> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.huntsvillan.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A day in the life – of a Walker County poll worker - URL: https://www.huntsvillan.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-walker-county-poll-worker/ - Published: 2026-10-22T13:25:39.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-22T13:25:39.000Z - Description: Think it's easy putting on an election? Think again. - Author: Steph Mamber **5:15 am: wakeup** Walker County poll worker David Landmann's alarm goes off, whether he's ready or not. It is Election Day. He feeds his golden retriever, eats a quick breakfast, and is out the door. Comfortable footwear is a must. Landmann has served as a clerk for early voting over the past two weeks, and the wide spaces and concrete floor of the Storm Shelter are awfully hard on the feet. Between early voting, training, and today, elections have taken up the better part of the last month – and Landmann got off easy. A veteran poll worker, he needed to take only one four-hour training beforehand. First-timers need more. Landmann arrives at his polling location, University Heights Baptist Church, by 6 am. It is one of nine polling places serving Walker County residents this Election Day. Including early voting, there are a total of 65 poll workers. The "presiding judge" heading up that location stopped by the County Annex yesterday afternoon and loaded her car with signs, cones, and paperwork. Landmann, a Democrat, is serving as alternate judge, because Walker County voted Republican in the last gubernatorial election. Together, they unload everything in the early-morning darkness. **6:40 am: almost go time** The two judges set out the necessary paperwork on the judge’s table and inspect the ballot tabulator to ensure each candidate begins the day with no votes. The clerks trickle in over the next fifteen minutes, and everyone takes the constitutional Oath of Office. Some clerks put up signs inside, while others place “no electioneering beyond this point” signs outside. They power up the Express Vote ballot-marking machines and turn on their poll tablets, which are connected to Walker County's database of registered voters. Blank ballot cards are set at each check-in station, numbered sequentially. Several hundred were signed by the presiding judge at home last night. She will sign more as needed throughout the day. **7:03: the first voter checks in** Voters are waiting when the doors are unlocked at 7:00\. A clerk reminds them to put away their cellphone and take out their government-issued ID. The first voter arrives to check in. A clerk greets them, checks their ID, looks them up in the poll tablet, and confirms their address. The voter then selects a random ballot card (to maintain a secret ballot) and moves to a ballot-marking machine, while the next voter steps up to check in. This will go on for the next twelve hours. The clerk has marked the ballot card with a bar code so that it presents the correct ballot to that voter: federal races first, then state, then local. Walker County has four public school districts, two Congressional districts, three cities, and four Emergency Service Districts, so ballots can differ radically, depending on home address. All of this must be programmed into the machines in advance. **7:49 am: name issue** A voter presents acceptable ID at check-in, but there is a slight difference in the name – Frederick on their driver's license, Fred on the tablet. The clerk checks the person against their photo and asks them to initial an affidavit stating that both names refer to the same person. Then check-in proceeds as usual. Issues like these – name differences, changes of address, ID problems, and so on – occur every so often, and are handled in accordance with state law. This is one of many reasons every poll worker has required training. **9:36 am: new voter** Landmann is now working check-in himself. A voter arrives who is unfamiliar with the county's Express Voter ballot-marking machine, in use locally since 2019\. He explains that they will feed their ballot card into the machine, follow the instructions on the screen, print out a ballot after voting, and feed it into the tabulator, where the vote count will increase by one. **11:29 am: curbside voting** Landmann moves to curbside duty. A tire-activated buzzer alerts him to the presence of a curbside voter. He and a clerk together go to the car, collect a photo ID, and obtain the voter’s signature on a state-required voucher. They carry these inside and return with a ballot card and a voting machine on wheels. Once printed, the ballot is slipped into a privacy folder, carried inside, and placed into the tabulator. Two workers from different political parties are required to ensure privacy and proper tabulation. Landmann has worked many elections and knows that an equal number of Democrat and Republican workers is the goal, but not always the reality. The elections office, which falls under Tax Assessor-Collector Diana McRae, depends on the county parties for names of interested workers, and sometimes they come up short. When that happens, one worker may get locked into curbside voting for most of the day. **12:15 pm: lunch** The presiding judge started sending clerks to lunch one at a time beginning at 11:30\. It is now Landmann’s turn for a 30-minute lunch. Workers are expected to stay on site all day, so he brought a sandwich, chips, a thermos of iced tea, and a couple of cookies, just as in junior high school. He saves an apple and cheese slices for a late-afternoon snack, as tonight's supper will be quite late. Sometimes workers coordinate and bring things to share, like chili, cornbread, and dessert. But this is the exception, not the rule. **2:51 pm: electioneering** Landmann is back at check-in when another clerk asks if the next voter's attire is appropriate – a shirt saying “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Bernie.” Electioneering t-shirts and hats are common, but current law doesn't allow a candidate name from a prior election, much less the current one. Landmann explains this to the voter and asks him to cover the shirt with a jacket or turn it inside out in the restroom. Issues with these and other prohibited items, such as cellphones or firearms, are generally – but not always – resolved cooperatively. **3:33 pm: monitoring the floor** Landmann has moved now to monitoring the floor, checking the kiosks for trash and wiping the marking machines with antibacterial wipes. He overhears a woman ask her husband about a candidate, and explains that the couple cannot discuss their choices within the polling place. Later, during a mid-afternoon lull, Landmann wolfs down his snack and drinks a bottle of water. Being too busy to hydrate is a common problem for workers on election day. None will eat dinner, unless they can do so in 15 minutes, before the evening rush begins. **7:00 pm: polls close** Nine people are in line when the polls close at 7:00 pm. Landmann gets at the back of the line to tell any subsequent arrivals that they are too late. Once the last voter is inside the door, it is locked to the outside and clean up begins. Distance markers and signs are removed, ballot markers powered down, tables folded and stored. The presiding judge and Landmann see to the tabulator, which produces a long tape with the vote count for each choice in each race. Four workers sign the tape in multiple places, and it is rolled up and stored; only then is the tabulator shut down. The voted ballots are put into a sealed can, and the media device from the tabulator is put into a sealed container. The judges work together to check that the number of voted ballots, provisional ballots, spoiled ballots,\[1\] and unused ballots add up to the number of ballots they started with. Paperwork goes into specific envelopes, envelopes go into specific carry containers, and everything is loaded into the presiding judge’s car. Landmann follows her as she drives to the County Annex and helps her carry everything inside. A team of workers is waiting to receive their supplies. They work efficiently, but the tasks are important and several must be documented. Later that night, McRae's office manager will post unofficial results to the candidates and others hanging around the Annex and on the [elections office website](https://www.co.walker.tx.us/department/index.php?structureid=16). Within about ten days, each local body (such as the Hospital District) will "canvas" their own results to make them official. **8:24 pm: head home** After nearly fourteen working hours, Landmann is finally cleared to go. He will receive his paycheck next month. At $11 per hour, he makes about $150 for election day and another $1,100 for two weeks of early voting. Landmann is 80 years old. Next year, he'll do it all over again. --- \[1\] The voter made a mistake and turned in a ballot which was “spoiled” by the judge, and given a new one. David Landmann is a former publisher of the Copperas Cove [Leader-Press](https://www.coveleaderpress.com/). This hypothetical election day reproduces common phenomena he has experienced in years of working Walker County elections.