Pressed into Working the Pole/Poll Again

 Coming into this election season Hubs and I had decided just he would work the election polls this year.  Last year we both worked but he had to duck out briefly two times to take care of our dogs' potty and food needs and we got fussed at for it, even though we got it ok-ed with the Bureau of Election higher ups.

So we were each going to work half the day, but then decided he'd do the whole day and I'd stay home with the dogs since I have an immune suppressed system due to the biologic drug I am on and with COVID we didn't want to take undue chances.

The Board of Elections here has been a clusterf**k this year!  Hubs called for TWO weeks to find out where he was working and nobody would return his calls.  Finely, he got a private number of someone in the know and found out who the Judge of Elections was for the District he was working and her phone number.  After almost another TWO weeks of calling and leaving voicemails(none of which she answered, nor did she pick up her phone when he called), "I" got a phone call this past Sunday morning(2 days before the election)from some guy(I don't recall his name now), asking me if "I" was the Majority Inspector for District #4 for the election.
HUH?!? (They have my phone number from last year when I worked the election.)

I told him no, I had no clue what he was talking about and no I wasn't working this election so he said, "Oh, ok" and hung up.

About a half hour later I get another phone call, this time from Andrea Gardeaux, the Judge of Elections for our county asking me if I was working the polls this election.  Mind you, this is on a SUNDAY.
I said, "Wait a minute, I'm giving the phone to my Hubs"(who still hadn't heard a word from any one in charge on where he was working).  Hubs reiterated that only he was working this year due to Covid and my immunity issue and he had been waiting nearly a MONTH for word on what and where he was working.

An informational point here--in our county(probably in all of PA)each election district is suppose to have at least FIVE poll workers-a Judge of Elections, two Poll Book workers(the machine that signs voters in), a clerk/secretary who keeps/writes the names onto a log(paper trail)and one or two Voting Machine/Scanner operators(the Judge can run the voting machines/scanner if only one machine operators is available.  The Judge is in charge/has the most training/handles all the paperwork and procedural crap and is responsible for making sure everything is done correctly, is secured and then turns it all in at the end of the night.

This Judge, Valerie Kilburn, agreed to do this job for our district and then disappeared.....never returned calls and emails and when the election official tried to deliver her paperwork(a suitcase on wheels worth)to her on Saturday, she refused delivery.  All the while never picking up the phone to tell ANYONE in charge that she changed her mind after undergoing all the training for the job that she decided NOT to do.

Nice, right?
So Andrea was about frantic between that and there were NO/NONE/NADA volunteers to work the polls in nearby Butler Township PA.  No judge, no poll book or voting machine operators at all.....2 days before the election.

Hubs asked who was working at his district's location?  Andrea said since Valerie Kilburn renigged it was just Hubs working district #4.  He had the call on speaker and I watched his face turn ashen.  There is no way one person can do all the polling place jobs themselves(let alone take a potty or food break during that 6 am to 9 pm shift)!

So I told him to tell Andrea I could work the poll(since I was trained on the poll book last year and that equipment hadn't changed-the voting machines were different this year plus there was a scanner which was new).  But we still needed at least 2 more folks to man the polls.  So WE had to find two more workers ourselves who could work Tuesday and go downtown to the election bureau on Monday afternoon for emergency training.  

Nice again, right?
Luckily we called our neighbors(he's a retired State Trooper and she works from home and can make her own schedule)and they agreed to work the polls with us.  Hubs had to go downtown to get the suitcase of paperwork and training for the Judge role and our neighbors went too for emergency training.  Their "training" was laughable according to Hubs and they didn't even do anything about the poll book(which G. was going to have to work with me)......the woman showed her the machine and then said, "read the manual, it's self explanatory". lolz  And a guy showed up that day to train to work Butler Township's polls....one guy.  Hubs said they made him Judge and told him to find a crew to work with him, this was 3pm on Monday and the polls opened at 7am the next morning.  I still wonder what happened with THAT situation! 8-(

I swear if I wasn't there having had actual training on it G. would still be sitting there on Thursday trying to get everyone registered in.  Basically G. got on the job training.  I worked the poll book, she wrote names on the log book(the paper trail)and watched me for a couple of hours and when something came up that was different(like an in-active voter status or the book said this person got a mail-in/absentee ballot or if the voter needed physical assistance to vote)I made a point of explaining what needed to happen then.
Once the lines got shorter we traded jobs and I let her operate the poll book and helped her if she got stuck.

