Confessions of a Pennsylvania Poll Worker
Why an election can’t be stolen in Pennsylvania
Last night, I reviewed the required training to be a poll worker in Pennsylvania. This isn’t the first time I’ve served as one of the people who sit behind the desks as people come through to vote. I swear an oath, like everyone else who does the job, not to allow my personal preferences to affect my task. I will ensure that each ballot is cast in secret and sent to the officials who oversee the count.
Each time I serve, I must take a training course that re-familiarizes me with election procedures. I pass quizzes to prove I can open the polls, assemble and test the voting machines, and prepare the ballots and other paperwork. I must ensure each voter can cast a vote, run totals from each voting machine, and collect the secret ballots. I check that the count of used and unused ballots agrees, then assemble and seal each. Finally, I shut down the machines and close the precinct.
Note: this is not all that I do. Each step above has sub-steps and checks to ensure the vote is fair and honest. The election officer handbook is sixty-seven pages long. And the work is much as The Economist described it last week: “swings between tedium and torrents of abuse.”
