Rather than shut out the rhetoric, embrace the situation and work at a polling place on election day. Contribute to a fair, accurate election bu putting in a good, long day processing voters and handling their ballots properly.

After retirement,I worked in our local county election office, recruiting and training poll workers and getting a good, first hand view of the workings of an election office. I was, and am, impressed at the measures taken to insure a fair, accurate count of voted ballots.

Incidentally,in the twelve or so years I have worked in that office, I never overheard or participated in a "political" discussion. There was no overt policy - it just wan't done.

The day is long, often exceeding twelve hours and the pay,at least in California is marginal. I under stand in other jurisdictions pay is somewhat more appropriate. But in any case, your conscientious service will contribute to a stable democracy.

When you enter a polling place on election day, you are experiencing just the tip of the iceberg; an enormous amount of work has gone into preparations and planning to get every thing ready.