The Home Vote

by Donna Gloff

As far back as Jackie (Witzgall) Holbrook can remember and into the 1960s, the Lewis County side of Orlando voted at her house. Jackie lived with her grandparents, Oras and Edith (Skinner) Stutler, in the former Dolan Hotel in downtown Orlando. On election day a flag would be posted on the front porch and to open the poles someone went out on the porch, rang a hand bell and said, "The polls are now open!"

To the right is Jackie in the 1950s, below the Stutler home in the 1960s.

Folks would file through the front door of the house and go down the hall to a large spare room on the right. There the Democrats would register with their poll person and the Republicans would register with their's. Then each voter would take a blank ballot and pencil into one of the voting stations, small, tall desks with canvas blinders on three sides.

Oras and Edith were Republicans. Jackie remembers helping grandpa check the Republicans in to vote.

When the poles closed the votes were counted in the formal living room in the front of the house and Grandma had to get the results into Weston right away. For most of those years Oras and Edith did not own a vehicle, so arrangements must have been made to get her into Weston.

See also the May '07 entry The Dolan House, When the Stutlers Lived There