CHARLESTON -- On Aug. 28, Mason County Clerk Diana Cromley will attempt the impossible: to be in two places at once.

The special primary election to choose nominees for Robert Byrd's vacant Senate seat is on Aug. 28, as is her son's wedding day.

And so Cromley will perform an immense juggling act, balancing her Election Day duties with those bestowed upon the mother of the groom.

She would be busy on any Election Day, but, as she said, "Of course, I do need to be present for the wedding."

She has become very grateful that her office is only three blocks from the church where the ceremony is being held, so she doesn't have far to travel between the two.

She's also grateful for cell phones so she'll "only be a call away," and that the ballot will be a short one, so voters can "get in and out" without holding up the process.

With all this working in her favor, Cromley is confident she and her staff are up to the task.

"At least it's a lot less involved being the mother of the groom than the mother of the bride," she said. "So I think I can handle it."

She plans to attend the wedding at 5:30 p.m. and be back to work at 7:30 p.m. when the polls close.

The evening before also will be a challenge as she tries to navigate the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner and do much of the work to prepare for the election.

When her daughter was married a few months ago, she was able to convince her to schedule the ceremony around the May 11 primary election.

This time around, she didn't have that luxury. But she doesn't begrudge the election, saying the unexpected special election is just part of the political process.

"When you have an election you have to turn around this quickly, there will be obstacles," she said. "We're going to make it work."

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