Dyatt (prono: d’WHY-et) Smathers is the secretary and certified election official of the Madison County Board of Elections. He’s a life long Republican and has lived in Madison County for the past 50 years. We meet at the Wagon Wheel, a restaurant off the highway just outside of Marshall. You can smell the bacon from the parking lot, and the restaurant is jam packed. Dyatt greets me, and guides me to a table towards the back. He hopes it will be quieter back there.

The coffee flows. The wait staff are super sweet. “Honey, another coffee?” And then a few minutes later, “do you want more coffee?” It was quite a lovely place to on a Saturday morning in August. ...

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