I drove to the Public Safety Building last Saturday afternoon, through the rain, past the rusty-green foliage surrounding the Mill Pond, past the white mallows blooming in Parsonage Pond, not really paying much attention to the sights, as I had something on my mind.
Listening to the news that morning, Mike and I heard that the federal government planned to send federal agents and National Guardsmen to oversee polling sites throughout the country. Not that I’m worried they will come to West Tisbury, but I believe that the intimidation and lies about voting are poisoning our country, making Americans question the veracity of our elections, of all of our civic institutions.
I was on my way to work with Tara Whiting-Wells at the Public Safety Building. Saturday was the last day to register to vote before the Sept. 1 primary, and the first day of in-person early voting. I have been one of three registrars since 2022 when Rufus Peebles retired; the others are Bernice Kirby and Jonathan Klaren.
We have always used paper ballots in West Tisbury. I have great respect for the reliability of pencil and paper. Ballots were fed into a wooden box with a hand crank and a bell that dinged as the ballot went through. Becky Cournoyer found the original 1893 box in Marjorie Manter Rogers’s barn; it was donated to the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, along with the wooden box purchased in 1941, the one many of us remember. Prudy Whiting bought the first modern voting machine during her tenure as town clerk. Tara replaced it when it became obsolete in 2018 or 2019. Our second machine was donated by the state during COVID, when distancing was required.
Manning those machines was the bailiwick of constables George Manter, Tim Maley, Norm Perry, Steve Bryant, Tim Barnett, Evan Fielder, and John Powers.
I remember teams of us sitting in pairs around tables after the polls closed on Election Night. One person called out the yes/no/blank marks, while the other recorded the votes and tallied the numbers. We were earnest and careful, checking and double-checking our counts before turning them in. Those protocols remain in place today.
We did have fun, though. Waiting for the polls to close was a good time to visit with our neighbors. So was sitting at the tables checking voters in. Katherine Long, Eileen Maley, Hasty Runner, Andrea Hartman, and Ginny Jones were among my memorable partners, always with interesting conversations, and knitting projects that made our shifts go by quickly.
On the tables are big books with voters’ names and addresses. Names are checked off when you announce yourself upon entering, and take your ballot. Those numbers are tallied at the end of the day. Ballots are stacked on the table in packets of 50, counted and recounted. There are no mistakes. Every ballot is accounted for. If it is damaged or mismarked, it is handed to Tara, or to election warden Dinny Montrowl, who write SPOILED across it, put it in an envelope, and destroy it after 30 days.
Early in-person ballots and mailed-in ballots are checked against the voter rolls, and go into the vault at Town Hall to be counted on Election Day. If the machine can’t read them, they are hand-counted.
To be clear, there is no possibility anyone could vote twice.
Election regulations are the purview of each state, not the federal government.
The Brennan Center for Justice reviewed data from 42 areas with large immigrant populations, and found 30 cases of suspected noncitizens who voted, out of 23.5 million votes cast. Even the conservative Heritage Foundation Election Fraud Database found fewer than 300 cases of proven “fraudulent use of absentee ballots” over 43 years, 1982 to 2025.
Tara and I read through old lists that Prudy and Muriel Bye had written. So many revered members of our town, so many long-gone. Lillian Manter. Bea Amaral. Julie Keefe. Priscilla Fischer. Martha Doane. Tony Rezendes. Betty Cottle. Ernie Mendenhall. Tom Vogl. Phyllis Smith. Virginia Jones. Fran Bradley. Heidi Schultz. Muriel Bye. Marjorie Rogers. Betsy Fisher. Ann Fielder. Kent Healy. John Alley. Prudy Whiting. Dianne Powers. Beverly King. Tony Friedman. Gay Nelson. Sue Silva. Cheryl Stark. Claire Gray. Al and Hallie Mentzel. Marian Irving. Janice Haynes. Hilary Blocksom. Janet Bank. Bob and Barbara Day. Alvida and Ralph Jones. Ann Howes. Margaret Cook. Jonathan Revere.
I wanted to list everyone. Many still set up voting booths, hand out ballots, bring snacks. Most are people I have known and worked with as long as I have lived in West Tisbury. We have served on committees and boards, celebrated birthdays and new babies, and we have mourned our losses. We have grown older together.
Most important, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at the Public Safety Building. Polls are open between 7 am and 8 pm.
