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apkhgp

(1,068 posts)
Sun Nov 8, 2020, 09:10 PM Nov 2020

POLL WORKERS

I would like to take this time to thank all of the poll workers out there that are counting all of the votes cast in this election.

In an ordinary election you count the votes and a winner can be projected by that night. This ensures that our democracy is protected. For ballots that are too close to call it takes awhile. As evidenced in several States with this election.

Add to this the Pandemic which made massive numbers of citizens mail in there ballots and the turmoil stirred up by 45 and you get a volatile situation.

Poll workers need to be escorted by police to and from their cars when they are not in the buildings housing the counting machines.

GIVE ME A BREAK

IT HAS COME TO THIS IN THE WORLD'S GREATEST NATION.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
6. There was a mother-daughter team in the precinct I was observing.
Sun Nov 8, 2020, 09:31 PM
Nov 2020

My guess is the daughter was early college.

Maeve

(42,223 posts)
2. Few of us in my precinct this year were experienced
Sun Nov 8, 2020, 09:19 PM
Nov 2020

But for those most part they were well trained.

And at the end of the day several noted how confident they were in the process having been part of it. People who see it up close understand how hard it is to play the games the Beast accuses us of doing.

rustysgurl

(1,040 posts)
5. My sister is a poll worker in Maricopa County, AZ
Sun Nov 8, 2020, 09:28 PM
Nov 2020

To say it has been crazy there is an understatement. I worry about her every day, but she checks in nightly to let me know all is well (thus far). She is confident in the local authorities' ability to protect them all, and looks forward to the day this is all over. I asked her about a recount, but she didn't want to even consider it right now. She is exhausted, as are many around her. Hell even the election workers who came down to collect their pay were hassled until the sheriff's department stepped in.

BumRushDaShow

(127,251 posts)
7. Here in Philly, the response to a call for election day poll workers was off the charts...
Sun Nov 8, 2020, 09:31 PM
Nov 2020

literally...

People are volunteering to be poll workers in record numbers in Philly and the suburbs

by Oona Goodin-Smith and Jonathan Lai, Posted: October 19, 2020


Across the state, huge numbers of Pennsylvanians — many of them younger and first-time poll workers — have enlisted to check in voters on Election Day, set up voting machines, and troubleshoot problems. So many thousands of applicants have signed up in Philadelphia and its suburban counties that elections officials are in the unusual position of having a surplus. Elections officials have long worried about the ability to staff the polls during elections, describing the shortage of poll workers as a crisis and trying to find new sources of workers. But this year, the number of volunteers is staggering, and officials are racing just to keep up.

(snip)

Nationwide, pleas for poll workers have been desperate given fears of a coronavirus-driven shortage. Groups like Power the Polls have sponsored ads on social media and sent mass automated text messages, encouraging a younger generation to volunteer. Typically, poll workers tend to be older (58% in 2018 were over the age of 61, according to Pew Research Center), a population at greater risk from COVID-19. And leading up to a presidential election in a public health crisis, officials feared for the worst.

But across Pennsylvania, the recruiting efforts have paid off. In Philadelphia, more than 20,000 people answered the call for 8,500 poll worker positions, said Omar Sabir, one of the three city commissioners who run local elections. Bucks County received “several hundred more than needed,” according to county spokesperson Larry King. And polling places in Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Counties will be well staffed, too, officials said.

“Amid the chaos and terrible things this year, this response has been a total bright spot,” said Lauren Cristella, chief advancement officer at the Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan, good-government group. “It’s really heartwarming to see some people stepping up.”

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/poll-workers-volunteers-philadelphia-suburbs-20201019.html

no_hypocrisy

(45,759 posts)
9. I was a poll worker in a small town.
Sun Nov 8, 2020, 10:12 PM
Nov 2020

Only four of us processed 300+ voters between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.

What we didn't count on: in NJ, only disabled voters were allowed to use the voting machines, which we set up. All registered voters were mailed ballots and instructions how to mail back or put in the various municipal drop boxes. Not every voter (obviously) voted that way. About 95% of voters came in and filled out provisional ballots, thinking they could vote by machine. We ended up first identifying the voters as registered. Then we gave a quick tutorial of explaining the list of candidates and how to effectively make choices and the other side with the ballot questions. Some of them took 30+ minutes to finish. Now here's where I believe we were most important: the ballots had to go inside envelopes before they were sealed and put in a special bag. There were 11 items on the envelope (e.g., name, address, are you over 18, a citizen of the U.S., etc.). Not only did I go over each item, explaining what some items were, but I had each voter bring back his/her envelope for me to review as quality control. Why: Because if even one box wasn't "checked" or information not given (e.g., municipality), the ballot would be immediately discarded and the ballot not processed. IOW, we made sure that each ballot would be processed by taking the time to check each one's envelope. It was time consuming.

I worked from 5:15 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Tuesday with two bathroom breaks and a five minute lunch. We were so busy that none of us took the hour lunch we were entitled to take. It had to be the busiest Election Day I ever worked.

The only voter we turned away was a woman who insisted on voting despite the facts that she wasn't in The Book and she admitted that she wasn't registered to vote. Her rationale: the sign outside said that nobody would be refused the right to vote. And yes, she came in at one minute before Closing Time and she was shouting and getting hysterical.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
11. My daughter's voting center did 1200 votes
Sun Nov 8, 2020, 10:40 PM
Nov 2020

This is tough work. Back before countywide voting when we had precinct voting, she processed 1400 voters. She was there until 9 PM and ended up being the marker at the end of the lie for her.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
10. In Texas, the head election jduge is based on who won the last governor's race
Sun Nov 8, 2020, 10:38 PM
Nov 2020

Lupe lost by less than 500 votes in 2018 and so the head election judge was a republican and my youngest was the Democatic judge. It was a 14 hour day and now we are self quarantining at my house



So far it has not been too big of an issue other than I caught my puppy trying to get one of my masks
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