AP US Government Students Work the Polls on Election Day

Courtesy+of+Hannah+Robinson+17

Courtesy of Hannah Robinson ’17

Hannah Robinson '17, Staff Writer

Courtesy of Hannah Robinson ’17

Whether you’re excited or in the process of moving to Canada after the recent election, one thing is certain: the electoral process is dependent tremendously on the hard work of poll workers. This year, thanks to Marymount’s AP US Government teacher, Ms. Brasda, around 30 seniors had the opportunity to play a role in the election by working at their local polling places. Ms. Brasda brought this amazing opportunity to Marymount because she wanted to “inspire students to get involved in the democratic process” and she says that she knew that this would be a great chance “for students to get hands-on civic experience, perform a very important civic duty, engage with the electoral process, and expand their community outreach.”

Courtesy of Hannah Robinson ’17

 

The poll workers had a number of duties to perform on election day: In the morning, they needed to create the voting space, which involved setting up voting booths, hanging signs, and turning on the ballot machine. During voting hours, there were 4 major jobs that needed to be done: first, voters needed to be checked in; second, their addresses needed to be crossed off so that poll watchers could see who voted; third, they needed to be given a ballot and a demonstration on how to mark it; finally, their ballot needed to be fed into the ballot machine. After the polls closed, the poll workers had to count up the total ballots used, including provisional and voided ballots, to ensure that the numbers added up, and pack up all the equipment.

While these tasks in and of themselves may sound simple, the stakes and stress of the situation, as well as the bombardment of people, quickly made these duties much more difficult. Claire Pregler ‘17 found that “one of the biggest challenges was language: there were a good number of people that didn’t speak English, so it was difficult to find a way to communicate with them.” On top of that, the responsibility of making people’s voices heard and protecting the integrity and legitimacy of the election was definitely felt. Brooke Kaiserman ‘17 said, “I knew that suspicion that the election is ‘rigged’ existed, but I was always surprised by people who questioned what I was doing or insisted that they [were watching] me as I voided or counted ballots.” Poll working illuminated the prevalence of electoral distrust and revealed that a huge duty of poll workers is to assuage these fears.

Despite the difficulties, poll working was an extremely rewarding experience. As Clare Cooper ‘17 said, “Although I couldn’t vote it was very beneficial to assist other voters and observe the voting process. I now feel like I am informed and prepared enough to vote in the next election.” And that is no small feat. It was surprising to see how many voters were uninformed about the voting process and either had to spend much more time than was necessary at the polls or were deterred from voting altogether. So being able to understand the process and vote efficiently and effectively will be very rewarding. On a more ideological level, poll working has reinforced the importance of participation in politics, and with voter turnout at 50%, this is an extremely important lesson to learn and spread. As Ms. Brasda said, “Politics matters and if you ignore it, it will ignore you and the issues you care about. Getting involved in politics is another form of self-advocacy that we strive to teach our students here at Marymount.”

Overall, poll working was an amazing opportunity for Marymount students, as it both exposed them to the democratic process and stressed the importance of their engagement in it. Thank you so much to Ms. Brasda for bringing this opportunity to Marymount!