Intro, Working the Polls

Few experiences are more tiring than being an election judge. You start work at 5:45 a.m. which means waking up even earlier—which also means a crappy night’s sleep. Then, after hasty, groggy introductions, you then have to work cooperatively with others, some of an opposing party or ideology, for the next 16 hours.

Hours!

I didn’t get home, riding my bike in the dark along roads where the deer jump out to scar the pants off every driver/rider, until 10:30 pm. But, it wasn’t all bad. I actually had several moments that I count as victory and even profound in the emotions they provoked. In addition, I worked with an outstanding group of people.

My experience voting and working the polls goes back to the first election I voted in as someone entering adulthood: 1980, Carter vs Reagan. In 2000 in hopes of scrapping enough money together for an international family trip, my husband and I signed up to work the polls down the street—that was Gore vs Bush Jr. No sleepy national election by any description. Now they all seem high stakes. That particular election was too close to call. And, the lines that morning were out the door. My baptism of election judging was by fire.

And food. The all-day nibbling to stay awake. Catching a bite in the in between, the lulls.

Yesterday here in Michigan was the same. At times long lines, then brief moments to regroup, before more voters poured in. I’d signed up accidentally to be a judge in Michigan when I went to register to vote. I picked up the wrong application and when I realized my mistake I hesitated before turning in both applications. You see, after 2020 and all the controversy and accusations of voter fraud and seeing how polling people were viewed as either obstructers or partisans (neither has ever been my experience or observation) I knew that going forward election workers were going to be treated as volleyballs—folks to be batted around, back and forth, libeled and yelled at, threatened, but very instrumental to the game. In some places the rules changed, got stricter or looser—but, always, the process was going to be scrutinized. Whereas before: it just was. You voted then came home and turned on the TV to catch the results.

Somehow along the way skepticism of the whole thing brought greater doubt and rancor, more volatility into the act of casting a vote. Hey! I’m from Chicago, the home of machine politics, party ticket, voting a “straight” ballot. The usual choices were Democrat or sort of Democrat and didn’t involve other parties, per say.

In the next couple of posts I will lay out what I saw and felt yesterday, August 2, working the polls in Michigan.

from worldwide web, stock photo