The easy part is now complete: Barack Hussein Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States. Now he must make good on his promises.
A correspondent in Maine says “Maybe Obama will institute something like the Peace Corps, only for service within the US. It couldn’t be like the old CCC or WPA, though. Nobody today will even pick up a shovel, let alone do any work with it.” I’m not so sure this is an accurate assessment.
On Election Day, I had half a dozen high school seniors (“Youth at the Booth”) who worked as machine judges. Granted, we had no shovels and they got the day off from school. Instead of a 6-hour school day, they worked 14 hours and they must write a report that describes their experiences.
Every single one of them was conscientious. If a voter leaves without pressing the “confirm” button on the screen after pressing the “vote” button, we have a “fleeing voter”. If we don’t catch the voter and bring him or her back to the machine, all we can do is cancel the vote. In this election, we had several fleeing voters and the high school kids caught every single one of them. We didn’t have to cancel even one vote.
These kids had various political perspectives, but every one of them was interested in the process and I think that each of them would be willing to volunteer for a public works program. It’s true that these were special students because they volunteered, but I think they’re not alone.
Give someone a reason and you’ll get a volunteer.
So, yes, I’d like to see a WPA or CCC, or even more emphasis on the Peace Corps, in the Obama administration. If everybody sits around waiting for somebody else to do something, nobody will do it.
Young people today are not what many of us older folks think they are. They are connected. They are interested. They do want what’s best for the country. At least, I hope that’s the case. If not, I fear for the future.
Changing Our National Attitude
I’m not a particularly religious person and I’m more or less certain that at the end of our lives, we simply cease to be. No afterlife. No heaven. No hell. No reincarnation. Everything just stops. We sleep. Done. And I’m no fan of organized religion because organized religion has brought us such delights as the Crusades and the Inquisition. But I do feel that spirituality is important.
Alun O. Jones was the pastor at the Presbyterian church I attended while growing up. I remember one of his sermons. It was about The Dead Sea. It’s called that because nothing that flows in is ever allowed to flow out. The lesson we were to learn from this is that whoever refuses to give is condemned to death. Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes talked about “paying forward”. The Kingston Trio sang about “priming the pump”: (“You’ve got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe. You’ve got to give of yourself ’fore you’re worthy to receive.”) The message is the same, regardless of the source.
That’s the attitude we need now. We all need to pitch in and help.
“We must hang together, gentlemen; else we shall most assuredly hang separately.”
—Benjamin Franklin
08 November 2008
05 November 2008
A Day at the Polls and What’s Next
Last Sunday, I picked up voting supplies from the board of election warehouse: Poll books, certain supplies, phones, and a supplemental list of absentee voters that had requested absentee ballots after the books had been printed. That afternoon, I spread the materials out on a large table at the Worthington Library and marked voters on the supplemental list “AB/PROV” in the poll books. This is done to avoid double voting; anyone who requested an absentee ballot must vote a provisional ballot if that voter comes to the polls.
Twenty percent or more of voters had voted early. Probably quite a bit more.
Multiple precincts voting at a single location are all managed by a single “location manager” instead of 3 “presiding judges”. On Monday, I visited my 3 precincts and found only 2 equipment carts instead of 3. The board of elections confirmed that some equipment had been reassigned to locations where they thought the need would be greater.
On Election Day, I arrived at 5 am and the other 17 poll workers showed up by 5:30. The Ohio Secretary of State says poll workers need to be in place by 6 for a 6:30 opening, but the Franklin County board of Elections mandates 5:30. One voter was in line at 5:30. This was an omen.
At 6:30, we opened with all 8 voting machines operational and a long line of people waiting to use them. Until 9 am, the situation was controlled chaos, with emphasis on chaos. People were annoyed because they had to wait (in some cases, voting took 90 minutes) and we were always giving “the other line” preferential treatment.
This year the Secretary of State mandated an announcement about the option to use paper ballots whenever more than 20 voters were in line. I made the announcement several times during the morning and we processed about 150 paper ballots even though we had only 3 privacy booths. If the voter was willing to use just a clipboard to vote without benefit of the privacy booth, we allowed it. Occasionally half a dozen or more people were voting paper ballots and that helped slowly reduce the line.
