I thought I would share with you the process, and some observations, of my experience working the Nevada election. This won’t be an essay, but more like a Power Point talk. If I made this prose, it would take you all day to read. I worked at a Nevada election polling station for Early Voting and Election Day.
Becoming a Poll Worker
I received 12-15 hours of on-line training, and 3 hours of in-person training at the Washoe Country Registrar’s Office per election (I was trained for the June primary, but was not called to serve).
Every poll worker I met were people my age (late 50s) or older; all Caucasians, save 1 black guy.
Poll workers are paid volunteers. For Early Voting poll work, we get the princely sum of $9 an hour; manager and assistant manger get $11. For Election Day, we receive a flat fee of $150 for 17-18 hours of work (time includes set up and tear down).
At my polling place, a married couple were the managers. They worked Early Voting 2 weeks straight, no days off, 12-14 hour days.
I was a “part-timer,” so I only worked seven days plus Election Day; the last three days of Early Voting I worked 3 consecutive days.
I worked at Shoppers Square, a decaying mall in a lower middle-class, mixed race neighborhood, in Reno (Washoe County), Nevada. We had more voting machines than almost any other polling place, and thus rarely experienced lines (except on the last day).
How Nevada Voting Works
~Voter Registration stopped October 18.
Those who registered in the last 3 days were frequently not in computers (laptops) at polling places, but could be teased out of the “mothership” (Washoe Registrar’s Office) database. The Assistant Manager was a positive wizard at working over the Registrar’s Office to find obscure places data had been tucked away. She was rarely thwarted.
~Early Voting applied to the whole county. You didn’t have to go to your polling place—any early voting station would do. But we couldn’t take people who were from another county (eg: Vegas).
~Nevada Early Voting went on for 2 weeks. In this case: October 22–November 4.
~Nevada doesn’t demand ID (driver’s license, etc), BUT:
Sends out sample ballots with voter’s name & address + barcode
Issues Voter registration cards + barcode
If voter shows up with none of the above, last name look-up.
All Voters must confirm address and birthdate
All Voters must sign in—signature check performed. If sig doesn’t look right, ID asked for
~After ID confirmed, a “Voter card” (a credit card with a chip in it) is created with voter ID and ballot info.
~AVC Edge voting machines are stand-alone, not internet connected.
Each is numbered with numbered cartridges and security strapping that is only cut at the end of the day.
Elaborate tracking of each cartridge.
Machine takes in voter card, produces precinct-appropriate ballot questions.
Touch screen (we used a “high-tech voting tool”—double eraser pencil) to vote
Accepts input on simple toggle (touch, record vote; touch again, remove vote)
At end, shows full ballot review.
Upon voter’s acceptance, a paper ballot in a sealed box (voter can’t access) is created confirming vote (remember the hanging chads? This makes sure even if computer damaged, record is retained).
Once voter approves, vote goes to chip in a sealed cartridge.
~Voter gets “I Voted (Early)” sticker.
~Can vote in as little as 2 minutes.
Early Voting
Random Observations
We set up the polling place in the middle of the mall. It was convenient, but an echo-y, noisy area. We often found our lines obstructing the entrance to Tuesday Morning (a remainder merchandise company), much to the manager’s dismay.
Polls were open every day, Monday through Saturday 10 - 6, Sunday 11 - 4. We were expected to report 1 hour before opening and usually stayed 90 minutes+ after close. The last 2 days of Early Voting, we were open 9 - 7. Opened Saturday, October 22; last day of Early Voting was Friday, November 4.
Most people approach the desk with 2 things: a smile and an ID. I made sure to be as pleasant as possible. Since the ID wasn’t required, I returned it in the early days. But later, I just took it. Some of those names are hard to spell, and I am slightly hard of hearing.
I found it appalling how many people hadn’t bothered to figure out the ballot. They arrived without a clue who they were voting for besides President and/or Senator, and had no idea what the questions were about. We all fielded a lot of questions about who to vote for and whether to vote no or yes to various issues. Of course, we couldn’t say.
