I would like to think that our precinct was one of the best run during our years of leadership. We were able to process the folks very quickly and seldom did anyone have to wait very long to vote. However, never in 17 years of service did any of my bosses ever tell me that we did a good job or thank me personally for my work. I guess that is par for the course. I was told one time that I had packed some unused materials in the wrong container. But that was the extent of any personal feedback that I ever received.
Generally the folks that we served were very patient and kind. However, I did take some abuse from those who were upset about photo ID's (even though they weren't required) and having Spanish on the ballots (required by federal law). I did have a run-in with a poll watcher who said I was picking on him when I was just enforcing the law. But otherwise it was a pleasure to serve our voters.
Our precinct was unique in the way that I handled things. Our workers rotated jobs every 30 minutes to keep them fresh and I even gave them breaks to eat and go to the restroom four times a day. The day was officially 14 hours long plus several hours for setup, cleanup, and writing reports. That was too long a period for one person to sit and do the same job. Believe it or not, we even opened our morning with prayer - I probably could have gotten fired for doing that, but my staff all excepted that. And I did have a great and faithful staff. Finding good people to serve is the toughest part of the job.
I served through the period of transitions with two moves of our polling place to new locations and the change from lever machines to the scantron and e-slate. We sat through hours of training sessions over the years. I did get some pay - I figure about $4.50 an hour with no reimbursement for the 30-40 miles I would put on my car each election cycle. But one doesn't serve for money. It was a pleasure to serve my country.
Now why am I retiring? Well it is a very stressful process which I don't need anymore. It is a commitment in one's personal calendar without any sick or personal days. One of my best friends was buried on a voting day and we had to work. Without any positive feedback from the bosses, there was no encouragement to continue. Maybe I'll finally get some positive feedback next Spring when they discover that they must replace me and my entire team. But even if they do, it's too late and I'm done. Also, some rules are being changed and this will limit the number of staff members that I can hire and will also take the choice of staff members out of my hand. I'm not sure that I could deal with that. And to continue would have meant canvassing to get signatures of voters on my petition, then running for office, and then making a four year, eight election, commitment. So I've made the decision to just meet my obligation in the future as a voter and let somebody else deal with all the paper work and stress
But it has been a good run and a joy to have served my country in this way.
No comments:
Post a Comment