By 9 am, the line that once reached back through the school hallway, out the door, and to the parking lot, reached only to the doors of the gymnasium. By noon, there was only a short line and the wait to vote was less than 10 minutes. By 3 pm, there was no line at all and some of the voting machines were occasionally vacant.
After that, we rarely saw more than an occasional voter until 7:30.
During the day, the Obama campaign’s observer was inside the polling location several times to check voter lists that are posted at 6:30, 11, and 4 to show who has already voted. Campaigns may use these lists to contact voters who haven’t yet voted. Clearly, though, most of the voting was over by noon.
In addition to the early and absentee voters, 887 voters cast ballots on Election Day in the 3 precincts I’m responsible for. In the primary, I believe the count was less than 300 and with only a few absentee ballots. Based solely on observation of the poll books, it appears that 90% of eligible voters in the 3 precincts cast ballots in early voting, via absentee voting, or in person.
Assistance from High School Seniors
A “Youth at the Booth” program brings high school seniors in, usually as machine judges, and this year’s half-dozen seniors were remarkable. If a voter leaves a machine before taking a final step to confirm their vote and we don’t catch the voter, we must to cancel the vote. This is a shame because we are discarding the vote of someone who has taken the time to come to the polling location, stand in line, and do everything necessary except for clicking the final “confirm” button. If we can catch the voter, we can save the vote and this year’s group of seniors caught every single fleeing voter. We recorded every vote!
I am proud of these students. It’s an honor to work with them. If you know any students who are interested in government and the board of elections in your area has similar program, encourage them to participate.
Mechanics and Curbside Voting
During the primary, we had about a dozen voting machines, but some were out of service, sometimes for an hour or more. This time we had far more voters and far fewer machines, but they all worked flawlessly and the technician responsible for our machines said that none of the machines in his area had serious problems and only a few experienced minor problems.
Starting this year, Ohio offered curbside voting for anyone who is too ill to come inside and stand in line. The daughter of a man who was returning home following cancer surgery asked for that service. The roster judge brought the appropriate book outside with the man’s daughter, a Republican judge, and me. After the voter signed the poll book, the roster judge returned with it to continue signing other voters in. I obtained the proper ballot, and gave it to the man’s daughter, then the other judge and I stood by while the couple filled out the ballot. Then the woman returned with us to the paper-ballot judge, placed the ballot in a privacy envelope, and dropped it into the ballot box.
Electioneering in the Polling Place and Phone Calls from the Board
One first-time voter had a tiny Obama button on his hat. The greeter didn’t notice it. The roster judge didn’t notice it. The machine judge didn’t notice it. I spotted it only as he was leaving the room. That shouldn’t have happened, but the button was so small that apparently nobody was influenced by it. We spot a few other people with small buttons or stickers and they were all understanding when we explained that they needed to remove the political materials because Ohio law specifies that polling locations must be neutral.
During the day, the board of elections called with reminders and with two policy changes from the Secretary of State. When the board hears more than an occasional report of something being mishandled, they call every precinct using an automated system; this year’s board reminders were all minor technical issues.
The two policy changes from the Secretary of State were equally minor and neither affected any of our voters. For example, we were advised that we could accept as valid identification an expired Ohio driver’s license if the address on the license was the same as that in the poll book. This is a common-sense approach that should have been policy from the outset.
Closing the Polls
Closing the machines, collecting the data storage devices, printing two copies of a results tape, finishing the paperwork, and locking the machines into their carts took about an hour. At 8:30, I was the driver of one of more than 500 cars that converged on the Franklin County Board of Elections warehouse, a drive-through facility. By 9:30, I had returned to the school and dropped off the Republican judge who accompanied me to the warehouse. By 10, I was home.
During our drive to the warehouse, NPR reported that the Ohio Secretary of State would release no information about voting in Ohio until all voters had voted statewide. Any voters in line at 7:30 are allowed to vote and sometimes that has kept some locations open until well after midnight. Apparently all polls closed at or shortly after 7:30 because information quickly began to flow.
The Political Part: Sometimes we do get it right
Relieved. Amazed. Overjoyed. Incredulous. Astonished. All that. You already know which candidate I was for and why.
