Elections volunteer has been on the job since 1952
'I'm very patriotic. I feel I'm doing my part for my city, for my country. Everybody should take a stab at it. We've got to get our young people involved because this is their world.' - Morianna De Fina
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

Morianna De Fina

Since Dwight D. Eisenhower made his first bid for the United States presidency in 1952, Marianna De Fina has been working the polls. The Westlake Village resident has been a volunteer at the ballot box in every election during those 55 years including the most recent. De Fina, 83, spent from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the White Oak Elementary polling place, working while residents voted.

"It's unbelievable the energy and zest for life this lady has," said Ladan Nejad of Westlake Village, who worked with De Fina at the polls. "Younger people, we're all tired; we don't want to do anything. We could learn from her."

When she's not working an election, De Fina stays busy with an active petsitting business. In fact, during her breaks on election day, instead of relaxing or eating lunch, De Fina was at neighbors' homes, feeding their pets and watering their plants.

"As I say, it keeps me out of the bars," De Fina said.

Last week's election process was a far cry from the early days when De Fina first began staffing polls in Reseda, where she lived.

"A local fireman opened up his garage so that the election could be held there. The ballots were handwritten, and it took us until 10 a.m. the next day to count all the X's," De Fina said.

De Fina grew up in the San Fernando Valley. Her mother, who was from Austria and Hungary, felt privileged that she was able to immigrate to the United States and raise her children here.

"I'm very patriotic. I feel I'm doing my part for my city, for my country," De Fina said. "Everybody should take a stab at it. We've got to get our young people involved because this is their world."

De Fina worked the Reseda precinct until 1978 when she moved to Westlake Village. She was assigned to the precinct at the former Westlake Hospital until it closed, then to Westminster Presbyterian Church and now White Oak. Tuesday's election was wellattended, according to De Fina.

"People are very civicminded here in Westlake," De Fina said. "We were busy all day, and at the church they were busier than we were."

The volunteers De Fina works with are usually the same people each election. Two live in her neighborhood and another a few blocks away. The workers are divided between inspector and clerk positions and rotate among the day's various jobs, including signing voters in and handing out ballots. They cover for each other during lunches and breaks.

She is always amazed by the number of incapacitated people who come in to vote. Those who are handicapped can vote from their cars. Election volunteers will bring the paperwork out to them, according to De Fina.

"We see people come in on crutches and in wheelchairs, still wanting to do right by their country," De Fina said.

Then there are those De Fina calls wise guys.

"When you count the ballots you see that people have written in odd names like Mickey Mouse or Hitler. I don't know why they do it," De Fina said.

De Fina's job isn't over when the polls close. The volunteers then have to separate the ballots from the envelopes, count them and make sure the unused and used ballots "square up." On Nov. 6, the poll workers brought the ballots to Westlake Village City Hall, but in larger elections they are brought to more distant destinations such as the fire station on Lost Hills Road in Calabasas.

Although she worked at the White Oak precinct, De Fina had to vote at her own assigned precinct, Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Prior to each election, De Fina receives a card from the county elections office asking if she's interested in working the polls. She always says yes.

"It must be horrendous trying to get all of these people together every time," De Fina said.

She then attends a two-hour refresher class that addresses voting changes and things to watch for during the election process. She gets paid $22 to attend the class and another $22 for her 15-hour day as a poll worker.

Despite frequent changes in voting equipment, De Fina feels that the American election system provides citizens with every opportunity to vote, without the fear of fraud.

"When you read about elections in other countries, like Mexico, they always say there is fraud," De Fina said. "America certainly does it properly."

De Fina spent many years working as a secretary at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Calabasas. After her husband died, De Fina moved to Westlake and bought the home where she still lives for $73,500.

She remarried but divorced eight years later and now says she's too busy to have time for a husband. She has two children, one of whom lives in Oak Park, and two grandchildren, one of whom was recently married at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Westlake Village.

"I'm very happy with my life, very blessed," De Fina said.