For my very first time ever, I served today as a poll worker from 6:00 am until 8:45 pm. During the course of the day, I observed something that piqued my interest --- something that might prove to be a fruitful tactic in getting our voters to the polls.
Let me first explain that outside the door of the polling place, each precinct is required to post two complete lists containing the names of all of the voters for that precinct. One of those lists stays there unchanged, and the other begins the day with a red line drawn through the names of all voters who were issued absentee ballots. This index is then updated hourly to cross off the names voters who have voted at the polls within the previous hour. So, basically, the list shows who has voted and who hasn't.
I didn't give this much thought until mid-afternoon, when I noticed a couple sitting on a bench outside the door huddled over a huge index of their own (in a different format.) They were combing through the precinct's updated index and making notes in their own document. I asked them what they were doing, and I got what seemed like a shifty answer, but the gist of it was that they were collecting information "for their political party." It made me wonder how legitimate this sleuthing was, but, as I understood it, as long as they were not "electioneering" or interfering with the operation of the polls, they had a right to do what they were doing.
I've gotten so cynical and paranoid lately that I found my mind wanting to spin this as some kind of surreptitious and unethical behavior, but now when I stand back and look at this, I think it could be a very useful tool for contacting voters that we really want to get to the polls. Just get the list of voters who haven't come to the polls by 4 or 5:00, and then get on the phone, or go to their houses, and get them into the voting booth!
This is probably obvious to those in the know, but it's the first time I have ever noticed it. Is this something we can do: organize our troops, check the precinct lists for non-voters, and then usher/coax them to the voting booth?For my very first time ever, I served today as a poll worker from 6:00 am until 8:45 pm. During the course of the day, I observed something that piqued my interest --- something that might prove to be a fruitful tactic in getting our voters to the polls.
(Someone help me with tags, please.)