I see this as a historic victory for us all. Fifty years ago, the goal of equality was simply for blacks and whites to attend the same schools. And even 40 years ago few set their sights much beyond equal access to drinking fountains, buses, hotels, lunch counters, and (of course) voting.
At that time, it never occurred to me that any person who wasn’t a white man could be president, but a year ago it seemed to be at least a remote possibility that a woman or a black man could be president. By early summer it was plausible and, starting a month or so ago, it seemed almost likely.
To vote for or against a candidate because of the color of that person’s skin is absurd, but not to recognize the historic implications of this election is equally absurd.
Half a century is a long time to a person, but not so long in the history of a nation. Maybe we have finally as a people gotten to the point where we judge people by their acts and not by the color of their skin, or by their sex. Racism and sexism still exist, but now it may be true that any American child does have the opportunity to grow up and be elected president.
To break through two barriers in a single election cycle is little short of astonishing. It is a victory for every citizen of the United States.
Going Forward
Barack Obama won’t be able to do everything immediately, soon, or ever. He will do things that will disappoint even his most ardent supporters, possibly by the end of January. But I believe he will do whatever he does based primarily on logic, intellect, and reason. I hope that he will attempt to build a consensus, both within the United States and around the world, to solve the large and growing problems that face us all.
Speeches by both candidates last night seemed to go beyond the usual in reaching out to each other. John McCain’s talk was eloquent and inclusive, so maybe we will be able to begin working across the divide.
At least I hope so.
Twenty percent or more of voters had voted early. Probably quite a bit more.
Multiple precincts voting at a single location are all managed by a single “location manager” instead of 3 “presiding judges”. On Monday, I visited my 3 precincts and found only 2 equipment carts instead of 3. The board of elections confirmed that some equipment had been reassigned to locations where they thought the need would be greater.
On Election Day, I arrived at 5 am and the other 17 poll workers showed up by 5:30. The Ohio Secretary of State says poll workers need to be in place by 6 for a 6:30 opening, but the Franklin County board of Elections mandates 5:30. One voter was in line at 5:30. This was an omen.
At 6:30, we opened with all 8 voting machines operational and a long line of people waiting to use them. Until 9 am, the situation was controlled chaos, with emphasis on chaos. People were annoyed because they had to wait (in some cases, voting took 90 minutes) and we were always giving “the other line” preferential treatment.
This year the Secretary of State mandated an announcement about the option to use paper ballots whenever more than 20 voters were in line. I made the announcement several times during the morning and we processed about 150 paper ballots even though we had only 3 privacy booths. If the voter was willing to use just a clipboard to vote without benefit of the privacy booth, we allowed it. Occasionally half a dozen or more people were voting paper ballots and that helped slowly reduce the line.
By 9 am, the line that once reached back through the school hallway, out the door, and to the parking lot, reached only to the doors of the gymnasium. By noon, there was only a short line and the wait to vote was less than 10 minutes. By 3 pm, there was no line at all and some of the voting machines were occasionally vacant.
After that, we rarely saw more than an occasional voter until 7:30.
During the day, the Obama campaign’s observer was inside the polling location several times to check voter lists that are posted at 6:30, 11, and 4 to show who has already voted. Campaigns may use these lists to contact voters who haven’t yet voted. Clearly, though, most of the voting was over by noon.
In addition to the early and absentee voters, 887 voters cast ballots on Election Day in the 3 precincts I’m responsible for. In the primary, I believe the count was less than 300 and with only a few absentee ballots. Based solely on observation of the poll books, it appears that 90% of eligible voters in the 3 precincts cast ballots in early voting, via absentee voting, or in person.
Assistance from High School Seniors
A “Youth at the Booth” program brings high school seniors in, usually as machine judges, and this year’s half-dozen seniors were remarkable. If a voter leaves a machine before taking a final step to confirm their vote and we don’t catch the voter, we must to cancel the vote. This is a shame because we are discarding the vote of someone who has taken the time to come to the polling location, stand in line, and do everything necessary except for clicking the final “confirm” button. If we can catch the voter, we can save the vote and this year’s group of seniors caught every single fleeing voter. We recorded every vote!
