She Likes to Watch

Clark Kent spends coffee breaks as Superman. Playboy billionare Bruce Wayne dons a bat suit and boots during his off-hours. I moonlight as a reporter.

Every election night, this mild-mannered features writer transforms into a fearsome Associated Press stringer.

My mission? To call in votes as they’re counted by county Clerk-Recorder Julie Rodewald and her excellent staff. Workers at Elections HQ in Seattle then add my numbers to the overall tally.

It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.

I know what you’re thinking. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to sit around for hours and hours, staring into space and occasionally picking up the phone?

What chump could pass up the opportunity to add five or six hours to their work day? The thrill of writing down numbers and reading them aloud very, very slowly?

Believe it or not, I’m often the only media person in the building.

All kidding aside, there is a reason I return year after year: the election itself.

Working as a stringer puts you in the middle of the action, whether it’s a presidential election or a county supervisor’s race. You meet anxious candidates, activists stumping for a favorite cause.

Close races — such as last night’s Democratic primary — keep everyone guessing. And on some nights, the groans and cheers ring as loudly as any caucus.

Elections are a window into a county’s genetic makeup, its worries, its hopes. And on election night, you can’t keep me away.

– Sarah L.

Photo still of “Superman Returns” courtesy of MovieWeb.