Election 2020

 

“Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part.”

 

As I was struggling to start this piece, I came across the title that it has now on Twitter today. It is from the last essay  by the Late John Lewis, released after he passed.

 

I have been an American for the past 10 years. This was the election that I did a small part for Democracy. The past four years has been a state of watching a slow moving train wreck where I sat on the side lines and fulminated about the latest atrocity the government had committed and sharing the same with a trusted set of friends who I know think like I do. It was time to do be something more than a Whatsapp social justice activist behind a keyboard.

 The past three weeks have been hectic. I had two jobs, one that started at 5AM and went on till 1 PM and the other that started at 2 PM and went on till 7.30 PM. The second job lasted three weeks and it taught me a lot about what privilege is and how much of it I have. 

It is easy for people in power to cast doubts on the election process. You have to be a part of the process in a state like Texas that has a majority of in person voting  to realize that it would not work, but for the people who work at the polling stations , much like the country’s legal system wouldn’t work without its citizen jurors. 

 The idea of working as an Election Officer came from my friend Deanna, who is retired and decided to do it for the first time amid a pandemic. There was an expectation that retired people, who are the bulk of election workers would be reluctant to work during a pandemic. I am far from retirement age and do not have any underlying health conditions, or an immuno-compromised person at home. My only child is grown up and lives on her own in a different state. The only barrier was any objection my company would have to me doing this. HR regarded it as a second job and there was no policy against it and my boss, who lives in Spain was only worried about my safety, in case voters carried guns to the polling stations.

 

The polling site was at the City Hall. I talked on the phone to the Judge responsible for the site. She insisted on calling me by my full name and wanted to say it correctly. She gave me a schedule that allowed me to do my regular job too. I arrived at the polling booth the afternoon of the first day of early voting. I pinned my name tag so that voters would know that I was there to work. I was sworn in as an election officer and let loose on the floor! (I had already completed Election Officer training before starting )

 

There are three roles that an officer can play. As a greeter at the front, as a check in officer, behind a computer or a floor director and sanitizing officer to guide voters to the voting machine and wipe them down after every use. My expertise lies behind a computer. Since all were already manned when I arrived and we were expected to rotate roles among us, I started as a floor director cum sanitizer ( a fancy name for  the role). All of us wore masks and the check in officers, who interacted with voters for the longest time, were behind a sneeze guard. I guided voters who came in looking lost about what to do next, to the available voting machine and directed them on how to use the ballot and what to do at the end with the ballot , (it has to be taken to the counting machine just before exiting the building). 

 

The more interesting and longer interactions were when I was the check in officer. This started with greeting the voter. Responses would vary from a very Texan warm greeting to a grunt. The voter was looked up on the online system by scanning their driving licence, passport or other approved forms of ID, after confirming their identity with their picture. If the address was current  and all was green, the ballot could be issued. If all wasn’t clear, the voter was referred to the judges. The judges took all steps to ensure that no one was denied their right to vote. In fact, the judge told me that she started working as an election worker to help a friend but having seen cases of disenfranchisement, it has now become a passion for her to prevent it happening again.

 

As I looked up names, so many sounded familiar. If you spend as much time on Facebook as I do, you will come across some interesting people from Facebook in person. One was an Indian American who runs a group with a very lofty sounding name. He entertains all manners of conspiracy theories and fans flames and throws fuel into it, specially after a police shooting. I seldom commented on the group, and after a while quit the group. He walked upto my register. I was close to bursting into laughter seeing him in real life. Thank god for masks! As I was waiting for the system to look him up and the ballot to print, he read my name aloud and was convinced that he knew my husband. I told him that my last name is my father’s name. That shut him up. I was relieved to hand him his ballot and see him leave.  Another voter who came up is part of a non virtual city group that I am part of. Due to COVID, that is also virtual. I have seen him lead meetings on zoom. I was tempted to tell him that I knew who he is. But he looked too serious to socialize with.

