Science Forums 2

[Freethinker]

Originally posted by: IrishEyes
My 7 year old son was with me, and he was asking who the people were voting for, and when I explained to him that it didn't matter, as long as they voted, it opened the door for an interesting and animated conversation with the strangers around us. Some were voting for the same person 'we' were, some were not. But at that moment, we were not separated by party lines. We were not standing on opposite sides of any issue. We were just people, standing there in line in a middle school gymnasium, waiting to cast our votes and make our voices heard, happy to be able to be a small part in the process. It was a truly unique and humbling experience.

I share your pleasure at watching (and for me actively helping) people of all ideologies make their voices heard. This however brings up a very interesting observation of the process which I and others in my group (Democratic Party Poll Watchers) had.

There were 3 of us at this particular location that were aligned with the Democratic Campaign. Myself, who's designated job was merely to report voting levels at specific intervals and 2 lawyers whose specific job was to make sure the Election Poll Workers did not stop a single legitimate voter from casting their vote.

As seems typical, the official Poll Workers were elderly, mainly female. They typically just sat there and let things happen without any effort to make it easier or more effficient. We even had to step in to "officially" demand that a handicapped voter be taken care of as specified by law.

The 3 of us, perhaps just because of our personal desire to do what ever we could to help every person vote as easily as possible, jumped right in to direct voters to lines and processes. Help with line flow. Get chairs for older voters not able to stand for the wait.... Things well outside of the specific tasks we had. And we were proud of being able to do so.

Then there were the 5-8 (changed during the day) people there from the Republican side. Not a single one of them lifted a hand at any time to help the process. Not a single one of them came to the aid of a person who's ability to vote was hindered in any way.

In fact it was obvious that their specific goal was to HINDER voters. They stationed themselves in places that intimidated voters. Local news media even got calls from voters complaining about the people with Palm Pilots watching menacingly and checking off names as people checked in to vote. They took up spaces at the New Voter Registration tables, slowing down the process by reducing the number of spots available for filling out the forms. They looked for opportunities to challenge the right of people to register or vote.

e.g. a 18 yr old wanted to register to vote for the 1st time in their life. And they were proud of making the effort. They had the required State Pict ID (Drivers License). But the Repub worker challenged the guy saying he just looked to young and possibly had a fake ID! The guy's parents had to come in the sign an affidavit attesting to his age.

e.g. (2) One of the other Poll Watchers decided she had seen a voter come in earlier in the day and this voter was trying to vote twice. They called the cops and they almost arrested this person. Turned out that it was her sister, similar name, similar age/ looks. The husband had to sign an affidavit stating her ID and we had to fight for her right to vote. Funny thing was, the voter turned out to be a Republican! :-)

My friend at another location related about a volunteer at his location. She was a Democrat that just, like us, wanted to help. Joined an org she had read about on the net. HAVA. She thought it was bi-partisan group. Till she went to the traing meeting just before going to the poll location. Then she discovered their hidden agenda and Republican alignment, which I provided examples of above.