The Other Side of the Election Process

The Other Side of the Election Process was Originally Posted on September 24, 2006 by lavarock

Here is an alternative view of the election process…

I volunteered to be an election officer, and agrred to have my stipned go to my non-profit orginazation, the Kona Coffee Farmers Association.

We had a few hour breafing and demo mo nths ago and showed up almost bright and bushy-tailed at the polling place (the Painted Church) at 5:30 AM. To do that, I had to go to bed early and awaken at 4 AM. Not easy when sometimes I go to bed at 2am or later!

Because we were told we could not leave the polling place during the day, I packed a luch and snacks. I had 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, some sodas, candy and mochi, etc. I later learened there was some stew and rice available to us that a nice soul brought, but I didn’t know.

We helped each other set up just in time for our first voter at 7AM. Most of my day was spent either standing or sitting by the vote registering machine where paper ballots were inserted and counted.

It was a very long day and we finally closed the polls at 6 PM and finished cleaning up and packing up at perhaps 7:15 PM!

A few people even congratulated us and thanked us for being volunteers and we really appreciate that. Ture we get a somewhat small stipend, byut we really did do the job because it is important. I have seen handicapped people wheeled in to vote. I have seen parents take their children into the booth to explain the election process. When we knew a person was voting for the first time, we would applaud after the vote was registered. It was great to see their smile!

Although it was a very long day, I was happy to have served the other side of the table for a change.