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My election team was wonderful this year. Everybody was really competent, friendly upbeat. We were sharing little conveniences with each other. Ciara had dental floss one day that I needed it and I had eye drops for Maria... If we needed to lift or move something, whoever was handy pitched in.
We did set-up Friday from 12-6. Opened the polls Saturday 9-5 (worked 8-6), same on Sunday and Monday. Saturday and Sunday were a little boring 😴 with few voters to help. Monday started to get a little bit busy and interesting 😉...
But there was no way to predict Super Tuesday in the Stanford University Voting Center.
Dear GODS.
We got to work at 6, preparing to open the polls at 7. We opened on time.
A flood of people came in. And just. Never. Stopped. Coming.
We had a tiny lull around 10 am. I grabbed half a bagel with cream cheese and a short cup of coffee which Stanford had kindly provided us, and that was the only break aside from the quickest potty breaks, till Nancy came over and told me to take a half hour lunch at 3:15.
Aside from that, all any of us had time to do ALL DAY till 9 pm was drink water and then process more voters. It was INTENSE.
Reflecting on it now I wish I had taken up one of the two voters who offered to get us food or coffee. I'm realizing that I was lucky to be at the station where I was standing, because I could take 2 minutes to walk over to the kitchenette, fill our water bottles, and redistribute them to my 3 or 4 person team.
The check in station workers (the e-poll iPad users) were all sat down. I bet they didn't get a chance to run over and fill water bottles. Dillon and June were the only ones at their tabulator and provisional ballot dropoff stations, they couldn't leave unless they were relieved.
😟
We needed more staff. We needed line wranglers. We needed signage. We needed to be able to eat food and take bathroom breaks.
Here's my short script from the touchscreen voting machines activation station:
* calls name off printed sticker tag
* gets provisional envelope (from about 50% of our voters)
* Loads voter card with precinct and political party so the touchscreen ballot will include the appropriate races
* pulls secrecy sleeve for the other 50% of voters, attaches voter's sticker tag to their envelope for provisional voter
* Explains how to use the voter card to activate the touchscreen voting machines, and how to take the ballot that prints out afterwards to the tabulator to actually cast your vote.
We got so busy and simultaneously so single-minded and exhausted that three of us took turns on paper ballot printing, touchscreen activation, and explaining to the voter, the last step I described just now.
Me, I can do the describing, or the data entry, for a good long time. But switching back and forth between them is COSTLY, cognitively. And we'd been on our feet, driving ourselves to work through our breaks and dinner. I had to swap with Wendy or Emily and just do the describing for awhile once my eyes started crossing at the laptop... We kinda did play tag there for several hours in the afternoon into the evening.
Sometimes I got a minute to go collect the voter cards from the tabulator stations, because we only had 20 or so and we'd process enough voters to be close to running out. Same with the sharpies we were handing out for the paper ballots.
We had a couple of grim panics on Election Day when the printer had a paper jam or ran out, because the vote center leads were required to switch or add paper.
At the end of each night we had to count up how many sheets were left in each printer, as part of the voting numbers confirmation.
It's taken me two and a half days, a workout, and several doses of acetaminophen (and one of Voltaran to my swollen ankle and knee on Wednesday night at bedtime) to feel more or less back to myself.
When I got home Tuesday night I could not actually eat very much. We'd had pizza waiting for us (maybe from the ROV?) when the last voter finished at 9 pm. That helped some. That and cola or fruit would have been AMAZING. But at least we did have pizza.
I finally got home round 11pm after we locked up all the stuff we were legally required to (iPads, laptops, tabulator brains, and the remaining printer paper for the ballots) and sent the ROV couriers off with all the ballots and reports.
I couldn't even start falling asleep till 1230 am... And had adrenaline dreams all night Tuesday night.
Wednesday was only a couple of hours to finish exhaustedly breaking down the voting center and packing up all the supplies. Once we finished, We all hung out together for an extra 30 or 40 minutes, some of us, just enjoying chatting.
That part was nice. I mean, the rest of our time was so busy and productive, and the voters were almost all super patient and nice, but that little bit of social contact Wednesday late morning once we were done, soothed some of the ragged edges in me after the fuckin' MARATHON we ran.
