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A Poll Worker’s Diary
Jon Wergin
PH News
Writer
9:30 am on Election Day, 2004, and I’ve just
returned from a two-hour stint as poll worker for the Kerry-Edwards ticket
at my local precinct, a Baptist church at Grove & Meadow Streets. Here’s
how it went.
6:55 am:
I arrive shortly after sunrise and already the sidewalk is crowded with
people. Election posters are all over the place, and partisans are
everywhere. There’s also a camera crew from Channel 6. I meet my precinct
captain, paste a Kerry/Edwards sticker on my blazer, and pick up a stack of
“sample ballots” to hand out to voters. I’m told that by law I have to stay
at least 40 feet from the entrance to the building. I look around and
notice something very odd: there are no Republican supporters anywhere!
Nobody handing out Republican literature, not even any Bush/Cheney signs.
Just Democrats: Kerry supporters, Wilder supporters, Pantele supporters. I
ask about this, and am told that since the Fan typically votes more than 2:1
Democratic, the Republicans figure they’re better off energizing their base
in places like the West End and Chesterfield County. I have mixed feelings
about this. On the one hand, it feels good to be in such a sympathetic
crowd; but on the other, I kind of wish I had some Bush supporters around to
needle and compete with.
7:15 am:
People are really beginning to pile up. There’s no doubt that predictions
of a heavy voter turnout will come true. A smarmy Tom Benedetti,
Republican fund raiser running for City Council, makes a brief appearance.
Pantele supporters give him a dirty look. Charles Nance, who’s running for
mayor, also shows up to vote – this is his district – and sticks around to
shake hands with everybody. He seems like a pretty good guy.
7:20 am:
I talk with a guy named Don Edwards, an attorney from Washington, DC. He’s
a volunteer with the Legal Voting Rights Team, a Democrat-funded group
making sure that voters aren’t intimidated by anyone. He’s planning to be
at this precinct all day, handing out literature to first-time voters
informing them of their rights. This is great. We talk about all the legal
challenges the Republicans are using to disenfranchise young voters and
people of color. Don says he volunteered to go to Ohio if necessary, and
wishes he had, because he feels he could be more useful there.
7:30 am:
The line of people waiting to vote is getting huge, snaking out the door and
down the alley. Those returning from voting say it’s taken them more than
30 minutes to get to the head of the line. No one seems deterred, however;
it looks like people have expected the wait and they handle it gracefully.
Real democracy in action.
7:40 am:
Things are really in full swing now. I almost feel sorry for the people
arriving to vote, as we all descend on them like a swarm of locusts. But
few seem to mind, as most intend to vote for Kerry anyway. It’s easy to
pick out the Bush people: they’re the ones who stare straight ahead, make a
beeline for the door and, when approached, say, “I have my mind made up!”
OK, fine. I notice that several people have figured out how to avoid
running the gauntlet of poll workers by coming in the back way through the
alley – or, in the case of one voter, cutting through the back yard of a
neighboring house.
8:00 am:
Another Kerry poll worker, Barbara, shows up for duty. She’s wearing a
button that says, “Join the MOB: Mothers Opposed to Bush!” I love it.
8:30 am:
The line down the alley has melted away and so the crush seems to be over,
at least for now. I take a little break and talk with a guy named Bob who’s
supporting the Libertarian candidate for president, Michael Badnarik.
Libertarians believe that people should be left alone without any
interference from the government. Bob looks the part: he’s a big bear of a
man with long gray hair and a full beard. He’s very friendly. I tell him
that while I can’t support his candidate I do respect the Libertarians for
at least being consistent. He tells me his candidate will get more votes
than Nader today, even though Nader has gotten more media attention. Why?
Because, he says, the Democrat-controlled media think that Nader is a threat
to Kerry – and so needs to be neutralized – while they see Badnarik as more
of a threat to Bush and so have left him alone. Interesting theory.
8:50 am:
We’re seeing a fairly steady stream of people now. I decide that I might as
well go ahead and vote, so I wish Barbara and the other Democratic
supporters well and head inside. There’s about a 20-minute wait and as I
stand there I think about how lucky we are that we’re able to do this.
Exercising the right to vote is a humbling, even moving experience. I’ve
spent so much time during this campaign feeling disgusted about presidential
politics in general and the Bush campaign in particular, it feels good to be
a little less cynical, at least for a while.
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