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My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
41–50 of 358 posts
Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#42While reading this I got a sense that all of these anachronistic processes would not exist if voting would be moved online. So many of the contentious issues we see here (mail-in ballots arriving late, machines not printing receipts, etc..) would simply not exist. Online voting seems like such a simpler approach.
I used to be in your camp, but ultimately I think the decentralization and heterogeneity of the election processes provides a non-trivial layer of "security by obfuscation". In other words, if we streamline the process too well, we'll find ourselves with a system with a handful of highly vulnerable points of failure. I would much prefer a seemingly archaic system that, at the cost of annoyances and delays, at least p…
Don’t forget the worst of the delays this year we’re deliberately left in place by GOP legislatures. There was a massive shift to mail in voting yet no changes to how they’re processed.
The pre-canvass part: opening mail in ballots, verifying them, preparing them for tabulation, can be securely done before the election. Most states with substantial mail in already do this. That means on Election Day, workers merely have to tabulate ballots which is a lot less work.
But in PA specifically the legislature declined to allow pre-canvass before the election.
When done right we have have reasonable speed and security.
Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't seem much different than a "thin blue line" flag. I'd feel the same way as Drew in this situation. If you want to wear a flag, wear a flag.
A "thin blue line" flag also doesn't fit any of the banned criteria. You guys are basically saying that supporting police and military is only done by republicans.
BLM isn’t only supported by Democrats, but wearing it to the polls should absolutely not be allowed.
Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#44As a non-citizen who had a chance to observe how the process works in California, I was struck by how little emphasis is put in the secrecy of the vote. The whole system looks reasonable except for how easy it can be for poll workers to know what you voted for. Beyond that, the system is clearly geared towards increasing participation and enfranchising as many people as possible (a good thing in a democratic system).
There's variation state-to-state. In NC (1996-2012 at least), no poll workers touch ballots with identifying information in them. On entry to the polling place, a sticker is placed beside your name on a physical rollbook to keep track of who has and hasn't voted. The poll worker hands you your ballot which you take to a privacy booth to mark your choices. The voter personally inserts the anonymous ballot into the counting machine.
CO has universal mailings. You mail (or drop off) your ballot in a double envelope, and only the outer envelope carries identifying information. One workstation examines the outer envelope to track who voted, and a different workstation processes the anonymous ballots. It requires a little more trust on the part of the voter, but also encourages more participation.
Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
A "thin blue line" flag also doesn't fit any of the banned criteria. You guys are basically saying that supporting police and military is only done by republicans.
Are you seriously suggesting the "thin blue line" or "back the blue" flags are not political messaging? Lots of folks with different backgrounds and beliefs "support police and military"; however, the bootlick flags are closely tied to just one party.
It's definitely political messaging, but the linked PDF says that political messaging is only banned if it's associated with a specific campaign or candidate.
Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#46This part seems incorrect: > There are strict laws regulating police and poll workers while the polls are open. Police are not allowed within 100 feet of the polling location, unless they're actively voting or there on official business at the request of the election board. Additionally, anyone working at the polls in an official capacity is not allowed to wear any clothing with political messaging. One of the office…
I was a poll worker in Denver, and the way it was explained to me was: you can't wear anything referencing stuff on the ballot. So for example you can wear a shirt that says "{Black|Blue} Lives Matter" because there's nothing about whose lives matter on the ballot. Same with a MAGA hat. But you can't wear a shirt that says "Vote no on 2A", or "Trump 2020", because those people/issues are on the ballot.
Denver != Pennsylvania, obviously, but perhaps it's a federal law? I don't really know where the rule comes from.
Anyway, overall takeaways working were: 1. everyone was super friendly and it was a great experience and 2. Denver+Colorado really have their shit together when it comes to elections. It's easy to vote, there's a paper trail for everything, and the default is by mail. Everyone should do it like we do.
Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#47This part seems incorrect: > There are strict laws regulating police and poll workers while the polls are open. Police are not allowed within 100 feet of the polling location, unless they're actively voting or there on official business at the request of the election board. Additionally, anyone working at the polls in an official capacity is not allowed to wear any clothing with political messaging. One of the office…
> I'd probably get upset as well if some poll worker tried to tell me I'm not allowed to wear the American flag on my clothes The flag of the United States is not adulterated with text or anything else in place of its stripes, stars, and field.
I think you may be referencing the US flag code, which yes, has a handful of explicit and implicit prohibitions against wearing the flag on clothing.
Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The American flag with the military oath of enlistment" is not "the American flag", but rather an attempt to make some kind of statement. At best it's political support of the military, at worst it's a possible dog whistle.
So which of "candidate, campaign, or political party" is it? The Biden and Trump campaigns openly supported the military.
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Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The American flag with the military oath of enlistment" is not "the American flag", but rather an attempt to make some kind of statement. At best it's political support of the military, at worst it's a possible dog whistle.
So which of "candidate, campaign, or political party" is it? The Biden and Trump campaigns openly supported the military.
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Re: My experience as a poll worker in Pennsylvania
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The American flag with the military oath of enlistment" is not "the American flag", but rather an attempt to make some kind of statement. At best it's political support of the military, at worst it's a possible dog whistle.
A dog whistle for what? There's an awful lot of cagey presumption going on in every reiteration of this claim.