At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Kevin Talley whisked through the winding line of students waiting to vote in the HUB-Robeson Center, careful not to trip over political paraphernalia or students sitting on the floor doing homework while waiting.

It's time for a cigarette break, Talley (senior-political science), judge of elections for the HUB, said.

"I've been up since 5:30 this morning, and it's been hectic," he said. "But it's pretty much what I expected."

Meanwhile, Jeff Kern, judge of elections at State College Christian Church, 1107 William St., said by the night, he'd gone through about 10 cups of coffee and had eaten only an apple for breakfast. He will be paid about $50 for a nearly 16-hour workday.

But that's OK, he said, because his wife is bringing he and the rest of his team a dinner of ham and scalloped potatoes -- and he is giving others the right to vote.

"It's a tough job, but someone has got to do it," Kern said.

In a time when voter fraud is a hot topic and some are losing faith in the electoral process, those who work behind the scenes on Election Day may be a reminder that something positive can still come out of politics.

More than 500 people volunteered through Centre County's Office of Elections on Tuesday, Scott Conklin, election board chairman, said.

"We couldn't have an election without the judge of elections and all the poll workers that help out," he said.

Conklin said the Office of Elections works all year to set up space for polling locations, process voter registrations and make changes to voting precincts. However, volunteers are crucial on Election Day.

Some volunteers say they are motivated by their role in helping American democracy, while others say they enjoy the social interaction.

Kern, who has worked as a Centre County judge of elections for 10 years, said the job can be tiresome, but it's a temporary craziness that brings him a permanent satisfaction.

"Helping people, especially first-time voters, exercise their right to vote is extremely rewarding," he said.

As a judge of elections, Kern was responsible for overseeing the day's activities at one of Centre County's 85 polling precincts.

He set up the voting machines, made sure the polling station was given the correct number of ballots and posted voting rules and regulations by the doors.

Those tasks were to be completed before 6:30 a.m., early enough for him to call the elections office in Bellefonte if there were any problems, he said.

As judge of elections, his job was to help voters by showing them how to use the punch-card ballot. However, he was not allowed to assist them in the voting booth.

There are also many regulations to enforce. A federal law states those handing out political material must stand 10 feet from the polling arena's entrance.

Additionally, voters are not supposed to enter the room with any political garb or attempt to influence anyone's vote while in the polling place.

The rules and regulations are complicated and often frustrating, but Kern received a checklist from the Office of Elections to make sure he didn't forget anything.

The U.S. voting system has long been attacked by some for its lack of national standards and inefficiency. Critics also claim punch-card ballots are outdated and confusing.

Centre County is one of 11 counties in Pennsylvania that still uses punch-card ballots. Other counties use electronic voting systems or lever voting machines.

Voters, such as the many students who waited for nearly two hours on Tuesday to cast their ballots, were bothered by the wait time.

Evan Miller (junior-economics and political science), a poll worker at the HUB on Tuesday, said he hopes students weren't discouraged by the long lines.

He said he hopes that in future years the county will be able to allot more polling space at Penn State.

Miller added that it is unreasonable to have people from four large precincts expected to vote in such a small space.

But volunteers work with what they have.

After setting up, Kern played watchdog and teacher. He showed voters how to vote on a sample punch-card ballot. He also stood guard in case any problems came up.

The biggest problem that occurred Tuesday was when voters arrived at the wrong polling location, he said. The workers had to then call the office in Bellefonte to see if the voter was registered at another polling place in Centre County.

"One time we had a guy who was from Philadelphia show up who thought he could vote here, and I had to turn him down," Kern said. "It was tough telling someone they can't exercise their right to vote."

New rules regarding provisional ballots this year made it possible for someone who was registered in the county to vote at any polling place in the county.

However, someone who was registered outside of the county was to vote in his or her county or should have submitted an absentee ballot, Kern said.

The hardest part of Kern's job came after 8 p.m., when the polling place doors closed and it came time to count ballots.

On Tuesday, the ballots only had to be recounted once, but in the past it has often taken longer, Kern said.

"You say to yourself, 'I'm an adult, I should be able to count,' " he joked. "But that's not so easy when it's the end of the day."

Accounting for all ballots, including absentee, provisional and write-ins, can sometimes be tedious, Kern added.

