The alarm went of at 4:15am, I had to be at the polling site at 5:30am to help prepare the location for the over 1400 registered voters in our precinct. Having received a half day training course at University Square, I had a basic idea of what was ahead but I was not yet fully aware how much work goes into making sure our elections are fair, orderly and precise.

Setting Up The Polling Site

With the skies still dark, the 12 people at our site assembled and set up the signage, 5 voting machines, the voter check-in station and took the following oath:

“We do solemnly swear that we will conduct this election according to law and will allow no person to vote who is not entitled by law to vote in this election, and we will not unlawfully assist any voter to prepare his ballot and will not advise any voter as to how he should vote at this election.”

Throughout the day, my thoughts went back to this oath as we assisted voters with voting machines questions, precinct questions and registration issues. To insure fairness, no voter was ever addressed alone. Two members were always present when assisting voters and our answers only dealt with process, never about candidates.

The Poll Clerk Was Invaluable

For 99% of voters, the process is an easy exercise. You check-in, validate your information, receive a ballot and vote. But for a few voters, extra steps are needed to qualify the voter and enable them to cast a vote. This is where the Poll Clerk or lead poll manager is invaluable. Our Poll Clerk has worked the polls at over 20 elections and was well versed in the procedures needed to validate voters for whom the basic process is not enough.
These include:

• Persons whose information was not found in the registration database
• Persons that recently moved
• People who had not voted in recent years

I watched as our Poll Clerk used the phone for sometimes over an hour per case, working through each individual’s situation to make the best attempt to get that person in a position where they could cast a vote. Again, none of this was done in a political manner, every interaction was about facilitating the voting process.

Vote Security is Paramount

Having never worked at a poll, I had just taken for granted that our voting process is secure. While that point is true, I did not realize the many procedures in place to insure that the election process is fair and accurate:

• All voting machines are locked and secured. If machines are opened and seals broken, several poll workers are present and seals are recorded and kept for validation
• The first voter of the day verifies that no ballots have been cast before casting their vote at the precinct
• No ballots are allowed to leave the precinct. The single exit is manned by two poll workers at all times.
• Ballots are scanned by the voter and kept in a locked bin throughout the day.
• Unused ballots, spoiled ballots and provisional ballots are kept in a secure location and are counted at the end of the day. All ballots must be accounted for before poll workers can leave for the day.

Closing the Poll

At 7pm, our precinct closed but the work was not over. As mentioned, all ballots had to be secured, unused ballots had to be counted and the polling place had to be dis-assembled. This process was not quick and pains were taken again to make sure everything was correctly recorded but by 8:15 we were done. It had been a long day and for our Poll Clerk, another 2-3 hours of work lay ahead as she transferred the completed ballots across town to counted.

I know that our election process is not perfect and not everyone is going to be happen with the outcomes. However, after seeing the vote firsthand, I am extremely confident that our election process is secure and accurately reflects the voices of the American voter.

Someone asked if I would work the polls again. It is a long day but I think I will be back.