another topic for another day. 

B. Kincey Green, Jr.