Tuesday’s election might not have yielded too much turnover at the local ballot box, but it marked the last appearance of a welcome and familiar face for those who gather to watch the returns come in: that of Joan Weaver, the Cullman County Probate Office’s elections coordinator.

Weaver, who’s filled the part-time role for the past six years after retiring from a 26-year career at the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office, is stepping away from the role to devote more time to her passions, most of which revolve around church ministry and school volunteering in her home community at Baileyton.

“I just want to be free to do other things,” she said Tuesday, watching ballot boxes arrive, for the last time, at the Cullman Civic Center. “I do a lot of volunteering in my community, with my church and also with the backpack program and mentoring at Parkside school. I just want some time to focus more on things like that.”

Though her face is familiar come election time, Weaver’s work mostly has been done behind the scenes. “I try to find people to work the polls; being sure that if the voting equipment has a problem, there’s someone there to fix it; advertising publicly for all of the elections; staying on top of the administrative calendar,” she explained.

“There’s a legal timeframe for everything, and the probate office has to follow that to the letter. It can be stressful, but i really enjoy our poll workers. They’re like family.”

Probate Judge Tammy Brown, a longtime friend of Weaver’s, joked that she’s not entirely persuaded this election will be Weaver’s last.

“She keeps saying that, but I just want to think that she’s delirious!” laughed Brown. “Seriously, I don’t know what we’re going to do without her. We love her, and she is really going to be missed. She’s the best worker — and also the greatest friend.”

Weaver deflects praise from others, redirecting it to the people who’ve helped her manage the election process over the past six years.

“I’m really just grateful to all our poll workers,” she said. “I appreciate the effort they put in, often for many years on end. It’s a civic duty —  there’s not a reward like money or anything like that. They truly want to be there, and I have really appreciated that attitude.”

Benjamin Bullard can be reached by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 145.