A Final 2008 Election Thought: A Note From a First Time Poll Worker

[We here at Johnny California received this very moving note written on election night by a first time poll worker].

I am an election clerk. I am recently retired and now have the time for civic participation. However, I had simply no idea how deeply I would be affected by this work. I am exhausted, exhilarated, tearful, and overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for living in this country at this time.

Bureaucratic  bungling and inefficiencies aside, election officials and poll workers are just ordinary people who have decided, for one reason or another , to take on the responsibility of participating in the workings of their government. They work long and hard hours for meager compensation and few kudos. These unheralded citizens are just doing what they believe is right and good. They are among the reasons that democracy works.

There are myriad rules for poll workers.  No television or radio. No discussion about political positions.  No electioneering.  However, since we were not allowed to discuss our own party preferences, the moment was purely focused on the voting process and procedure itself.  The day was an emotional experience for all seven of us as we worked frantically from 6:00 a.m  to 9:30 p.m.  We did not know any of the data regarding the progress of the candidates and the propositions, but we met the voter and we distracted their children and we calmed their dogs.

The demographics of the neighborhood of this precinct include long blocks of high density small apartment s which housed middle class voters, many elderly Jews, and new citizens of all ages from Russia and Iran.  There was a sense felt by all that this was a very special moment in America.  We did not know the political inclinations of the people around us.  We did not know the hour by hour, minute by minute progress of the election. We knew that we were citizens engaged in something momentous in our country and in the world.  We knew that we were intimately involved in the democratic process and we were all grateful for that opportunity.

We appreciated the lack of complaints from the people in the long lines who were just so glad to be there to vote.  We heard from the elderly Iranian woman who asked me if I was Jewish because she wanted me to show her on the ballot which candidate was “better for the Jews”(of course, I didn’t answer the question).  We cheered for the 18 year olds and the 80 year old new citizens who were voting for the first time.   We rushed to the aid of our fellow coworker who was almost bitten by the growling dog brought into the precinct.  We held the babies as their parents voted.

We stopped, dumbstruck , tears in our eyes,  at about 8:30 p.m. when one of us was texted (obviously the youngest and most tech savvy of us) that it was over and Obama had won.  We hugged each other at the end of this momentous day at this magical moment in time. This is democracy.  Regardless, of party affiliation, we knew that the world had suddenly shifted and nothing would ever be the same, both in our own vision and in the eyes of the world that look to us.

At the end of the day, we looked at each other with a bond that was different from any other kind of relationship.  We were a part of it.  We were involved.  Yes, we knew the outcome of the election before our voters even finished voting.  Did that mean that what we did was unnecessary?  Absolutely not!  We were proud to be in the thick of our participatory democracy.  We were citizens who made a meaningful contribution, who made a difference.

There were 540 voters who came to our precinct.  There were 17 voters who made it a point to thank us for being there and for what we were doing. We were overwhelmed by the handshake of the elderly Russian gentleman who handed us his ballot and firmly announced to the room, “God Bless America!”

When asked if I will work at the next election, I knew that it would be my honor. The group with whom I worked represented many diverse groups in our society. There was a smart and focused high school student of 16 who would receive community service credit, the eldest gentleman of the group who had been smoothly and efficiently helping this precinct for so many years, the charming young man who drives an ambulance as he waits for his medical school acceptance, the lovely Inspector and her daughter who so ably guided us through our duties and responsibilities, and a woman who has long lived in this area, worked in this precinct, and knew so many of these voters.

This cadre included citizens who were immigrants from various countries and those whose ancestors had been US citizens for generations. I don’t know if I will see these coworkers again, but our time together was precious and will never be forgotten. I sincerely encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to be a part of our democratic process.

As the daughter of a child of Rumania who escaped to Philadelphia via Ellis Island in 1924, I am unabashedly grateful to be a part of this still imperfect, continually striving, occasionally stumbling,  so  often succeeding, dazzling country.  My vision is blurred by the tears that come from the joyful recognition of the beauty of this country and what it symbolizes.

As our President-Elect Obama said, “Our stories our singular, but our destiny is shared.”