One woman, one vote - Part I

When I tried to vote in the Democratic Primary this past April, I was unsuccessful. Not because I am not a registered Democrat (I am) or that I didn't vote in time, fill out my ballot correctly, or anything that would reasonably disqualify me from voting. My vote was not counted because even though I went to the voting location indicated as the correct one on the New York City Board of Elections website, it turned out that it was not, after all, the correct location. In that controversially administered primary, many people complained that they were not allowed to cast their ballot despite being properly registered voters for various reasons. I was surprised that I did not (a) get a notice to vote and (b) my voting location indicated on the website was not my regular polling location. Nonetheless, as a good (new) citizen and enthusiastic voter, I wanted to cast my ballot in a primary that, for once, mattered to some degree. I figured the primary may be held at a different site than the general election. As New Yorkers, we rarely get to enjoy the feeling of a vote cast that makes a difference one way or another. As a voter, I was sad that when I showed up at 7 am to vote, all I found was confusion, disorganization, and, ultimately, an inability to cast a vote that counted.

I was not on the list of voters so I cast my vote by affidavit. I got a letter from the New York City Board of  Elections a few weeks later that my vote was not counted because I went to the wrong polling site. I knew it would not matter the moment I filled out the affidavit, but I thought, surely, a properly registered voter, casting a vote should have her vote counted even if it was cast a few blocks away from where she was supposed to be - especially if the system itself directed her to go there!
I couldn't make sense of such a ridiculous disenfranchisement tactic. And, unlike some of the Bernie bros, I didn't think this was malicious or directed against Bernie voters. I just had the feeling that the entire New York City Board of Elections including the primary systems are run by incompetent people on archaic systems designed to make it "really hard to vote," as President Obaman had said.  

So I decided to sign up to be a NYC election worker to study the system up close. Tomorrow, I get my wish.

Being a poll worker is a paid position. If you attend the required training session (takes about 5 hours), pass the exam and work one day as a poll worker on a primary or election day you get $200. The hours on polling day are brutal: you must show up at 5 am and stay until all votes are counted (which may be 10 pm or later) with two one-hour breaks that you may or may not be able to take. You must bring your own food and snacks (nothing smelly or disgusting, as per the training manual) and they don't reimburse you for travel expenses. That comes to about $10/hour before taxes if you are lucky and everything runs smoothly (which is unlikely).

I  had my training in August. The trainers were a diverse group of friendly-but-firm middle-aged men wearing suits that had seen better days. Fifty or so people attended the session that day. Many women, mostly minorities, and generally people who didn't seem to have much in the way of reliable and secure financial resources. A couple of crazies also attended. One older lady (a Trump supporter?) periodically stood up to yell at the trainers for lying and rigging the system and unfairly shutting her up...then dramatically threatened to leave without ever actually leaving. An old man next to me fell asleep several times with his head resting on his walker and as soon as his snoring became too loud, he got reprimanded by the lady who minded the room.

The session reinforced that the system is really archaic; a lot of time and effort was spent on showing how to close plastic wires locking voting machines, how to put up signage around the room and in what order and how to find accurate election districts in a big book of addresses.  As for when to hand out affidavit ballots: "Try to avoid that because those are never counted," the trainer said, "Just don't tell anyone I told you that," he sheepishly added. So it's interesting that the media made such a big thing of the fact that a Federal Judge ordered that the "New York City Board of Elections must provide affidavit ballots to all voters who believe they are registered to vote but whose names do not appear on the registration rolls." 

Tomorrow morning, I will represent the New York City Board of Elections and I am slightly apprehensive that I might well become one of those poor employees running around like headless chickens fighting the good fight within the archaic system. Fingers crossed, my "coordinator" - the polling site chief- will be a somewhat competent and decent person and things will be more up to date than during the primary. (In any case, I got a bucket of cookies  hoping to endear myself to my fellow poll workers.) 

Getting up at 4:00 will be tough and I envision sitting there at 11 pm counting  ballots with the election having been called for Hillary hours before due to Trump getting shellacked...but that wouldn't be such a bad thing, in the end!

To be continued...