NORWOOD, Ohio — I didn’t expect Cynthia Bates to start crying.
She works at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, and I met her at an early voting center in Norwood. Bates tells me she’s been a poll worker for 52 years.
That’s why she shows me her necklace. It has small medals from almost all the elections she's worked. After I ask her a question, Bates takes her glasses off.
Then, she grabs a tissue.
“I get so emotional,” Bates said.
WATCH: Go inside the warehouse where election workers test equipment
Maybe because this all started with her mom bringing her in one day. Or maybe it’s because she’s a people person. Or maybe it’s because this work has taught her more about life than she ever could have predicted.
“I am so proud,” Bates said. “And I mean that.”
When I ask if she thought she’d be here this long, her answer is short.
“No,” Bates said.
At the front of the building, she puts on her vest and instructs people where to go. One tells her she needs a wand like the workers at the airport.
“Are you ready to vote?” Bates asks. “Right this way.”
In the warehouse next door, Bill Fletcher is checking the time on a voting machine. So no one gets confused when daylight saving time changes it right before the election.
“People think you just vote one day,” said Tyrone Hill, another warehouse worker. “But as you see, there’s a lot of equipment.”
Hill shows me how it works. The two retirees boot a machine up, check how the ballot looks and then print out a sample.
Then, they check that the sample matches up with the ballot.
“There is no way in you know what that they could rig this election,” Hill said. "I can’t rig it, even if I tried."
When they sign a piece of paper that says they both verified the results, Hill reminds me it is bipartisan.
“He’s the Democrat,” Fletcher quickly adds.
Hill gives him a look, and they both laugh.
“We do have fun,” Fletcher said.
Back at the early voting center, I thank Bates for speaking with me. She sits down and starts crying again.
"It makes me excited to see people coming out," Bates said. "And I had something to do with it.”
Then, she stands up and welcomes someone else in.
