Re: Why I am a Poll Worker

From: <dr-jekyll_at_att_dot_net> Date: Mon May 22 2006 - 06:24:29 CDT · This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed May 31 2006 - 23:17:07 CDT

--
Kurt 
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-------------- Original message from Arthur Keller <voting@kellers.org>: -------------- 
> I wrote this blurb for Mainstreet Moms. I thought some of you would 
> be interested in it. 
> 
> Like many of you, I've been increasingly interested in doing what I 
> can to ensure the integrity of our elections, by promoting paper 
> trails or paper ballots and public disclosure of election systems and 
> processes. However, I realized that I didn't really understand how 
> elections worked unless I actually worked in them. So I called up my 
> local Registrar of Voters to volunteer on Election Day. After a 3.5 
> hour training class, I was ready to work in the polls. It was a 
> fascinating experience, and I learned a lot about the real issues of 
> how elections are run and what the problems are. In particular, I 
> learned firsthand how electronic voting machines worked and are used, 
> and I can now talk about my concerns about trade secret voting 
> machines in a more informed manner than before. The next election, I 
> was selected to be a precinct inspector, so I was actually in charge 
> of a polling place, and I was the one who made sure that all voters 
> had an easy time voting, and I hand delivered the election results to 
> the collection point while another poll worker trailed me to ensure 
> they arrived safely and intact. I certainly don't work the 6am to 
> 9pm-plus day for the pay, particularly since I donate my pay to the 
> Open Voting Consortium. Rather, I will serve again because the 
> security and integrity of our elections depends on the people who 
> care participating in its detailed processes, and that means 
> volunteering to staff my local poll on Election Day. I recently went 
> to poll worker training and some of the longtime poll workers there 
> were criticizing the new California requirement for paper trails 
> because of the "unnecessary" extra work for poll workers. Unless 
> those of us volunteer who favor strong security measures, the 
> counties are stuck with poll workers who favor expedience over 
> security. I hope you'll join me as a volunteer poll worker in your 
> area to help keep our democracy vibrant. 
> 
> Arthur Keller 
> 
> -- 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> Arthur M. Keller, Ph.D., 3881 Corina Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303-4507 
> tel +1(650)424-0202, fax +1(650)424-0424 
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