It’s true! I got a button and a parking pass and a bunch of training. I am now ready to help Alexandrians (at my precinct) vote.
My first impression of training was “wow, I’m not the youngest person here.” I usually think of civic minded retirees when I think of poll workers (because that’s been my experience), but the group was very diverse on age and race.
I learned a bunch of interesting tidbits that I’ll try and relate here. If I mess anything up, I’ll fix it when I get home to my notes.
General Stuff:
- The City of Alexandria increased it’s staff of election officials by 50% for November 4.
- If a voter comes to the polls with a shirt/button/hat/sandwich board endorsing a candidate or issue, we are to quietly ask them to remove the item.
- There will be no topless voting. We will have ponchos to lend to voters in the event that need to cover up a “political” shirt. Man, I hope no one shows up in a “Vote for Pedro” t shirt.
- We have to bring our own food, and the precinct chief will let us know what facilities are available for breaks (microwaves, etc), before election day.
- It’s going to be a VERY long day. Polls open at 6am, we need to be there to prepare at 5am. Polls close at 7pm, but that is just when they close the LINE to vote. Depending on how long the wait is, we might not tally the ballots until 9pm or 10pm, and then we have to pack it all up.
- I might take November 5 off too…
Voting Machines
- All of the city’s eslate voting machines will be used next Tuesday
- Over 50,000 emergency paper ballots have been printed, and more can be produced very quickly if deemed necessary
- In the four years of using the eslate machines, they have never needed the emergency paper ballots
- Feedback from local handicapped voters is very favorable towards the eslate machines
- Do NOT hit the “Cast Ballot” button until you have completely finished voting. There are no second chances after hitting that button.
- The eslate has some definite heft to it…
After the introductions by the members of the Electoral Board, and a short eslate demo, we broke into small groups and practiced giving demos on the machine. We did that for a little bit, then we moved to a different area to learn how to check in voters with the poll books.
Interesting factoids:
- The stuff they ask you is scripted for the entire Commonwealth. “Please state your full legal name,” “What is your legal address,” and “May I please see your ID,” all come from a script.
- If any problems arise, we send that person to the precinct chief. He or she will take care of it and escort the voter to the front of the line at the registration table once things are cleared up.
- Potential issues include: registered address is different from stated address, voter isn’t in our log book, challenges from poll monitors or other poll workers.
- Poll monitors are NOT allowed to touch the registration desk or interfere in any way.
- Use your judgment, but get people through the line!
All in all, Tuesday will be a very exciting, very exhausting day, and I’m really looking forward to it. But if can, do me (and yourself) a favor, VOTE EARLY!
