RavingRev and I spent two hours this morning at poll-watching and Houdini training.
You may be asking, what the hell is Houdini training? Well, let me tell you it's just one of the incredible ways that this campaign is setting the standard for future campaigns. Their use of technology will blow your mind.
Follow me over the fold for more Obamalicious information!
RavingRev and I have been volunteering for the campaign as much as our crazy schedules allow. A few nights of phone-banking both from home and from Madison headquarters and some canvassing. We've given more money this election cycle than ever before! But we wanted to do more, as I'm sure many of you do!
We both took election day off and signed up to be available for whatever the campaign needs. Both of us were called to be poll-watchers and told to show up at 10:30 this morning for training.
OMG! There were approximately 250 chairs set up in a large room in a labor union building. The parking lot was packed! As we filed into the building, we were directed to go upstairs and sign up for a ward (precinct to many of you). RavingRev and I signed up for our own ward--RR as poll manager and me as volunteer. I also signed up for Houdini, not having any clue what that is.
The room was packed and I mean packed with volunteers! The parking lot was full and the room was standing room only by the time we got started. I tried to count chairs and think there were around 250 chairs set up. Those who didn't get a chair lined the room sometimes 2-3 deep. So my completely unscientific guess as to turn-out for training was around 400-500.
We were told that the wards were selected for previous voting behavior. For instance, our ward, which is tiny, had sign-up times for 4pm-8pm. Some of the bigger wards had multiple sign-ups throughout the day. Each ward has a poll manager - RavingRev signed up for ours. However, he was asked to switch to another ward because he's available all day so he called up one of the other volunteers in our ward and arranged for him to be our ward's poll manager.
The poll training was pretty basic and very positive. NO electioneering AT ALL. No buttons, no t-shirts, nothing "Obama" related. Our job at the polls is to help everyone vote no matter who they are voting for. In fact, we were told that if we see someone with a McCain sticker, give them water or a snack first. Poll workers are to keep "people in line" meaning once they get there to vote, try to keep them entertained, fed, and comfortable so that they remain and vote no matter how long the line. Wisconsin has same day registration and voting so we can help folks fill out their registration forms and we were encouraged to do this for everyone who needed it. We were also encouraged to pass out snacks, food, bring reading material, crossword puzzles....anything to keep people happy while they're waiting. We were even told that some folks planned to provide live entertainment to those in line - music, etc.
We were also told that the "other side" would also be there watching our every move, waiting to challenge us or voters. If we see problems we can try to solve it ourselves first, or report the issue to the poll manager. Poll managers are equipped with the coordinator's name and phone numbers. If we need more help, if there's a challenge we can't handle, the poll manager will be in direct contact with the campaign headquarters.
During the poll watching training an attorney spoke. There are over 1,200 attorneys deployed just in Wisconsin. They will be available to help with legal issues and challenges. If you think we're going to be blindsided by the crap pulled during the 2000 or 2004 elections, think again. There is a huge platoon of attorneys and law students all over the country, ready and waiting to go on election day.
Now the phenomenal Houdini stuff. The Obama campaign is working this election every way to Sunday. I'm a Houdini volunteer in a different ward on election day from 6:30-11am. Houdini #1 sits close to the poll worker (6 feet away unless the worker allows you to be closer). We'll have a voters list much like the poll workers. As each person states their name we look it up on our list and check it off. During "slow" times or whenever we can, we transfer the voter registration number of each voter to pad of paper and pass it off to Houdini #2. Houdini #2 then takes that information and calls it in to Houdini headquarters, punching in the voter registration numbers. This will happen until 2:30 on election day. WHY you ask? What is this for? It is to cull the canvassing lists down of those who've voted so that the volunteers who are out in the trenches trying to reach those last minute voters won't waste their time on those who've already voted! Are you in awe of this organization? I sure am!!!
I don't know about you, but this is just amazing to me. The level of organization, the use of technology, the amazing number of volunteers, the excited atmosphere of the room full of volunteers. We've never seen anything like it in our lifetimes.
This is the most important and historic election ever but you don't need me or anyone else to tell you that. So I'll ask you a question....