Hens Lay Eggs

food for thought

A little bit from behind the election scenes

As of posting, this article goes live a week after the general election in the USA, but I wrote it the day after the election. More specifically, I wrote it the day following my first experience as a poll worker or, in more correct parlance, a precinct election official.

The work began the night before, setting up tables, privacy screens, social distancing markers, and some indoor signage. Nothing was permitted until election day. Election day for me began at 4:15 AM. That’s too early for anything but an emergency involving blood. All poll workers were on the job by 5:30 AM. We had one hour to set up the electronic poll books, ballot scanners, outdoor signage, and everything else before the voting team manager announced, “The polls are open!”

People were already lined up  and waiting to vote. A long line. A very long line. One of the early morning arrivals was our first curbside voter. That didn’t go smoothly, because Murphy’s Law struck that day. If anything could go wrong, it did. Equipment malfunctioned. One of the scanners kept jamming and eventually had to be replaced. Lucky for us, we had two scanners, so voters could still submit their ballots. Poorly cut perforations on ballots led to irregular tearing instead of cleanly separated ballot stubs. Outdated, incomplete, conflicting, and confusing instruction manuals didn’t help. And the problems continued through the end of the day. The manager spent a lot of time on the phone with the Board of Elections to get those problems ironed out.

When technology works, it’s great. When it doesn’t, it really fouls things up.

We were busy. Morning was a madhouse with poll workers doing their utmost to process all eligible voters in an efficient, timely manner. I started as a greeter, then helped out at that ballot stub table and scanners, then relieved a worker at the voter check-in table which was where I spent the rest of the day. The manager who had served at that precinct before stated she’d never seen it so busy. Breaks, when we took them, were short: a few minutes here and there. We had no “extra” staff, so anyone taking a break had to ask someone else to do double duty during his or her absence. 

I must say I was proud of my fellow citizens. I neither heard about nor witnessed any untoward behavior. People exercised courtesy and common sense. Those affected by equipment malfunctions maintained their composure and realized that we were doing our very best to help them to make sure their ballots were counted. Only a couple of times did I see someone need to be reminded that politically themed clothing was prohibited within the neutral zone of voting. One man took off his hat and one woman removed her mask. We provided her with another mask to comply with current health policy. Most people donned masks in observance of public health mandates. I know of no shouting matches, threats, or fisticuffs between politically opposed fanatics.

At the voter check-in table, I encountered a few people who announced that they were first-time voters. None of them were youngsters, so that indicated the passion surrounding this election motivated them to vote. A couple of others who registered to vote a decade or so ago but never voted had fallen off the roles of registered voters and, thus, were not eligible to vote. Lesson learned, people: if you want to vote, then you must register to vote and exercise that right on a fairly consistent basis. A few young women had married and needed to bring with them legal documentation (like a marriage license) showing their changes of name.

It’s always harder for women. To get the in-country “passport” driver’s license for air travel, women have to provide copies of legal documentation showing name changes, marital status, etc. Heck, a woman might as well just get a passport and carry that with her when she travels by airplane, because the passport driver’s license isn’t sufficient when actually traveling out of the country.

No one complained about having to show identification. I know not every state requires voters to show their ID, but Ohio does. Most people just presented their driver’s licenses, but a few opted for other forms of acceptable identification. One man presented his CCW permit, one woman her military ID, and a couple of folks presented utility bills or bank statements.

I’ll tell you what I did not see: any of the fearmongering behavior saturating social media with respect to qualification of voters or ballots. We did not ask for political affiliation. We did not mark on any ballots, except when the voter requested it be soiled and discarded and replaced with a new ballot. We did not advise any voter as for whom they should or should not vote.

Every precinct election official maintained a pleasant demeanor and was scrupulous in observing neutrality and civility. We made sure to keep every voter’s ballot confidential. We did our utmost to serve every single person fairly and without discrimination while protecting the integrity of the process. This direct experience makes me wonder about the reports, false or not, coming from places where crowds of “protestors” are trying to disqualify ballots or where there are more ballots counted than voters. I cannot help but assume that such unacceptable behavior and discrepancies are perpetrated by people other than election workers who are merely citizens engaging in what they see as a civic duty to serve as best they can.

We did not get the expected crowd of people rushing in after work to vote before the polls closed. That surprised us. The last hour dragged, but the rest of the day passed quickly–one of the benefits of being busy-busy-busy.

Breaking down the polls after they closed and putting everything away took longer than it should have, mainly due to inconsistent, incomplete, confusing, and outdated instructions. We followed the protocols put in place for impartial, bipartisan witness to ensure that every eligible voter could vote, that all ballots were treated with confidentiality, that no one voted more than once. Yesterday’s coworkers worked hard and they upheld the ideals of our democratic election process. We did our best to avoid even the semblance of untoward behavior that fearmongering posts on social media warned against, such as poll workers deliberately marring ballots so they wouldn’t count. Regardless of political affiliation, everyone treated everyone else with respect.

Will I again work as a precinct election official? I don’t know. I’m still exhausted. My back hurt by Tuesday afternoon. Yet, it wasn’t a bad experience; I’d say it was a good experience overall.

