On Saturday night I was one of the 20,000 or so volunteers on a conference call with David Plouffe, Jon Carson, and finally Barack himself as he thanked us for our hard work. I gave my share but certainly not as much as many others.
Sometimes volunteering feels abstract and disconnected to the final results, but as a volunteer inside a polling place on Election Day I saw in real time how everything all of us did these past months resulted in the victory we are now enjoying. This is my way of thanking all of the millions of Obama volunteers across the country
Sorry, there aren't actually any photos because as an official Poll Watcher for the Obama campaign I was careful to obey the rules of the election department that there were to be no photos within a certain distance of the polling place. If I had had my camera these are the images I would have captured.
PHOTO 1: Arriving in the dark at the back of the church where two polling places were setting up. As the sun rises you can see the church is surrounded by empty lots where buildings and houses in this proud but struggling neighborhood in Pittsburgh have been torn down.
PHOTO 2: The two Democratic Committee people attaching signs with duct tape to the side of the building, a Pittsburgh tradition.
PHOTO 3: A large church basement, steps, or a long ramp down to sets of tables and chairs, iVotronic machines being unfolded like birds hatching from eggs. Poll workers with their boxes of official books and lists, absentee, emergency and provisional ballots. Tension between the workers of the two voting districts, suspicion of who I was.
PHOTO 4: Meeting my fellow poll watcher, K, an attorney from DC, a law school friend of Michelle, here with her boyfriend to be observers. Yesterday they phone banked at the Steelworker's office downtown. Two of thousands of volunteers from out of town who have arrived in Pittsburgh the last week to help. Thanks to all who traveled here.
PHOTO 5: The line forms inside before the polls open at 7. People are chatty, happy, many wearing their Obama gear, which is allowed. I go outside to make sure it's not too long.
PHOTO 6: A man comes running across the back parking lot to ask me if this is where he votes. He lives across the street. He's never voted before. I tell him to go back and get his ID.
PHOTO 7: Poll workers gathered around one of two machines. It won't work. It's after 7. The chatter in the line grows louder. I remind the Judge of Elections that she can start using Emergency Ballots, paper ballots counted as votes. She thanks me and does just that.
PHOTO 8: A young man in a hoodie and baggie pants approaches the entrance. Simultaneously cool and uncertain. I ask if he's a first time voter, he nods. I ask if he's got his ID with him and he pulls his hand out of his pocket clutching his new voter id card. Thanks to who ever registered him, called him, knocked on his door. He was prepared.
PHOTO 9: K reminds one Judge that only first time voters need to show ID.
PHOTO 10: A woman's name can't be found at either polling place. I stand up to offer help. I ask her to spell her name for the poll worker and stand there while worker looks again and finds her name. She votes.
PHOTO 11: Poll worker tells us not to talk to voters. Very suspicious of what we're doing despite our explanations. We tell her that we will be intervening whenever a voter from either district cannot vote on the machine.
PHOTO 12. Voter at the other district is filling out a provisional ballot. My first attempt to offer alternatives is met with protectiveness and hostility by these poll workers. K and I decided to double-team them. I tell the man he has a right to make a phone call to determine his status. I tell him this ballot will most likely not be counted. Poll workers surround him. I almost hiss at them, we are all on the same side here. We need every vote that's legal. He may end up with a provisional ballot, but he may not. K takes him aside to make the phone call. I continue talking to the poll workers to reassure them that they have done everything correctly, but that we can intervene to do things they are not permitted to do. That's why the campaign has trained us and given us to them.
PHOTO 13: Man who thought he had to vote provisionally is voting on the machine.
Thanks to Voter Protection training for Obama PA and our hotlines, thanks to the poll workers for listening.
PHOTO 14: Man who ran across parking lot has just finished voting, smiling broadly.
PHOTO 15: Steady voting all morning, but no more lines. One man living at a group home needs a ride to his correct polling place. City Councilman happens to be walking by and says, we'll take you there and make sure you vote. He thanks me, I thank him.