I can often tell when a voter is GOP. They can’t resist a political dig at POCs, “the government,” saying something mean.
We had a woman who was a twin; she had the same name as her twin, only she’d just gotten married, but we didn’t have the new name. Believe it or not, we got her records sorted out and she voted.
I got yelled at by people for NOT requiring license/ID, and because “the government has too much info on me!” You can’t win.
Wednesday (Nov 2) was a record day for new voters. Mostly young POCs Dem/NP, but some middle aged people who never wanted to vote until now.
The eyebrow-threading place (a thing!) (mostly Indian workers), would shove its employees out the door at us, and wouldn’t let them go to work until they had voted.
The Chinese nail salon owner quizzed us endlessly on voting and democracy (it was like a 2 week Civics test). Refused to vote. But as the last day’s crowds grew, she stood at her window and watched the action. Late in the day (with longest lines), she turned up at my desk. “Had to vote! Look at all the people! I have to do my part!”
At one point, I looked up and the people at the polls were as diverse as America gets: shredders, nuns, bikers, businessfolk, soldiers, people of every color in the human rainbow, and many spots of the economic spectrum. That was a big lump-in-the-throat moment for me. Weirdly, I love this country, and (many of) the people in it.
Film crew from Der Speigel’s website came to our polling place Nov 1. Of course, there was hardly anyone there. Lots of people later. (I have looked online, I never did see a story.)
A drunk came in and asked someone to help him vote. He told the whole place he was voting for Trump (I had to help him, because he was either too stoned or illiterate). That was the only vote he cast (ignored rest of ballot).
My brother-in-law came up with a team of Democrats from the Bay Area. He’s quite good at talking people into voting, even when they are on the fence. I may have checked in a few of the folks he told me about (he didn’t know I was working at the polling place near where he was knocking on doors).
LOTS of new voters in the last 2 days of early voting. And not just young people. Middle aged folks coming in to cast their first ballot, ever, in their lives. Lots of folks listed as “inactive”—which means they haven’t voted in last 2 elections.
Several people thanked me for my “service.” Sort of freaked me out. Um, I’m just doing a volunteer job. Not sure how much service that is. Yes, I know that may seem picky. I’ll take the thanks, though.
Friday (last day): I had a head cold and the trots. Still ground out 13 hours. I’m not sure if I’m tough or stupid.
Incredible last-day turnout. After many days where we had around 500 and less, we finished Friday with 1048. I was seeing 5 - 1 Democratic and Independent voters. Huge Latino turnout. Especially Latinas. (We need to work on getting these folks to vote in mid-terms, too.) We had to station a security guard at the end of the line. We finished processing voters at 7:45.
We packed up the polling station that night. I got home about 9:30 (I arrived there at 8 am).
I came to the conclusion that everyone would vote early if somehow that would turn off all the political ads on TV and the internet.
Reporter Jon Ralston says that nearly 70% of eligible Nevadans voted early.
Observers
I’ve been a Democratic observer (way back in the Dukakis race), so I know sort of what the observers were there looking for. The chief concern is making sure that voters who poll workers turn away weren’t sent off for something arbitrary. They are specifically not allowed to speak to voters in the polling area. They must go out to the parking lot to talk to them. Sometimes they weren’t very good about taking it outside.
The Republican Party is still under a court ruling that bans them from observing due to past voter intimidation. We did not see GOP observers.
Poll workers are not supposed to know who the observers represent, but Observers must register with the poll station manager, and they must reveal on that document who they are working with.
For most of the Early Voting and Election Day, we had a pair of very nice ladies from the Bay area representing the Democratic Party (we discovered at the end of Early Voting). They were pleasant and we all quite liked them.