As for the aftermath? I just hope that the political trash talk will go away. It hasn’t yet. My news feed is still flooded with “orange man bad” and other nasty sound bites spewing garbage vilifying those of any or either political persuasion. Of course, I hope that the candidate for whom I voted won, as does everyone else. However, as the meme goes, if the opposition wins, I will still do the things I normally do. If the opposition loses, I’ll do the same. Disappointment and disagreement do not justify rioting, looting, and the destruction of property, lives, or reputations.

Daughter of the Deepwood #MFRWhooks

November Book Of The Month 
nBook 2 in the Twin Moons Saga

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nPicturen

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nLifetime imprisonment for an immortal doesn’t bear consideration. As cold iron burns his skin and dampens his magic, fae captain Falco wrenches power and freedom from the broken body of another prisoner—a witchbreed female—tossed into his cell to make room for a new harvest of criminals. Honor and obligation mandate that he not abandon her.
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nUnable to heal her extensive injuries, he takes the dying witchbreed to the heart of the Great Forest where the most ancient magic lives. His plea granted, the woman is remade of a blend of his blood, her flesh, and deep magic. Bound by his debt, Falco takes Calista as his mate when he returns home to Froúrio Daimónafae, a sentient fortress-city carved from a mountain. Although he regrets his intended fae mate’s anger, his increasing affection and desire for his witchbreed mate surprise him.
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nLost in a foreign culture, spurned by the fae, her body unfamiliar to her, and unable to believe in Falco’s professed affections, Calista makes her own destiny and realizes the fate of an unfriendly nation rests upon her shoulders.n

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5 Star Review by JS “Magical!” 

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n”As in book one you are thrown into a World of Magic filled with unicorns, dragons and their Riders, and houses that are alive… I think I enjoyed this book more than book 1. By the end of this book and all it’s twist and turns. I noticed I was holding my breath because of its fast pace.. my hands cramped because I was holding my tablet so hard…” n

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Excerpt

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n“I am beyond healing,” she said. “Let me die.” 
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n“No,” he growled and the power in his soul flared brightly. “You can be healed, and I will not let you die.”
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n“I cannot remove the manacles.”
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n“You won’t have to,” he whispered and dreaded what he must do. “Are you still bleeding?”
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nShe twitched. “Yes, but—”
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n“Where?” he demanded.
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n​Terror wiped all expression from her dirty face. She closed her eyes and sank into whatever dark place she went when the horror and disappointment of her circumstances grew too much to bear.n

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Exercise your civic obligation: Vote!

I will be out of the office all day, Tuesday, November 3, 2020. My work day will last from 5:30 AM to 8:30 PM. No, it’s not a conference, although I’ve kept such hours (and longer) working at conferences. I will be serving as an election precinct official on election day.

I’ve taken the training. I’m committed. I do not feel prepared.

Just as a reminder to everyone in Ohio who will be voting:

  • Curbside voting is available to those who, for whatever reason, want to vote in person and cannot or will not enter the voting area. Curbside voting will involve the assistance of two election precinct officials–one Democrat and one Republican–to ensure all proceeds as is proper.
  • It is illegal to engage in electioneering or politicking within 100 feet of the voting area. The designated neutral zone will be marked. Electioneering and politicking include, but is not limited to, wearing clothing or accessories supporting a political party or candidate, handing out political literature, or verbally expressing political views. In other words, keep your conversation to nonpolitical topics and dress for fashion/comfort, not political expression.
  • Due to government mandates, all who enter the voting premises must wear a mask to inhibit the spread of COVID-19. Apparently, it’s not an issue if you spread influenza, pink eye, anthrax, polio, typhoid, cholera, or bubonic plague. Egad.

Regardless of my political views, all citizens have a right to vote and I urge all citizens to exercise that right. Vote once. No one gets multiple votes. If you cannot remember whether you voted (early voting, by mail, or if you requested a mail-in ballot), then you may vote a provisional ballot which will be counted after the Board of Elections has determined whether you already voted.

Once the election concludes, I dearly hope the fear mongering, vitriol, and general ugliness incited and exacerbated by the media–that includes Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn–will settle. I’m tired of it and I’m sure you are, too.

I’m not going to use this forum to express my own political views. Nothing I say will convince you if you hold different political leanings and I don’t necessarily care to preach to the choir. All I ask is that you consider the ramifications of your vote. I especially urge women to vote. From H. G. Cattel’s argument to support women’s suffrage presented to the House of Representatives in 2011: “‘Consent of the governed’ means women as well as men; for they are subject to government as well as men.”

If you fail to vote, then consider this: The fewer people who vote, the more influential each person’s vote is. My mother, whose politics oppose mine, takes a surprisingly hard line on the exercise of the right to vote. In her words, “If you don’t vote, then you have no right to complain.”

It’s that simple. Your failure to exercise your right to affect the future of our nation does not give you the right to gripe if your favored candidate loses, because it might have been your vote that tipped the scales in that candidate’s favor. You’ll never know.

Every word counts. So does every vote.















Author

Hard boiled, scrambled, over easy, and sunny side up: eggs are the musings of Holly Bargo, the pseudonym for the author.

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