HUNTINGTON – At 1 p.m., about the halfway point during voting on Tuesday, two international observers came into Stanton Hall in Huntington to introduce themselves. Jorg Lehnert of Germany and Evelyn Hutson-Hartmann of Switzerland said they were part of a team of 300 observers from 43 countries deployed from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to observe the U.S. presidential election.
International observers Jorg Lehnert of Germany and Evelyn Hutson-Hartmann of Switzerland speak with Huntington election clerk Kathy Thomas during voting in Stanton Hall. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Directed to Kathy Thomas, Huntington’s election clerk, they sat down and spoke to Thomas about the election and the process in Huntington.
“It was pleasant to hear non-biased questions. They were real-time curious about the feel of the town,” Thomas said.
Lehnert said that he and Hutson-Harmann had been assigned to observe elections in Hampden County, and had made stops in Springfield, Holyoke and Russell before coming to Huntington on their way to Chester. They were two of only four observers in Massachusetts.
When they were told that Huntington is actually in Hampshire County, it didn’t seem to bother them. They told Thomas that Huntington seemed to them a very diverse and beautiful small town, and very different from the polling they witnessed in Springfield.
Thomas said Lehnert was especially fascinated by Huntington’s old hand-cranked wooden polling box that counts ballots as they are deposited.
International observers Jorg Lehnert of Germany and Evelyn Hutson-Hartmann of Switzerland. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Thomas, who has served as an election clerk for eight years in Huntington, told them it was an “honor and a privilege to work on a presidential election – the greatest thing since sliced bread.” She also told them their job sounded fascinating, traveling around the world to witness elections.
“You can do it, too!” Hutson-Hartmann told Thomas, encouraging her to go to their website at www.osce.org/odihr to find out how to get involved.
Following their visits, the pair will rejoin the other observers in Washington, D.C., where the OSCE will hold a press conference at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 9 in the National Press Club. The press conference will be live streamed at: www.osce.org/odihr/elections/usa/246356 and www.oscepa.org.
