Judgement to Love - My Election Worker Experience

I show up for the election poll location set-up the day before early voting opens. Our leader, ‘Mr. Bill,’ announces to the group of five also working, that he does not wear face masks, he’s protected. My judging nature shifts into overdrive, a confrontation avoided only by a prior commitment.

Early voting days found the pace slow. Election Day dawns and we arrive before 5:30 to set up. The first person is waiting outside at 5:37 AM to vote although polls open at six. She was the first of about 700 to vote in-person, with double that number dropping off their mail-in ballots. The last person enters as the ‘polls are closing’ announcement is made.

Most people are friendly. Many thank us for our service. Some are rushed and impatient and a few irate something was not changed in ‘the system’ prior to their arrival. Five leave because they left their ID or paper documentation at home. Every single one of them returns.

The experience of being able to help people exercise their privilege and right to vote is difficult to describe. As the polls officially opened, more and more people streaming in, the beauty of our little-now-team-of-six was evident as everyone pitched in, worked hard, setting aside personal differences. As the steady stream of people continued until 7 PM, my heart was overwhelmed with a sense of pride in our country. You see, subconsciously, I’d been questioning our country’s ability to survive as a democracy.

The willingness of people to exit their homes into 110° degrees in the midst of COVID, many with limited mobility, and find their way to our polling location startled me out of complacency. Some parents showed up with their children. Some people transported their parent’s in wheelchairs or walkers. Regardless of party affiliation, gender, race, ethnic origin, and socioeconomic status people showed up, breaking records. At one point doing a momentary pause, I find myself overcome with tears that I live here. Somehow, someway the soul that resides in this human body ended up living in the United States. That alone is a privilege that only 4.3% of the world enjoys. 

Our country appears divided. Some see two sides who simply are unwilling to find commonality. We are faced with the opportunity to make significant, and for many, unwelcome changes to begin to right the wrongs done in the past. The path forward is fraught with divisiveness regardless of political affiliation. Yet, streams of people, one by one showed up to cast their ballot for the primary election. I saw hope in each and every one. Despite all the outward differences, both of the voters and within the team of us privileged to have the task of assisting in this process, there is a common denominator. The overriding sense of our connection and our inter-dependency has never been stronger for me. 

I encourage you, as I’m doing myself, to consider your contribution to our democracy. Do we seek common ground and build from that foundation? Or do we allow the surface differences to fog the mirror of ourselves gazing back at us?

Mr. Bill wore his mask and face shield and gloves when needed despite his certainty it was not needed. I learned from observing his actions, respectfully asking for clarification, and sometimes even assistance with a voter. We shared a common purpose – to see that every person who showed up voted.  As a voter began to berate me, because something in the system had not been changed, at the end 13 hours of non-stop public interaction, he stepped in and took it so I did not have to. Mr. Bill is a leader I am privileged to have learned from, despite and perhaps because of vastly different opinions. We both recognized and acknowledged we are all the same, love is the core, and we need each other. 

So I’ll leave you with this. Those people that most alienate us, whose opinions or manner most causes a reaction within us, are very people from whom we are invited to learn. Invite them into your teacher’s circle. I’m sure glad I did!