A final tally sheet was completed, and the ballots were placed in a transit box and driven to Bellefonte, where they started to arrive at about 10 p.m.

A sworn-in processing team placed the boxes on carts and wheeled them through the lobby of the Willowbank Building.

Another group organized the ballots before putting them through a machine, which read the punches and tallied the votes.

The result, which came about two hours after ballots arrived at the building, was a printed sheet with results specific to each polling place. The data was also posted as a live feed on the county's Web site.

Workers at the Office of Elections were still busy yesterday and today verifying provisional ballots, Conklin said. The ballots must be reviewed to make sure they were submitted by registered voters.

Kern was joined by a multitude of volunteers, most of whom worked the same hours as him and received less, or no, financial compensation.

"We're paid by satisfaction that our candidate wins," Libby Lusht, a poll watcher for the Republican Party, said.

Lusht worked the afternoon at Easterly Parkway Elementary School, 234 Easterly Parkway.

She sat at a table with another poll watcher, Betty Aggon, from the Democratic Party. As poll workers called out the names of voters who walked in the door, the duo checked to see if the name was on the list of registered voters with their party.

"I know this guy; he's yours, Betty," Lusht said as a man walked in the door.

As a local resident, Aggon said she knew about a quarter of the people who came to vote at her polling place on Election Day.

While she was not supposed to talk to any of the voters, she enjoyed greeting them with a smile and seeing them leave with an "I voted" sticker, she said.

The pair also received visits from their political party's "runners," who picked up the lists and made phone calls to nag registered voters who hadn't yet showed up at the polls.

Volunteers for the Office of Elections kept things running inside the polling place, but there were also those behind the scenes working for specific candidates and political parties.

Glenn Thompson, chairman for the Centre County Republicans, said about 350 people volunteered through the group. No position offered was paid, he said.

Their efforts were part of campaign that started about 18 months ago, he said.

"It's kind of a tidal wave that crashes on Election Day," Thompson added.

Volunteers did everything from making signs to participating in phone-a-thons to bringing food to other volunteers throughout the day.

He even had one volunteer, a Vietnam veteran, make a trip from Virginia and stay in his camper for a week to help out with the Republican campaign. The man knew his campaigning efforts would have a larger impact in a swing state such as Pennsylvania, Thompson said.

He added that he thinks it is a love for all things political and camaraderie that bring volunteers like him to do the job.

"Politics is a great team sport," Thompson said. "When you're a part of high-performing team, it's worth it."

Standing in the light rain outside the Christian Church wearing a blue-and-red-tinseled headband and several "Mothers Opposing Bush" accessories, Helen Dempsey said political campaigning had not become a part of her life until this year's presidential election.

"This election really mobilized me," she said, referring to her disagreement with Bush's policies on the war in Iraq.

While most volunteer efforts start and end on Election Day, there are those who work year-round to make sure local elections run smoothly.

"I've been preparing for this day for about a month," said Jerry Halderman, who has been with the Office of Elections for about 45 years.

Ballots had to be counted, and the proper number had to be designated for each county. They were then placed into boxes and shipped out to Centre County's polling places.

On the evening of Election Day, Halderman helped to roll in the carts to the rooms where they were counted.

He didn't expect to leave until early morning. Come yesterday, he was on the road at 8 a.m. He returned to the polling places to retrieve leftover boxes.

The poll workers encompassed those of all ages, but many voting locations, especially those farther away from the university, were staffed by those who are retired.

"I don't think we have a worker in here that is under 75," Kern said.

He said in the future he would like to see a bigger turnout of student volunteers to work the polls. However, he was impressed with the number of student voters who turned out this year just to vote.

"This is like a vacation for me," Miller, a student poll clerk at the HUB, said.

Miller said he opted to volunteer this year because he finds the political process interesting and was glad to help people exercise their right to vote.

It meant more to him to volunteer at the polls than to spend time helping out with a campaign for a political party or candidate like many other students chose to do, he added.

Now that Election Day is over, many of the volunteers said they are glad to restart their daily lives.

Kern, a State College Borough Council member and owner of a State College research firm, said he returned to work on time Wednesday morning slightly tired but ready to get back into the swing of things.

"Now it's back to normal, until the next election," he said.