PHOTO 16: Food starts to appear on a table, dueling buckets of chicken, the Colonel from one district, Popeye's from another. K and I make our offerings, a box of cookies and large bag of candy. Each polling place offers us chicken from their buckets. I eat one piece from each bucket.
PHOTO 17: K and I outside in the sun trying to get through to hotlines, suddenly we can't reach any toll free numbers on our cells. Magically, volunteers arrive from campaign and voter protection groups giving us local numbers to call to find correct polling places, to get rides, the two things we need most. Thanks to a really smart campaign that anticipates our needs.
PHOTO 18: Photo of me, white woman of a certain age with spiky blond hair, wearing a white shirt, black sweater and gray pants, intentionally symbolic. No Obama gear except my little black earrings that I bought at the BonTon that happen to be exactly the shape of the Obama O. Clever.
PHOTO 19. Poll workers now see us as a resource. We get a few smiles and a few thanks from them. We have learned to respect their territory, they respect ours.
PHOTO 20: The men who are poll workers seem to have the roll of showing voters how to use the machines. Voter after voter they stand there, with their deep voices quietly reminding each voter to check the final screen. They must also know that these are the machines that flipped votes in West Virginia and Kentucky.
PHOTO 21: Fewer voters in mid afternoon. K and I share favorite restaurants in DC where I also live part-time. We plan to get together there soon. Thanks to this campaign for all the great people I have met and new friends made.
PHOTO 22: It's getting dark in our post daylight savings time. More voters, more voters who don't belong at our polling place. One man living at a shelter, with all his possessions in a cart. We find he's still registered at another polling place but it's several miles away. I say I'll call for a ride. He asks if he can take his cart. Lively woman in her mini van arrives. She probably uses it to transport soccer kids. She says sure, we can fit your cart. She and the committeeman and the voter all laughing as they try and succeed in getting it in the car. Thanks to all who volunteered to give rides.
PHOTO 23: Young woman arrives, she's agitated and embarrassed to tell the poll worker that she's living in a shelter. She says forget it, I won't vote. We find her last polling place, the committeewoman encourages her to hang in there while we wait for her ride.
Two volunteers from voter protection group offer to take her there immediately. A few minutes later they return, the address is wrong. We find the correct address, 6 miles away. By now a group of volunteers has formed to cheer this woman on and she agrees to go again. Thanks to everyone and most especially this voter for hanging in there.
PHOTO 24. A middle-aged woman in a blue suit arrives after work. Her face breaks into a large smile as she touches the screen. Several women in their 90's arrive to vote, there is a senior high rise in the area, brought by relatives. You can see the thrill on their faces. This election is different. One woman out back tells us she's 72 and just voted for the first time. She didn't want to come because she was embarrassed she had never voted, but a friend registered her, brought her and made her vote. Now she's glad. Thanks to all who got their friends, neighbors, relatives to the polls.
PHOTO 25: The polls have just closed. My brother calls from Vermont with news. I go to the middle of the room, waving, a poll worker tells everyone to hush. I repeat what he's telling me, NBC has just called Pennsylvania for Obama. The room becomes one giant cheer, followed by tears of happiness. We haven't even counted our votes yet, but they know that we in Pennsylvania have done our job to register, persuade, remind, door knock, phone bank, cook, drive, donate, work on hot lines, in boilerooms. We have organized and organized some more. We have all been there for each other, knowing we could trust that the callers and walkers got out the word, that the drivers were there in five minutes when we needed them, that we had the correct information to insure that everyone entitled could vote. We did this for the country that we love and we did this for ourselves and those close to us. It has been a truly amazing day and amazing campaign. Thanks to the Obama campaign for letting me be a part of it.
PHOTO 26: One last photo, I actually did take this one but can't show it. One of the poll workers, as she closed down the machines, doing her Obama chant as she prepared for the count. Both polling places went 99% for Barack Obama.