Given the diaries about early voting, I looked into Virginia's rules.
Early voting as such doesn't exist here. VA has absentee voting (with votes counted on Election Day, not after), but you're supposed to have a legitimate reason. I could lie, but that just doesn't seem like the right way to treat this election.
So I looked at the legitimate excuses, and one was to be a poll worker. So I volunteered. I'd been meaning to look into it anyway.
About a week later, I got this notice:
Dear Election Volunteers,
Thank you for your interest in serving as a Fairfax County election officer. Please be advised that due to the overwhelming response of citizens wishing to serve as Election Officers this November, available Election Officer position’s[sic] have become extremely limited.
You are welcome to attend an upcoming Election Officer training class. However, your attendance will not guarantee an assignment to a polling location. Your training class attendance will guarantee that your name will be placed on an Election Day Stand-by list. The Election Day Stand-by list will be utilized to fill positions as cancellations occur.
(More)
The last time I voted, in an off-year election, turnout was so poor they tried to sign me up to work the polls just because I was dedicated enough to actually turn up and cast a ballot. As it happens, I wasn't available for the election worker training, but I wanted to do it, if for no other reason than that the voting here is so poorly organized. The voter lists are badly distributed, so there's always a line for the people at the beginning of the alphabet -- the Palins waltz in and out, laughing at the Bidens, whose line stretches out the door. And the touch screens are out half the time.
As late as the primaries this May, the precinct workers were still desperate for volunteers, and were thrilled when I picked up an election worker pamphlet. I didn't anticipate that there'd be any problem finding a slot as an election officer. But, wow! Now they have so many volunteer poll workers that there's a waiting list.
So much for the Republican hope that enthusiasm is waning and people can't be bothered when push comes to shove. If the voting enthusiasm is anything like the unprecedented enthusiasm to work at the polls, throw out those conservative "likely voter" models and bring on the "expanded" voter models.
Traditionally, the more voters, the better for the Dems. And even more so this time.
I guess I'll be working for Obama instead of Virginia on Election Day. I hope they have too many volunteers too!