onetexan (370 posts) https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029010582
Need advice on working election polls
Hello DU'ers,
Municipal elections (county commissioners, school board and city council positions) are going on at our locality this weekend. The county elections polling workers coordinator knew i'm bilingual so she called me to ask if i'd be willing to be on call for emergency work in the case one of their assigned workers drop out. Given i feel a bit guilty about turning her down the last time she called several months ago and the fact i don't really have anything pressing this Saturday i said yes (so my conscience will stop bothering me). That and the fact I am also very curious as to how workers can "cheat", and if there are any gaps in the system/process i can identify.
Anyhoo, need advice on what to watch out for, when best to take a break, etc. as she's told me the hours will be long - 6am to 6pm, possibly extending to 8pm depending on turnout.
Thank you and hoping our local Democratic candidates will kick butt!!
One Texan
Star Member Blue_true (1,156 posts)
2. Review the process used to move voters along.
A voter should be checked off as eligible once given a ballot, some places require photo ID and use computers, some places require addresses and use voter roll books. Know who the republican poll watchers are, converse with them before voting starts to get a sense of what type of people they are, but still pay attention to what they do as voters come through. Each voter should get only one ballot and there should be a verification process if a voter asks for a second ballot because of a mistake. After a voter has voted, he or she should be checked off on the post vote roll book before being allowed to put the ballot into the counting process. Most states and districts use optical scanners know instead of the punch pad ballots, that makes cheating very difficult if the right ballot control procedures are used.
Star Member TreasonousBastard (28,312 posts)
3. Been doing it for years, but in suburban NY...
And I don't know what how it works in Texas. But a lot of it would be similar.
Here, the county runs major elections, does the hiring and paying, buys and maintains the machines, etc. etc. Smaller elections, like local school boards, are run by the localities, since the county would charge them.
The days are long-- polls open at six AM and close at 9PM, and figure an hour and a half on top of that to open and close. Every time I do it, everyone says never again, but then the same faces show up next time.
I've worked at least half a dozen different polling places in the county, and never seen actual cheating or corruption. The system works hard to make it difficult, and most people who do this seem basically honest anyway. I would not be surprised if that's the same down there. Besides any obvious and illegal stuff, like ballot manipulation, you might want to think about structural problems, like any difference in treatment of women or minorities. Here, we tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and if they are not in the roll book for some reason we give them affidavit or other special ballots and have judges standing by for special cases.
Just don't go in assuming the worst because of all the internet hysteria. There are still problems, but i doubt it's as bad as some would have you believe.
Being a local election, turnout probably won't be that high so you can wander off for a break pretty much any time the place is pretty empty. Local rules apply, though, as do whoever is running the show.
Star Member MagickMuffin (7,943 posts)
4. I'm a Precinct Chair in Tarrant County since 2008 I have worked every aspect of varying elections. We are always provided training by the Elections Office. They also have printed copies of the powerpoint presentation.
I would watch for making sure voters aren't turned away. In my county there will only be one polling location so there shouldn't be any reason of turning voters away.
There was changes to the voter id law, so you should be aware of those. One no longer has to show a photo id, however, they must have a "good" reason why they aren't able to provide a photo id.
In my precinct the Presiding Judge is a republican, but he believes in the voting system, so I haven't ever had a real problem with him. I serve as the Alternate Judge.
I would contact the county elections office and ask if they have any printed material that you could have to ensure you know what your duties are as a clerk.
I had to help voters in November (who were older than me, who bragged this was their first time voting) vote for trump'd. It was difficult but it is my duty to help voters cast their ballots if they need it.
Serving as an election clerk can be very rewarding. You definitely get to experience the underbelly of the voters in our communities.
Good LUCK and Thank You For Serving!!!
Would you trust any DUmp monkie to run an election polling station?
bettyellen (40,783 posts)
11. The most common trick I saw was poll workers "not finding"registrations for younger voters....
The books were arranged by odd and even addresses- mine was odd- and they'd go for the even numbered books and play stupid. Every time they did this, I would loudly explain their goof so the people behind me would know the trick. They disliked "new comers" voting. They also had lots of phony voters on the rolls (literally allowed to read their name off a piece of paper with four other names on it) but we are a rarity in that regard, so I won't go into it.
So get to know the books and the voter ID rules. If people are being denied be ready to point them towards a resolution (sometimes a court order,sometimes a provisional ballot).
I hope you enjoy the experience and make it a regular thing! Thanks for doing it!
most likely [D] voters...
.. but I won't get into it.
bettyellen (40,783 posts)
15. My town is in law school textbooks for voter fraud- when people died they added them To the phony voter list. When entire buildings were renovated they'd make sure all the old occupants stayed on the rolls. A certain member of the city councils cabal had the power of thousands of phony votes. For local elections it was enough to swing it. The FBI filmed groups of "paid campaign workers" going into 4-5 polling places one after the other. I believe that since they could not film inside they were never able to do anything about it.
The local poll workers (mostly older women) were part of the scam and would shout down any challenges. Teachers and policemen were pressured into making campaign calls from and during their work hours. Mailmen or building managers would throw mass mailings into the garbage. People believed that the powers that be would know how hey voted and kick them out of subsidized housing. Campaign workers would knock on their doors and only inform them who they were voting for the morning of. And they were afraid not to be seen running to the polls and voting as told.
Two of our mayors went to jail for corruption. They are slowly losing power. But yeah- it was ugly. Tampered machines, emergency closing of polling places, threats of arson toward campaign workers (me). And yet, I love it here. And have managed to make some great impacts on the community despite them.
Really? The [D]s always claim there is no voter fraud... and where is this horrible place!?!? I've never heard a word about this level of voter fraud...
onetexan (370 posts)
18. OMG that's insane!!
where was this? i need to look it up and read about it. Don't mean to be laughing but truth is stranger than fiction...you can't make this stuff up!
bettyellen (40,783 posts)
20. Check your PMs.
... yeah... she won't say.
b
ettyellen (40,783 posts)
19. I know that they used to give the books out the day before the election - and the poll workers Would rip out pages of new registrations. We had to run a shuttle service to the court in the next town where they had duplicates of the registrations to get people court orders to vote. It appeared that dozens of registrations handled by me and other young liberals were deliberately destroyed. A friend of mine actually saw the huge paper bag of voters names being handed over.
and still no proof...
bettyellen (40,783 posts)
22. There was a huge amount of mob influence wanting development projects pushed Through. I saw quite a few "young reformers" give up and become part of the problem. Thank god that last asshole went to jail. Our new mayor is taking a lot of grief for it- but we're increasing parks and open spaces again for the first time in many years.
WTF? Mob influence? Doesn't sound like a Red State city, does it?
bettyellen (40,783 posts)
25. We still have the old guard running that shit for the most part. You can't get in as a poll worker unless you register as GOP- because they protect each other. They've been at this shit for a good hundred years, but their power is slowly eroding. ( since 1917? ) Part of it is we're running out of space to develop. But the tax monies will still keep the mobsters around in some form or another.
