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I’ll start this by putting up-front an acknowledgement that some of this might be classified as “opinion”, if for no other reason that considering the subject matter, there’s no escaping the fact that I’ll be coming off as an “old fart” with a story that begs for retirement into the cobweb-draped closet of historical moments that are easily forgotten. Observations gathered over nearly a half-century’s passage of time can’t help but pick up a few opinions, given the changing times. But here goes, because if there’s one thing that current events need to take into account, it is the history upon which shoulders of the present are built.
The year was 1976. I’d been hired by WHBL in May of that year as a part-time employee, filling in on weekends and driving the company vehicle to gather addresses for our “Poster Push” publicity effort. At the same time, it was the “Bicentennial Year”, the 200th anniversary of the founding of the nation, and a general election year at that. Gerald Ford, who’d replaced disgraced President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal, was running against Georgia peanut farmer Jimmy Carter. The radio station needed someone to report the Sheboygan County vote, and that task went to me.
The job was pretty basic: gather the vote count and report it…write it down, phone it in to the News Director – at that time, it was Ted Charles. But the archaic nature of what was behind that gathering becomes apparent when compared to modern methodology. And so a bit of scene-setting is in order.
Back then, WHBL and WHBL-FM broadcasted from studios in the basement of the Fountain Park Motor Inn. We signed on at 5:00 a.m. and shut down the transmitters at 1:00 a.m. every day. There was no satellite distribution of print or audio. Network news came in on telephone lines from ABC Radio Network, and news came via a United Press International teletype, continually pounding out the news of the day on a long roll of paper like the robotic typewriter that it was. Covering elections was equally as “quaint”.
Votes came into the Sheboygan County Clerk at the County Courthouse, where everyone covering elections would gather to witness the incoming votes. Those votes were cast on mechanical machines, mostly by pushing levers that punched a card or tape. The results were physically removed from the machines and then carried from each City, Village, Town, Ward and Precinct in Sheboygan County as soon as voting was completed, hand-delivered by workers to the Sheboygan County Courthouse, and the resulting tally sheet from each machine was read out verbally to the gathered reporters and observers awaiting each new batch of incoming results.
Just as was the case 48 years ago, the rural vs. urban voting flow led to either initial elation and then disappointment, or growing anticipation followed by jubilance, depending upon whom your emotions were directed. As a reporter, it didn’t make much difference to me – I just wanted to get all the numbers, report them to Ted, and call it a night. Just as today, polls closed at 8 p.m. But unlike today, there was no electronic tally of any sort. The difference is stark in that results in 2024 can be known within an hour of the polls closing. In 1976, it all depended upon that hand-delivery by human beings.
Results were starting to come in by 9 p.m. or so, mostly from the City of Sheboygan where the County Courthouse is located. It took longer for Kohler, then Sheboygan Falls, Howards Grove, Plymouth, and so on, until only a trickle was coming in every half hour or so. That was about midnight. And then a seemingly interminable wait began.
There was one township that was missing. It wasn’t unusual at 1 a.m. that, perhaps, a double-check at the polling places was needed to ensure everything was in order before delivering to the County Courthouse, but this was getting late. And then it was 2 a.m. Jimmy Carter was seeing his possibility of victory growing. 3 a.m. passed, and it really looked like Carter would take the race. By 3:30 a.m. we were all pretty tired, hit with coffee-fueled headaches and desperate for final results. Everything awaited one last element – the results from the Town of Wilson. What began as an annoyance became a concern as all began wondering what could’ve become of the poll workers charged as couriers of the voting results. A Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Deputy was dispatched to look into the mystery – and soon reported the results of his investigation.
As it turned out, the volunteers at the Wilson Town Hall completed their duties and, having done so, decided it was time for a celebration. You see, there was a bar on-site, and with the job done, the taps were opened and weary workers took time to soften the effects of the long election day. The Sheriff obtained the sealed box full of votes, delivered it to the Courthouse, and we all sighed deeply upon recording the final results. We all left by 4:30 a.m.
In 2024, most election results will be electronically tabulated and reported in a fraction of the time it took 48 years ago. Even then, there will be some states hand-counting ballots coming in from overseas, from early-voting and mail-ins, and that will take time. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the passage of time, it’s that the present day is a product of the past, and can only move forward when there are new shoulders upon which to stand. That may be what happens in 2024. Or, the majority might feel more comfortable waiting just a while before the next “big change”. And that’s another thing I’ve learned since 1976. Big changes do happen, but seldom by design. They’re a product of progress, will, happenstance, chaos, and Divine Providence. At least we’re fortunate to have been given a seat at the table, a chance to do what we can to guide the future. Be patient to discover the outcome, because another lesson learned assures me that we’ll know everything we need to know in due time.
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