One observer—who apparently had been state assistant attorney general somewhere—brought us donuts. Then she spent the rest of the day marching around the polling area carrying a clip board and making a nuisance of herself. She actually yelled at one poll worker for taking a break behind the registration area (not her business what he does). Several times tried to tell the manager and assistant manager how to do their jobs. The manager finally registered a complaint against her with the Registrar’s Office, and she never returned. (Not sure who she was with.)
The Observers were useful when we needed an interpreter, or help with a voter without transportation who needed a ride to a different precinct on Election Day.
I’m not sure that the Observers were of value to most voters, or the voting process. But they are part of the process.
Kids Say the Darndest Things
Friday, the last day of Early Voting, saw lots of parents with kids in tow. Every single parent told me the kids demanded that they vote—and how. One Mom said: “I never talk politics with my kids” (she had 3 under 10 with her) “but they told me how to vote! Where did they get this?”
Kids 10-12 were especially intent on understanding the voting process, and were clearly engaged in the actual instrumentality of voting. (Of course, we showed them what we were doing on our end.)
A woman and her daughter stepped up to check in with me. The little girl said loudly: “We’re here to vote for Hillary Clinton so our country doesn’t go in the toilet!”
Rumors, Conspiracies, Right Wing “Information”
Many thought if their signature didn’t exactly match we would deny them a vote (not true).
Many thought if they didn’t have the bar-coded sample ballot they couldn’t vote (not true).
Many young new voters thought that if their current address didn’t match the one they registered with, they’d have to bring current utility bills and birth certificate to prove they were who they were (not true). Only saw 2 of these, but I wonder how many just didn’t want to deal with this BS and skipped voting.
Some thought we had national voting, and their California or North Dakota registration was fine for anywhere (nope).
Couple who were sure our machines were “George Soros machines.” (They change Trump votes to Clinton).
Several times I had voters go on tirades about “how dare people come to our country and try and tell people how to vote. We don’t go over there and tell them how to vote.” I assume they meant vote canvassers (who weren’t white) on her street.
One man wasn’t registered. No matter how hard we tried, we could not pull up his records. He got angry, saying that “illegals can vote, but I can’t!” When I said that those not qualified don’t get to vote, he said he “heard different.”
Another man came in loudly demanding that we prove dead people can’t vote. I told him it’s really hard for the dead to answer our questions and write their signature (which we check, and request ID if it doesn’t seem to match). A lady waiting for another voter heard me and fell over on the bench laughing. “Also, their fingers tend to fall off when they sign their names!” Everyone but the sap questioning me was roaring with laughter.
A man stood in the middle of the voting area and announced he could hack the machines in 10 minutes or less. I asked him if he was using a mental wi-fi, since they aren’t connected to the internet. He scuttled away.
Guy with a wheeled suitcase who demanded (quietly) to be told the “head office for voting” because our location “is not safe.” Handed him the registration form with all Registrars’ offices. When the Observer chased him down, he said he was a “private citizen who wanted to keep the private sector private.”
Some Real Concerns
Late in the election cycle (about a week beforehand), the Washoe and Paiute tribes sued the Registrar to have polling stations (there were none previously). Two were granted, others were not (the Registrar said they couldn’t get enough people and machines to the reservations in time. (This is true, at that late date)). While I question why the First Nations folks didn’t act until right before voting began, that they don’t already have polling places at reservations seems like voter suppression to me. I hope the tribes will apply for polling stations at each reservation, and supply the poll workers to do the needed jobs, well in advance of the next election cycle.
My managers were exasperated with voters who turned up not speaking English well enough to answer the basic questions. We’d been given some indication that interpreters would be provided by the Registrar’s Office. We never saw anyone. I had to rely on random strangers or Poll Observers for interpretation. The manager always stood there looking mad.
My manager also was very hostile to Latinos who requested assistance. [You can ask to have someone assist you in the voting booth, so long as they are not your employer or union rep or a party official. There is no instruction to us what you might need assistance with.] There is a procedure for the assisted and the assitor to sign a form, and then they can go to the booth together. He never challenged white people who were helping. Only Latinos. I did point out to him that assistance was allowed, and we didn’t have to know the reason.
