Amador County voting is quick, friendly

Daralynn Bonneau’s voting precinct isn’t a convention center, nor is it a church – it’s Mel & Faye’s Diner, serving up hearty meals to local residents for over 50 years.

As of 3:00PM on Election Day, 689 votes had been cast at Mel's Diner, with at least 200 more expected.

Voting in Amador County, is quick, easy, and friendly; from the moment you walk in the door, volunteers at the registration table instantly begin to look up your name in the precinct directory.

“We’re pretty efficient,” said Daralynn Bonneau, one of Jackson’s precinct inspectors. “About 95% of the people that walk through the door, I know.”
A volunteer for over 12 years, Bonneau said that there are 900 residents registered in her precinct.

Including Mel’s Diner, there are three other precincts in the town of Jackson – The City Hall, the local Serbian mission grounds, and the Rollingwood Estates neighborhood.

Throughout the day, a voter within the precinct of Mel’s Diner could wander downstairs between meals to cast their vote without waiting more than a few minutes in line.

“We had all ten of our booths full at one time for about a half hour,” said Bonneau. “To get checked in and everything, it was about a five minute wait.”
Just a hop, skip and a jump away from Mel’s Diner is Jackson City Hall, which sits on the corner of Highways 88 & 49.

At City Hall, some volunteers have been manning precinct one for over 10 years.

“Precinct one has been at City Hall since about 1996,” said Paul Mollinelli, another one of Jackson’s precinct inspectors.

“Before that (voting) was at Denny’s…That’s where I worked my first polling precinct,” said Mollinelli.

Many of people involved in the voting process have been in their positions for decades.

One man who has been involved in the voting process for decades is Sheldon Johnson, who serves as Amador County's Clerk Recorder and Registrar.

“I have been in my position here since 1979,” said Johnson.

Johnson said that in Amador County, Mace Meadows has the largest precinct with 1,186 registered voters, while Amador City has 132.

Kirkwood, which is split between Amador and Alpine Counties, has a precinct of just 46 people. All of those ballots are mailed due to the fact that during some years, residents are snowed-in and cannot leave their houses to vote.

View a Map of the three voting Precincts in Jackson:

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