Day 1 as a Poll Worker…
The day I turned 10,000 years old.
After completing a three-hour online training session, and a three-hour in-person training session, as well as being offered a variety of non-mandatory, but highly encouraged, online supporting training courses, I’ve begun my service as a county election poll worker! (Cue the half-hearted applause.) Much like every part of local government, no one cares that this is incredibly important, incredibly complicated, and incredibly dull.
I’m in California which if you’ve read anything I’ve written, is about as obvious as saying cats are plotting a takeover of the Earth. Duh. California polling centers are open for four days. My service will be from Saturday through Tuesday. The shortest day is 9:00AM to 8:00PM and the longest day is 6:00AM to 9:00PM, however, if there are voters still in line, the center has to stay open until they are finished. Having worked in film and TV production, these are standard days for me, but these are LONG days no matter how you slice it.
Though most of this day was unremarkable, I cannot understand how and why any state would handle voting differently. Giving citizens the option to vote by mail should be MANDATORY and having ample polling centers open on weekends and weekdays seems like a no-brainer. But I guess that’s only if you are super hot for free and fair elections.