Let's review shall we:
Friday: setup noon to 6. Our team was: Nancy and Maria, leads. Ciara the trainer and subject matter expert. Me, Wendy, Dillon, June, Jeanie, blonde Nancy, Craig, Silvia, (I'm missing someone's name). And a rotating staff of incredible student volunteers, a total of six over the six days we worked there.
The county employees union had just called a strike, but Registrar of Voters department was declared exempt from the strike due to the crucial role of making the election happen. Our supplies didnt arrive till nearly 3, but we made quick work of setup and arranging all the things we needed.
Saturday: worked from 8-6, two fifteen minutes breaks and one hour lunch. Polls open from 9-5.
Sunday: same as Saturday, still slow, only trickles of voters. We all got our breaks and lunch.
Monday: about same as Sunday, but a few light flows of voters, made me think that Tuesday might actually offer some interesting challenge.
Tuesday: AVALANCHE OF VOTERS, CONSTANTLY WORKING BETWEEN 6 AM AND 9:30/10 PM.
Wednesday. Jeff made me breakfast before I had to go back in at 9, because I'd asked him to, the night before. A light load at Stanford, wrapping up the voting station for pick-up. Done by 12. Fond farewells. Wendy (my new friend) & I went for lunch at my favorite Mexican place and talked for over two hours.
Home by 3. Sacked out in a nap till 7. Found more food (Mac and cheese with sliced sausage and tomato) read on the internet till bedtime. Borked my sleep schedule with the nap...
Borked my food schedule on Election Day, and severely overworked my body
With (counts) yeahhhhh 16 hours straight of work with one half an hour food break. More than half of that 16 hours is overtime. I'm quite curious about how the math on that is going to go.
Recovering. Mostly recovered by now. Scars still a bit sore.from Tuesday's extreme overwork, but I'm good.
And now?
Now I believe that I CAN DO ANYTHING.
LOOK AT WHAT I DID, TOGETHER WITH THAT TEAM. I think we processed 1200-1500 voters, that's what Wendy thought she heard Nancy and Maria say.
My body, my mind,my team effort, OUR team effort. Ye gods.
I don't say this, but I am in AWE.
(Now I just have to finish my drawing class homework for tomorrow at 10 am)
We did set-up Friday from 12-6. Opened the polls Saturday 9-5 (worked 8-6), same on Sunday and Monday. Saturday and Sunday were a little boring 😴 with few voters to help. Monday started to get a little bit busy and interesting 😉...
But there was no way to predict Super Tuesday in the Stanford University Voting Center.
Dear GODS.
We got to work at 6, preparing to open the polls at 7. We opened on time.
A flood of people came in. And just. Never. Stopped. Coming.
We had a tiny lull around 10 am. I grabbed half a bagel with cream cheese and a short cup of coffee which Stanford had kindly provided us, and that was the only break aside from the quickest potty breaks, till Nancy came over and told me to take a half hour lunch at 3:15.
Aside from that, all any of us had time to do ALL DAY till 9 pm was drink water and then process more voters. It was INTENSE.
Reflecting on it now I wish I had taken up one of the two voters who offered to get us food or coffee. I'm realizing that I was lucky to be at the station where I was standing, because I could take 2 minutes to walk over to the kitchenette, fill our water bottles, and redistribute them to my 3 or 4 person team.
The check in station workers (the e-poll iPad users) were all sat down. I bet they didn't get a chance to run over and fill water bottles. Dillon and June were the only ones at their tabulator and provisional ballot dropoff stations, they couldn't leave unless they were relieved.
😟
We needed more staff. We needed line wranglers. We needed signage. We needed to be able to eat food and take bathroom breaks.
Here's my short script from the touchscreen voting machines activation station:
* calls name off printed sticker tag
* gets provisional envelope (from about 50% of our voters)
* Loads voter card with precinct and political party so the touchscreen ballot will include the appropriate races
* pulls secrecy sleeve for the other 50% of voters, attaches voter's sticker tag to their envelope for provisional voter
* Explains how to use the voter card to activate the touchscreen voting machines, and how to take the ballot that prints out afterwards to the tabulator to actually cast your vote.
