Bill Lewers

After reading "Gatekeepers of Democracy" you want to sign up to be an election official. If you live in Fairfax County, Virginia, you'll hardly have to read the Election Chief's Manual if you've read this novel. It marches you through the entire process of the election chief, beginning with the assignment through to delivering the ballots and materials following the closing of the polls.

This work of fiction is structured on the myriad of rules and procedures needed to operate the polling place during the election. The devil is really in the details. Since author Bill Lewers has functioned as an election "rover" for many years, we also experience the process at the District level, supervising many precincts (polling places). Any experienced election official will recognize the interpersonal tension, personality clashes and quirks among the election team. The controlled panic when the election machines occasionally malfunction is very real. The details of the fourteen-hour day also portray the Chief's challenge of juggling all the election minutia, dealing with the election officials on your team, keeping the voters happily moving through the polling place, all while exhaustion is setting in. On the other hand, maybe you will just marvel at the people who do sign on to this job, rather than turning in your own application to be an election official . . .… (plus d'informations)