The Wright Way: Volunteer poll worker inspires others

Lucinda Wright remembers when you could buy a hammer where she now watches voters go to the polls.

There are voting machines over by a wall, where a dozen years ago you could shop for lawn chairs and Kenmore washing machines.

Once upon a time, Sears Roebuck was the largest retailer in the world. If Sears didn’t have it, you didn’t need it. Now there are only a dozen Sears retail stores left in the U.S.

The 200,000-square-foot Sears — formerly one of six anchor stores at the Macon Mall — closed in 2012. And the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections moved into the remodeled space of what used to be the men’s clothing department in June 2023. 

There is no longer one Election Day. Early voting began in Georgia two and a half weeks ago, so there have been 15 advance voting opportunities leading up to Election Day on Tuesday, November 5.

Wright has been a volunteer poll worker for the past 10 years. During this election cycle, she has witnessed a steady stream of early voters — not shoppers — march by with ballots in their hands, ready to buy whatever the politicians are selling them.

Black. White. Rich. Poor. Democrats. Republicans. Bulldogs. Gators. They walk down the long hallway and through the door.

One kind of voter is always special for Wright, though.

“It’s heartwarming to me when I see somebody who comes to vote and brings a person with them who has a disability,’’ she said.

She has been a registered voter since she turned 18. She’s 61 now, which is 60 years longer than the doctors proclaimed her life expectancy would be when she arrived in the world on Aug. 13, 1963.

“They told my family I probably wouldn’t live to be a year old,’’ she said. “And, if I did, I would be a vegetable. I would never walk or talk.’’

She was the fourth of Marshall and the late Martha Wright’s eight children. Her middle name is Adaline. Lucinda is from the Latin word meaning “light.’’ (She laughed and said there is no illuminating story behind that. Her mother picked it out of a baby name book.)

“If someone calls me Lucinda, they know me from school or work,’’ she said. “But if they call me Cindy, they know me from home.’’

Wright was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), an inherited genetic bone disorder also known as “brittle bone disease.” It occurs when the bones do not fully form and are soft and easily fractured. 

“My mom had to bring me home from the hospital on a pillow,’’ she said.

She was one of the first students with a physical disability to be mainstreamed in the Bibb schools in the early 1970s. The wheelchair ramp at Ingram-Pye Elementary was specially built for her.

Wright later attended Matilda Hartley, Ballard Middle School, and then Southwest High School, where she graduated with honors in 1982. At the time, Southwest was the largest public high school in the Southeast and one of the largest in the nation.

She received her degree in computer programming from Central Georgia Technical College, with training in the fields of microcomputer specialist and accounting.

She enjoyed careers at Goodwill Industries, Star Choices, Tri-State and the Department of Juvenile Justice before medically retiring in 2015. She also deals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a progressive lung disease. When she breathes, her body size is not large enough for the air to flow.

Wright began volunteering as a poll worker in 2014, helping with absentee ballots when the board of elections offices were  located in the old Kmart shopping center on Pio Nono Avenue. 

“Ms. Wright is one of our most faithful workers, always cheerful, and proof that everyone is capable of helping the community, regardless of their situation,’’ said elections supervisor Tom Gillon.

She now assists with early voting, then moves over to her precinct, Harvest Cathedral on Rocky Creek Road, on election day. (Harvest Cathedral was where Presidential candidate Barack Obama made a speech on a campaign visit to Macon in 2008.)

In addition to her volunteer work with the elections office, Wright serves as president of the paratransit system with the Macon Transit Authority. Paratransit is a specialized,  non-emergency service that provides transportation for those unable to use the fixed-route service.

Mike Kaplan, a longtime member of the board of elections, called Wright an “inspirational’’ volunteer.

“No matter how bad you feel, no matter how tired you are, no matter how overworked you might feel when we see Lucinda here doing her job each and every day it makes us thankful,’’ Kaplan said. “It makes us appreciate what we have and makes our work a little easier. She is an amazing lady.’’

Wright said she “loves helping people” and wants to “give back what God has given to me.’’

“I’m a people person. A lot of people know me and want to come up and talk to me,’’ she said. “I don’t care who you vote for. Everybody needs to vote.’’