Despite my being clinically depressed by the election results, I did come away from Nov. 4 with an enriching experience having served as a poll worker at the Titusville Fire House voting site.
Yes, I was one of those anonymous faces who directs voters through the process. It’s good to do something new.
Before serving, I attended a three-hour training session at the Mercer County Board of Elections building next to the Trenton Farmers Market. Much of the instruction was devoted to minutiae regarding what to do if something extraordinary occurred.
The hardest part seemed to be assembling the voting booths and ballot scanners involving wires, plugs and breaking seals.
A week later, I endured a two-hour online refresher where key points were reviewed followed by quizzes to make sure I was paying attention.
While I could have signed up for a full 16-hour day from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., I decided that a half shift, from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., would be long enough. Anything more might have taxed both my stamina and patience.
Remarkably, when it came time to actually work at the polls, everything turned out to be so much simpler than expected. Most important, there were experienced folks present to assist with what was a relatively uncomplicated process.
When Election Day arrived, I set the alarm for 4 a.m. I expected to be exhausted, but was surprisingly invigorated and didn’t fall asleep once during my shift.
The Titusville Fire House is located a few blocks away from where I lived for over 40 years. Consequently, the scene was almost a reunion, as I found myself encountering former neighbors, former colleagues, and even former students. Who knew I knew so many people.
After deftly assembling the voting equipment, we were ready when voters began arriving at 6 a.m. There was almost a rhythm to the wave of voters. The working crowd came in at 6 a.m., followed by a lull until early morning voters arrived around 9. Around 11 a.m., the place was mobbed, with a line winding around the large room. Then, at 1 p.m., there was no one. Lunch time? If you can intuit people’s life rhythms, it’s possible to vote without ever standing in line.
Many voters thanked me for volunteering. I, of course, contradicted them. You actually get paid quite well for performing this civic duty: $150 for half a day and $300 for a full day. That’s enough for several Happy Meals or, even better, a few cases of craft IPAs.
Compare poll worker pay to jury duty, where petit jurors get a mere $5 per day for the first three days, and $40 per day after that, while grand jurors get $5 per day.
The biggest challenge presented at the polling site was assisting the elderly and infirm. Folks in wheelchairs or using canes had trouble maneuvering into voting booths. Some couldn’t see the ballot on the screen.
Many voters arrived with their entire families, including babies who were not always enthusiastic about accompanying their parents into the voting booth. Some of those babies were crybabies.
Practically all voters were confused about how to insert their ballots into the scanner. Any old way works, but most folks didn’t realize that. Perhaps advice on how to stick the ballot into the slot should be included with the sample ballot to avoid such puzzlement.
One surprise was the number of provisional ballots that needed to be dealt with. Almost all such ballots were for folks who were registered to vote by mail but didn’t realize that and showed up in person. They got to use the voting booths but then had to insert their ballots into a special envelope, seal it, and put the packet into a sealed yellow bag. Didn’t you always want to know that?
One bit of irritation was a finicky card reader in one of the voting booths. I often had to slide the card into the slot multiple times before I could enter the district code that open up the screen for each voter.
With great foresight, I prepared for my time at the polls by packing a mug of coffee and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The coffee went quickly, and I had to wait for a lull to run out to the car and wolf down the sandwich, which left me very thirsty.
Unfortunately, every water source in the Titusville firehouse was wrapped in blue tape and labeled “nonpotable.” Apparently, the water contained an elevated level of PFOS, the forever chemicals. I heard there was a refrigerator full of beer, but I resisted the temptation.
Now that I am trained to be a poll worker, my next plan is to train to be a pole dancer.
,