I am proud of these students. It’s an honor to work with them. If you know any students who are interested in government and the board of elections in your area has similar program, encourage them to participate.
Mechanics and Curbside Voting
During the primary, we had about a dozen voting machines, but some were out of service, sometimes for an hour or more. This time we had far more voters and far fewer machines, but they all worked flawlessly and the technician responsible for our machines said that none of the machines in his area had serious problems and only a few experienced minor problems.
Starting this year, Ohio offered curbside voting for anyone who is too ill to come inside and stand in line. The daughter of a man who was returning home following cancer surgery asked for that service. The roster judge brought the appropriate book outside with the man’s daughter, a Republican judge, and me. After the voter signed the poll book, the roster judge returned with it to continue signing other voters in. I obtained the proper ballot, and gave it to the man’s daughter, then the other judge and I stood by while the couple filled out the ballot. Then the woman returned with us to the paper-ballot judge, placed the ballot in a privacy envelope, and dropped it into the ballot box.
Electioneering in the Polling Place and Phone Calls from the Board
One first-time voter had a tiny Obama button on his hat. The greeter didn’t notice it. The roster judge didn’t notice it. The machine judge didn’t notice it. I spotted it only as he was leaving the room. That shouldn’t have happened, but the button was so small that apparently nobody was influenced by it. We spot a few other people with small buttons or stickers and they were all understanding when we explained that they needed to remove the political materials because Ohio law specifies that polling locations must be neutral.
During the day, the board of elections called with reminders and with two policy changes from the Secretary of State. When the board hears more than an occasional report of something being mishandled, they call every precinct using an automated system; this year’s board reminders were all minor technical issues.
The two policy changes from the Secretary of State were equally minor and neither affected any of our voters. For example, we were advised that we could accept as valid identification an expired Ohio driver’s license if the address on the license was the same as that in the poll book. This is a common-sense approach that should have been policy from the outset.
Closing the Polls
Closing the machines, collecting the data storage devices, printing two copies of a results tape, finishing the paperwork, and locking the machines into their carts took about an hour. At 8:30, I was the driver of one of more than 500 cars that converged on the Franklin County Board of Elections warehouse, a drive-through facility. By 9:30, I had returned to the school and dropped off the Republican judge who accompanied me to the warehouse. By 10, I was home.
During our drive to the warehouse, NPR reported that the Ohio Secretary of State would release no information about voting in Ohio until all voters had voted statewide. Any voters in line at 7:30 are allowed to vote and sometimes that has kept some locations open until well after midnight. Apparently all polls closed at or shortly after 7:30 because information quickly began to flow.
The Political Part: Sometimes we do get it right
Relieved. Amazed. Overjoyed. Incredulous. Astonished. All that. You already know which candidate I was for and why.
I see this as a historic victory for us all. Fifty years ago, the goal of equality was simply for blacks and whites to attend the same schools. And even 40 years ago few set their sights much beyond equal access to drinking fountains, buses, hotels, lunch counters, and (of course) voting.
At that time, it never occurred to me that any person who wasn’t a white man could be president, but a year ago it seemed to be at least a remote possibility that a woman or a black man could be president. By early summer it was plausible and, starting a month or so ago, it seemed almost likely.
To vote for or against a candidate because of the color of that person’s skin is absurd, but not to recognize the historic implications of this election is equally absurd.
Half a century is a long time to a person, but not so long in the history of a nation. Maybe we have finally as a people gotten to the point where we judge people by their acts and not by the color of their skin, or by their sex. Racism and sexism still exist, but now it may be true that any American child does have the opportunity to grow up and be elected president.
To break through two barriers in a single election cycle is little short of astonishing. It is a victory for every citizen of the United States.
Going Forward
Barack Obama won’t be able to do everything immediately, soon, or ever. He will do things that will disappoint even his most ardent supporters, possibly by the end of January. But I believe he will do whatever he does based primarily on logic, intellect, and reason. I hope that he will attempt to build a consensus, both within the United States and around the world, to solve the large and growing problems that face us all.
Speeches by both candidates last night seemed to go beyond the usual in reaching out to each other. John McCain’s talk was eloquent and inclusive, so maybe we will be able to begin working across the divide.
At least I hope so.
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