Hubs spent most of the day, organizing paperwork, running around troubleshooting machines and snafus and conferring with the District #3 Judge who was on the other side of the room(she has been doing that job for 12 years now)so we got through this clusterf**k of a day fairly well.  ;-)

Hubs when down to the polling place on Monday morning and he and the other district's Judge set up what they could ahead of time and on Tuesday he left before me as he had more paperwork to fill out.  I fed and put the dogs out then loaded up the Sonic with snacks and drinks and headed over.  I got there 45 minutes before the polls opened at 7 am.(since I knew the machine was already going to be set up so I just had to run the opening reports before opening the polls).  There was a line(at 6:15 am)which ran the length of the building when I pulled up in my car!  As I pushed my way to the door I heard grumbling from some in line about me cutting in line so I yelled out, "I'm working the polls so until you let me in NOBODY gets to vote! lol

So I get in, park my stuff in the kitchen, sit down and begin the paperwork/reports on the poll book so we can open the polls.  At 6:45 the line came inside the building and stacked up, no social distancing!  G. and I had to run an absentee ballot report off the machine and compare it to the paper absentee ballot report...man was that a monster, long report!  It was right around 7 am and the voter crowd was growing restless.  Some asshole started yelling at us as we were trying to finish that report saying they had been here since dark thirty o'clock and you are late and this was bullshit and why haven't you started letting me vote?!

My neighbor G., who is one of the most soft-spoke, gentle, sweet, quietest women you'll ever meet, looked this guy in the eye and yelled at him.  I think she said we were working as fast as we could/we are volunteers so if you think you can do this better, next year you can volunteer for this job/don't piss off the folks recording your votes.  She may have used profanity even but I was so focused on finished the paperwork that I didn't catch the whole exchange.  I do know he shut the hell up and nobody else made a peep.

Thus it began.  I didn't have time to look up for THREE HOURS straight!  One after another voters for 3 hours without a break.  By 10am the rush was over and I let G. handle the book.

We got a lot of attitude this year, mostly around when the book said someone got an absentee/mail-in ballot and they either denied getting a ballot(I didn't get mine until FRIDAY! so I get it), they got one and didn't bring it to be "spoiled" or they claimed someone in the household threw it away.  If you were marked has having been mailed an absentee ballot in the records and you didn't bring the whole thing to the poll you had to fill out a provisional paper ballot and couldn't vote on the electronic machine.  We'd get the side eye like they thought it was a ploy NOT to count their non-electronic ballot so we had to defuse those situations.

Then I had one woman we couldn't find in the poll book at a registered voter.  She got belligerent with us because we told her if we can't find someone in the book then they have vote a provisional paper ballot instead.  She kept insisting she got to vote on the electronic machine, then showed me her id card from her job(which didn't change the situation)and then threatened me that she was in a union at her work, blah, blah, blah.
Finally someone had the idea to look if she was still registered under her maiden name, and then we found her in the book.  Asshole.
She made a big scene, involved 4 poll workers in her drama and at the end of the day it was her OWN FAULT her current name wasn't in the book.

Most folks were lovely though and we got a handful of "thank yous!" for working this thankless job.

We were told that there would be plenty of PPE for us to use, provided by the county, which wasn't the case.  2 packs of wipes and 2 bottles of sanitizer and no masks.  We had styluses to sign the book and had to wipe them down each time one was used(in addition to everything else we had to do)plus if someone used their finger on the tablet to sign we had to wipe that down.  

I only remember 2 people who came through who coughed and everyone, I mean EVERYONE who came in had a mask on.  Thumbs up PA!

The last two hours(6-8pm)we had practically no voters come through.  When there was nobody but us in the building I had Hubs take my photo with my "I voted" sticker sash. lolz  I was sleep deprived and punchy at this point.  That 2 hour lull helped us get some of the closing paperwork done before 8pm so we got out of there at 9pm rather than 10pm like last year.

Voter turn out in our district was high....47% in person of registered voters plus whatever the absentee/mail-in vote percentage was so I'm guessing 60-70 ish percent.

I'll wait another week or so then go get a Covid test(and will urge Hubs to as well)to make sure our little Thanksgiving gathering is safe.  I've told Hubs that if I get and die from COVID he is the sue Luzerne County bigtime for having guilted me into working and having inadequate PPE.

Working the polls during a pandemic(and a contentious election)is not my idea of fun but we made the best of it.

Plus we had some fun with Judge Hubs.........

Sluggy