Poll Workers, Write-in Candidates and the Trolley

At mid-afternoon on Election Day, resident Tim O'Neill paced in the Scottish Rite parking lot with a sign supporting Ian Wachstein. He'd been there since 7 a.m., he said.

O'Neill was chatting with retired truck driver Skip Brockner, who announced his candidacy as a write-in choice via YouTube only two days ago.

Brockner, who said he was presenting himself as a late option to broaden the field, had adorned his car with fliers advertising his last-minute bid.

"I wouldn't say I've got all the answers, I don't think anybody does," Brockner said.

But he pointed out that there are seniors in town struggling to live on a fixed income, and the cost of living is on the rise.

At the Collingswood Manor, 90-year-old Louis Petrillo, a Monmouth County resident who moved to town a year ago to be closer to his son, hadn't heard of Brockner's candidacy.

In fact, Petrillo was unfamiliar with any of the candidates up for election. But he got aboard the blue-and-white "Team Collingswood" trolley and headed for the Collingswood Community Center to cast his ballot.

Against the backdrop of Sousa marches, Petrillo talked about the memorable election days he'd seen.

"The first time I voted was in North Africa," Petrillo said. "They set up polling places in the service."

At the community center where Petrillo debarked, seven-year poll worker Phyllis Detwiler said that turnout for the commissioners election was surprisingly busy.

"Compared to the [presidential] primary [election], this is 10 times better," she said.

Poll worker Gary Lambert, who was manning the registries at the Scottish Rite with John Lemayski and Alvin Ramirez, was less bullish on the numbers.

"It's not he slowest we've had," Lambert said. "We did have a gentleman in here at 5:30 [a.m.]; he was here before the workers got here," Lambert said.

Lemayski described the turnout as "normal for this type of election."

Asked why he liked volunteering at the polls, Ramirez said, "Suspense, the turnout, to see how it's gonna be."

Lambert described a feeling of "civic duty," and Lemayski said the stipend was an incentive.

"I'll eat next week," he joked.