THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090326
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
In East Lake, democracy has the sweet smell of bacon, sausage and eggs.
Farther west, at mid-morning on the banks of the Scuppernong River in Columbia, democracy has a smile on its face.
In Goldsboro, at Precinct 2 at the Wayne County Memorial Community Center, democracy has hopes and dreams for its children.
It's Election Day in northeastern North Carolina, a day folks in East Lake don't take for granted. Alvin Ambrose, the election officer in that western Dare County community, knows that better than anyone. But shortly after 7 a.m., with breakfast cooking in a nearby kitchen, the rush of voters has not begun.
``We haven't set the world on fire,'' says Ambrose, a stocky man with glasses. ``But we're usually around 70 to 80 percent turnout. We usually have a large turnout going on these many years.''
East Lake and rural communities throughout this region seem to buck the national trend. Most pollsters say that only a third of the electorate will turn out in a non-presidential election year. Ambrose isn't sure why such high percentages come to the polls in East Lake, but he has his theory:
``Maybe we have a higher percentage of the vote than other precincts because we're so small, and everybody knows each other. They talk with each other about the election and it builds up a kind of awareness.''
Ambrose and his fellow poll workers began their election day before 6 a.m. Therein lies the explanation for breakfast at the ballot box.
``You get up kind of early, so there isn't time to make breakfast at home,'' Ambrose reasons.
Farther down the road in Columbia, the smiles are contagious. Lucy Hopkins is canvassing the street in front of the local extension office, passing out cards for her husband Clayton, a candidate for Tyrrell County commissioner. ``He's gone to feed the cows,'' Hopkins says when asked of the candidate's whereabouts. ``Life goes on.''
As each person passes, Hopkins passes out cards, speaks and smiles. They all smile back with a ``How are you?'' and ``Good to see you.''
She turns her attention to a middle-aged man standing on the steps of the polling place. ``I see you found your glasses,'' Hopkins says to Harper Woodard. ``You find everything all right?''
Woodard holds up the glasses dangling from a chain around his neck and smiles.
``He couldn't go vote until he found his glasses,'' Hopkins says. ``We offered to let him borrow some. But he had to find his.''
Inside, the talk turns from Harper Woodard's glasses to deer season. One poll worker is telling a voter about her husband's most recent conquest, a buck with only one antler. This is more than an exercise in electoral politics. A community is being brought together. As in East Lake, turnout in Columbia is expected to be brisk.
``I think it's because we all know each other so well,'' poll worker Sandra Owens says when asked about the turnout.
Suzanne Willis, a Tyrrell County registrar, agrees. ``I like being around people and seeing people,'' she says. ``There are a lot of people you don't get to see until an election year. When that time comes, everyone comes out.''
And in small communities, the choice made on a paper ballot often hinges not on a political party, but on family.
``It's more or less a personal thing in a small town,'' says Iredell Hassell, 73, who voted in his first election in 1942 and has missed voting in only a few since. ``Most of the people running, I've known all my life. It comes down to families. Everybody's kin to everybody else. If your daddy's a Democrat, you'll be a Democrat. If your daddy's a Republican, you'll be a Republican.''
There is much talk of families in Precinct 2 in downtown Goldsboro. Roger Wilson is campaigning in front of the Wayne County Community Center, across from the courthouse. He is a tall man in his 30s with a warm, ready smile. He has his mind on his family and his community.
``Community is the key word,'' he says. ``We're building a sense of that here. There's fellowship being built here.''
For Wilson, voting is more than exercising a constitutional right. ``I feel a connection with the candidate I voted for,'' he says. ``I believe that because of my vote, maybe one day my children will have health care. I feel a connection between the man I voted for with the hopes and dreams of my community for the future. It means a great deal.''
KEYWORDS: ELECTION NORTH CAROLINA RESULTS VOTING by CNB