The people who needed help, or who needed language assistance often tried to vote without help, obviously feeling pressured or bullied by the manager.
Best Moment
A guy stepped up to my station and told me he’d been born in Cuba It was his first time voting and he was so happy he was near tears. We took pictures of him (not voting, but outside of voting area) and his ballot card. Afterwards, he hung around the polling station for about an hour, watching folks vote. As he was leaving, he told me he thought Americans took voting too lightly. “They don’t even know they have a privilege!”
Election Day
Because we were given even more voting machines, we no longer fit in the hallway of the mall. They put us in the old Shepler’s store (Western clothing). Quieter and more space for voters to stand in line without obstructing stores.
While the manager and assistant manger were the same, only 1 other couple from Early Voting were assigned to our polling station. Four new people joined us, and I never did get their names. They seemed uninterested in interacting.
We had to be on-site at 5:45 am, and were not allowed to leave the confines of the mall for the entire day. Good thing there were some little restaurants left in the mall. We were allowed breaks and a ½ hour for lunch (no dinner break). Polls opened at 7.
They run election day totally differently, with half of my previous job being given over to others. I still have no idea why that is necessary. Instead of checking people in, getting their signature, and handing them the voting card, now I only checked people in and handed them their identification labels, to be given to someone at another station. There, they signed an old-fashioned roster book before getting a voting card. This seems a reversion to the old ways, and totally unnecessary after Early Voting protocol. Also, if the Registrar is that worried about signatures, why not get tablets that check signatures automatically, instead of relying on untrained volunteers to check sigs?
Unlike Early Voting, we could only accept people for 4 precincts (not open voting). During the biggest rush, I was turning away 1 in 5 people and telling them to go to their proper precinct*. Most could make it to their voting places within minutes. But many also stated that they had to go to work and they couldn’t take time to drive “out of their way.” Sometimes I could get the Democratic poll watchers to arrange transport to another precinct for folks who had no method of getting there, but that would take time.
*A voter may use a Provisional Ballot if they are registered, but somehow ineligible to vote. (Like being in the wrong precinct.) BUT, that only allows a vote for president, nothing down-ballot. It used to be that provisionals weren’t counted until after the election, but now voters can cast their vote for president like everyone else. It is a lengthy, fussy procedure, and the voter must follow-up with the Registrar’s office before 10 days expire. Now you see why we suggested folks go to their polling place. It was better for the voter and easier on us. (We didn’t use any Provisionals in Early Voting. I did 10 at my station.)
We had more Observers (8 turned up) than voters at one point. It was ridiculous.
Heaviest voter turn-out was between 11:30 to 4. That’s when we had a long line. Otherwise, it was pretty steady, but not overwhelmingly so.
I saw a lot of enthusiastic voters of color. They were thrilled to be voting.
Most folks were willing to do anything you asked them to. Seriously, if I’d asked them to flap their arms and cluck like a chicken, or recite the Pledge of Allegiance, they would have done it. Folks just want to do their part, and they are proud to vote.
Polls closed at 7 pm.
Because of the fussy nature of the Roster, and the number of machines, it took 2.5 hours to tally up the number of votes cast (1200). Meanwhile, the other poll workers and I took down all the machines and put away the equipment.
I got home about 10 pm.
Conclusion
I got home to find that Nevada had gone for Hillary, but most of the nation had lost its mind. I felt as if I had participated in the assisted suicide of America.
I’m not sure if I would do this again. It’s hard work for little pay. I’m a pushy enough old broad that I think I could help them to manage this a bit better, but I know they don’t want to hear my opinion. Weirdly, my husband is considering volunteering as a poll worker (but won’t if I don’t).
If I can say anything about this process, it’s that we need young people, people of color, different religions, and LGBTQ to volunteer for this, too. We can’t just make this about “someone else’s job.” I did this because I realized that it was my duty to help out. You should, too.