 

Waiting patiently is something we can all get better at. How you wait in front of a computer operator says a lot about you. Almost everything we do runs on the internet or a server. They are machines and they slow down when there is traffic. The machine operator is not dumb and has no interest in holding you or the queue up. So be patient, smile. Tell the operator that you understand that delays do happen. Maybe indulge in small talk. Don’t be thrown off by my long name. that can be a conversation starter too. I immediately warmed up to the woman who said my name, and told me that it was the same name as her doctor’s. On the other hand there were other Indian Americans who probably waited for not more than 10 minutes in front of my desk but spent the time grimacing and complaining about how long it was taking. Lady, you are fortunate that you didn’t have to wait for 10 hours like so many other Americans did in other parts of the country.

 

It was tough being understood when I was talking from being a mask, sitting behind a sneeze guard and with a non American accent. I tried to over correct, by speaking slower, and breaking down street names, so Pintail became Pin Tail. Most people were understanding about it, but some perhaps were reminded of talking to support services based in India.

 

The County had strict rules about poll officers wearing masks and wiping down each voting machine or surface after it had been touched. The Governor had diluted the mask mandate by making it optional. However, 98% of people came in wearing masks and that too correctly. It covered their nose and mouth and was not removed at the polling station. The other 2% either refused to wear one or wore it under their nose. It was pretty clear who they voted for.

 

The waiting time at check in reduced in a few days. The machines ran faster and the voters were no longer in a hurry. I got better are making small talk when the machines took time. A great conversation starter was to compliment someone on their mask. I was given references to Tory Burch and Vera Bradley for masks. Or if I found an employee from the school district I learnt about challenges of virtual teaching.

 

 It was a delight to communicate with children when they came with their parents. It was encouraging to see kids come in, to see parents voting and maybe sense its importance. The special times were with first time voters. Anyone born after November 8^th 1998 was a first time voter in a General Election. A loud cheer and a bell rang out to celebrate their debut at the polling booth. I looked forward to talking to anyone who showed up in Longhorn colors. They reminded me of my own Longhorn and how much I miss her.

I also checked in a candidate. I told her that I recognized her as one of the candidates. I did not vote for her but my acknowledging her special role made her smile. 

 The other group that showed up in numbers were seniors. These were super seniors, several way into their 80s and two sisters well into their 90s. Some came with their children or grandkids and some all by themselves, bending over on walking sticks. While it was great to see their enthusiasm, but was it really necessary to make them come in person and vote in the midst of a pandemic? Texas allows people over 65 to vote by mail. But so many false accusations had been made and doubts cast over fairness of mail in ballots, that many seniors came to vote in person. One of the roles of the government is to make life easier for its citizens and not to expose them to unnecessary harm. As I type this, I am checking on the challenge to over 100,000 votes cast in Harris county via drive in voting.  

 

I was exhausted when I got back home after the first two days at the polling site. Doing two jobs is not easy. I got used to the long days as the week progressed. Not everyone has the privilege of making ends meet with one job. In the last three weeks, I had just enough time to eat a quick meal and sleep. I did not have to worry about kids and my husband did not require attention. The time I take to bake breads or prepare a fresh meal each day is not something I will take for granted again. Also, I work for a great company, that allowed me to take part in this part of democracy.

 

After the polling station closed at 7 PM each day, the ballots issued report at each station had to be reconciled with the manual record that was kept for each ballot issued. After that the entire day’s votes cast were tallied, reconciled, and reported. There was an audit trail for all that was done. A daily reminder from the Judges was that despite our party affiliations, we had to be non partisan as election officers A voter wearing a Trump 2020 hat or one wearing a Biden shirt were told equally politely to cover up any messaging that acted as campaign material. Listening to aspersions of voter fraud is very dispiriting..

 

We expected a deluge of voters to show up on the last day of early voting. Several college students returned home to cast theirs votes in person. There was cheering and bell ringing to celebrate each of them. It was bittersweet to wind down, putting away the machines and saying goodbye to new friends. We promised to keep in touch after the elections and meet for a socially distanced coffee outdoors. One downside of COVID precautions is that I may not recognize any of them without their masks.

 I made it a point to read John Lewis’s article in full. “Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.”

 I hope my working as an Election Officer was at least a small step towards achieving Lewis’s vision of democracy. One thing the past four years have shown us is that nothing can be taken for granted. As a citizen with so many privileges, I had no excuses to stay on the sidelines.