'I took the pistol away from him:' Longtime SC poll clerk shares Election Day stories
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WPDE) — Election offices across the U.S. depend on poll workers to help the voting process go smoothly.
When North Myrtle Beach voters show up at the Crescent polling location, they see a familiar face. Jean Boseman moved to South Carolina in 1989 and said she’s been a poll worker ever since.
I have. I've been doing it for 32 years. The first year I came to vote here in 1989, I walked in with no identification whatsoever. Of course, I was sent home to get my ID,” said Jean. “Ever since then I've been working here. I don't know why they asked me to work after such a bad entrance,” she laughed.
As the precinct’s clerk, she makes sure everything goes smoothly, even if that requires a bit of bravery.
I think one of the most embarrassing, or exciting, either way you put it, experiences I had was the time that I took a pistol from a plain-clothed policeman. He was standing in line and I saw the pistol slipping out from underneath his coat,” Jean said. “I capped the pistol and took it away from him, and then he showed me his badge. And then we had a nice conversation. He took it very well, particularly to have had it taken by an older woman.”
Soon to be 88 years old, Jean has found an ideal way to keep track of her experiences.
“I've had some good experiences, and we've had some bad experiences,” said Jean. “I don't remember the bad. I try to put those out of my mind and remember the good.”
Perhaps that's why her familiar face is always smiling.
Before moving to North Myrtle Beach, Jean was the administrative assistant to a Highway Patrol Commander in North Carolina, so she'd had several pieces of training in police work prior to taking away that gun from the police officer.