We got so busy and simultaneously so single-minded and exhausted that three of us took turns on paper ballot printing, touchscreen activation, and explaining to the voter, the last step I described just now.
Me, I can do the describing, or the data entry, for a good long time. But switching back and forth between them is COSTLY, cognitively. And we'd been on our feet, driving ourselves to work through our breaks and dinner. I had to swap with Wendy or Emily and just do the describing for awhile once my eyes started crossing at the laptop... We kinda did play tag there for several hours in the afternoon into the evening.
Sometimes I got a minute to go collect the voter cards from the tabulator stations, because we only had 20 or so and we'd process enough voters to be close to running out. Same with the sharpies we were handing out for the paper ballots.
We had a couple of grim panics on Election Day when the printer had a paper jam or ran out, because the vote center leads were required to switch or add paper.
At the end of each night we had to count up how many sheets were left in each printer, as part of the voting numbers confirmation.
It's taken me two and a half days, a workout, and several doses of acetaminophen (and one of Voltaran to my swollen ankle and knee on Wednesday night at bedtime) to feel more or less back to myself.
When I got home Tuesday night I could not actually eat very much. We'd had pizza waiting for us (maybe from the ROV?) when the last voter finished at 9 pm. That helped some. That and cola or fruit would have been AMAZING. But at least we did have pizza.
I finally got home round 11pm after we locked up all the stuff we were legally required to (iPads, laptops, tabulator brains, and the remaining printer paper for the ballots) and sent the ROV couriers off with all the ballots and reports.
I couldn't even start falling asleep till 1230 am... And had adrenaline dreams all night Tuesday night.
Wednesday was only a couple of hours to finish exhaustedly breaking down the voting center and packing up all the supplies. Once we finished, We all hung out together for an extra 30 or 40 minutes, some of us, just enjoying chatting.
That part was nice. I mean, the rest of our time was so busy and productive, and the voters were almost all super patient and nice, but that little bit of social contact Wednesday late morning once we were done, soothed some of the ragged edges in me after the fuckin' MARATHON we ran.
Let's review shall we:
Friday: setup noon to 6. Our team was: Nancy and Maria, leads. Ciara the trainer and subject matter expert. Me, Wendy, Dillon, June, Jeanie, blonde Nancy, Craig, Silvia, (I'm missing someone's name). And a rotating staff of incredible student volunteers, a total of six over the six days we worked there.
The county employees union had just called a strike, but Registrar of Voters department was declared exempt from the strike due to the crucial role of making the election happen. Our supplies didnt arrive till nearly 3, but we made quick work of setup and arranging all the things we needed.
Saturday: worked from 8-6, two fifteen minutes breaks and one hour lunch. Polls open from 9-5.
Sunday: same as Saturday, still slow, only trickles of voters. We all got our breaks and lunch.
Monday: about same as Sunday, but a few light flows of voters, made me think that Tuesday might actually offer some interesting challenge.
Tuesday: AVALANCHE OF VOTERS, CONSTANTLY WORKING BETWEEN 6 AM AND 9:30/10 PM.
Wednesday. Jeff made me breakfast before I had to go back in at 9, because I'd asked him to, the night before. A light load at Stanford, wrapping up the voting station for pick-up. Done by 12. Fond farewells. Wendy (my new friend) & I went for lunch at my favorite Mexican place and talked for over two hours.
Home by 3. Sacked out in a nap till 7. Found more food (Mac and cheese with sliced sausage and tomato) read on the internet till bedtime. Borked my sleep schedule with the nap...
Borked my food schedule on Election Day, and severely overworked my body
With (counts) yeahhhhh 16 hours straight of work with one half an hour food break. More than half of that 16 hours is overtime. I'm quite curious about how the math on that is going to go.
Recovering. Mostly recovered by now. Scars still a bit sore.from Tuesday's extreme overwork, but I'm good.
And now?
Now I believe that I CAN DO ANYTHING.
LOOK AT WHAT I DID, TOGETHER WITH THAT TEAM. I think we processed 1200-1500 voters, that's what Wendy thought she heard Nancy and Maria say.
My body, my mind,my team effort, OUR team effort. Ye gods.
I don't say this, but I am in AWE.
(Now I just have to finish my drawing class homework for tomorrow at 10 am)
