Election Poll Working

I’m back after a brief hiatus, after spending nearly 18 hours participating as a poll worker over four different Cape Canaveral precincts during yesterday’s Florida Presidential Primary.

I reported into our Community Center voting place at 5:30 a.m. and stayed until the last ballot was counted, verified, double-checked and secured in locked bags before being transported to a central counting station in nearby Merritt Island.

Our voter turnout was moderate, although the overall 23% of voter participation countywide exceeded our best guess.

This was my first time working at the polls. I distributed ballots which included checking the voter’s identifying ballot slip, ensuring he/she had a ballot indicating the precinct in which they reside.

The voting process has several checkpoints to guarantee the ballot chain of custody until the voter inserts theirs into a tabulating machine.

After that, who knows where their marked choice goes? We always hope that our elections office is on top of things and keeps the voting results accurate and honest.

Many locals availed themselves of “early voting,” meaning they had two weeks to cast ballots at various locations.

Some voters stayed home because their presidential preference was a foregone conclusion — Trump has already clinched the nomination on the Republican side. Others happened upon the voting accidentally when they arrived to use the Center’s gym (closed for the day) and instead decided to cast a ballot as long as they were already there.

Our poll working team took their job seriously and conscientiously. We had already undergone training a month ago by the Supervisor of Elections Office, and were given a manual explaining each job function to have with us yesterday in case of questions that might arise and to remind us of the necessary steps needed to protect the voting process.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. I’m already planning to work in the Nov. 5 General Election. It will be a very busy day, but one that will give me immense pleasure and satisfaction to know I’m actually part of what promises to be a historic presidential election.

What about you? Have you considered volunteering as a poll worker? Our state pays its poll workers for the time worked. Does yours?

Here’s the link to our Supervisor of Elections office with all the info. You might want to check yours as well.

https://www.votebrevard.gov

Here are some photos taken the night before the election after we helped set up the voting area.

Twin tabulators against a wall in the Community Center’s gym.

Voting booths

The “Blue Monster” contained everything necessary to set up and conduct the election the following day. The above photo shows just some of the equipment and the red bags that contain the ballots and are securely sealed before being opened according to proper protocol prior to the election and resealed after the ballots have been cast. Below: before we began unpacking the container.

Above: Voters first stopped at the tables where poll workers checked the voter’s PHOTO ID before issuing a slip of paper containing the voter’s name, address, and precinct number. The voter then headed to the appropriate precinct table, initialed the slip of paper and gave it to the ballot distributor to receive a ballot.

Ballot distribution tables, with signage indicating individual precincts.