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By Alex Newman
This was my first presidential election. Well, not my first…I was an active watcher of the last two presidential elections, but this was the first time that I actually had the opportunity to vote. However, merely popping my absentee ballot into the mailbox and then watching everything on TV did not seem to be enough for me…I wanted to see democracy first hand on the historic night of November 4th, 2008.
My friend and I decided in August that we would work as a ballot transport team for Pierce County on election night. Our first job was to relieve the workers at our polling place until the polls closed. Then we responsible for ensuring the secure transportation of the voted ballots from the polling place to the election center. During training, they told us we would probably be home by 2 a.m. – ha, the optimism.
When we first arrived at the church at 6 p.m., the voter turn-out was still fantastically high. As were the emotions. Lines ran anywhere from one to six hours long. The poll workers had already been there for 12 hours, so, despite the fact that they were obviously glad to be there, they were even more ecstatic to see us come relieve them.
In working the polls, I came to appreciate the people who brought their voter cards, rather than just a regular ID. It makes it so much easier to find the right name in the poll book. However, for those of you who recently had a name change or registered under a variant of your name – know that you are the poll worker’s worst enemy.
After the polls closed, we started getting to the real work. One of my colleagues gave us a drill to “deface” all the unused ballots. The bit was a half-centimeter wide and our stack of ballots was at least two feet thick. Poor little drill, it didn’t have a chance. We had to call in reinforcements with a stronger battery and a much bigger bit. You gotta love them power tools.
By 10 p.m., it was time to break down the voting machine and open the ballot box. Before I could even THINK about touching the latch, one of my co-workers began shouting joyously, “McCain conceded! Obama won!” My friend raised an eyebrow. We both looked at the ballot box, still locked and holding uncounted ballots. I laughed.
Feeling very unnecessary, we sorted, counted, and packed up the voted ballots, and then headed to the election center. The room was filled with people, desks, and mountains of ballots. Here, we would count all the ballots in a stack, and then check them for rips, folds, incorrect markings, and write-ins.
I’ve discovered that some people use the “write-in” box to show off their sense of humor. If you truly want to amuse a poll worker, you might score points for originality. I’m certain that many voters thought writing “Mickey Mouse” would get a chuckle, but, honestly, Mickey got more votes than Ralph Nader. While some ballots were scrutinized due to the questionable existence of their nominees, Bruce Lee was only ruled out due to an availability problem. Thus, Bugs Bunny came in close second, nearly tied with Chuck Norris, who was nominated for County Sheriff.
We emerged from the election center at 4:30 a.m., eyes buggy and hands chapped. My friend’s middle finger suffered a large paper cut. My tongue had developed a fork in it from swearing at all the idiots who couldn’t figure out how to properly connect an arrow.
However, if I hadn’t worked that crazy, exciting Tuesday night, I never would have known just how much I appreciate our electoral system and the people who sacrifice themselves, their sleep, and their sanity to make it all work. Young people of America, your help is needed more than you know.