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Back from my 2-day hiatus and I'd like to talk about what I saw at the polls.
This year I served as an Election Judge for my county. "Election Judge" is what we call poll workers in Maryland. I was in charge of provisional ballots and same day registration for my voting center.
This year I served as an Election Judge for my county. "Election Judge" is what we call poll workers in Maryland. I was in charge of provisional ballots and same day registration for my voting center.
Which means I handled the edge cases. Everyone whose registration wasn't perfect or who didn't receive, lost, or damaged their mail in ballot. And anyone who wasn't already registered, because Maryland allows you to register and vote on election day.
I worked a day during early voting and on Election Day. These are long days. We arrived to set up at the voting center around 5:45AM, and don't finish until 9 or 10 at night. We were short provisional judges (and other personnel) due to COVID so my shift was a full 15 hours.
We took exceptional safety precautions to prevent spread, and luckily my election day center was in a region that had zero reported cases. We also had screens, two full tables between us and the voters, and lots of greeters to manage social distancing.
I'm in the reddest part of the bluest state, but we had zero issues with COVID protocols. Mask compliance was at 100%. Some folks were annoyed, that was it.
(we did have a protocol in place for someone who refused to mask to ensure they could also vote, but we didn't need it)
(we did have a protocol in place for someone who refused to mask to ensure they could also vote, but we didn't need it)
Because that's the whole thing. Our goal is to ensure that everyone who has a right to vote gets to cast a ballot. We go to exceptional lengths to make sure that happens. No one gets turned away.
The vast majority of folks who came to me were people who requested mail in ballots but decided to vote in person. That was tricky because once a mail in is out in the world, that becomes your one true ballot. We can't give you another.
Most of them I convinced to come back with their mail in and cast it. Some never received it because of Postal Shenanigans. They had to cast a provisional, but those will absolutely be counted. Just not on November 3.
Because November 3 means nothing for the actual vote tally. Maryland certifies its election in mid-November. This dog and pony show we're doing right now is a pointless distraction.
Voting Centers (at least in Maryland) are staffed by two chief judges from opposing parties. Everything that happens between the moment you're issued a ballot and the moment votes are certified are cosigned by judges and election officials from opposing parties.
In both cases at my voting centers, the chief judges were generational civil servants. Their parents and grandparents had served as election judges. These weren't partisans, these were people who understood how important free and fair elections are.
It was inspiring.
It was inspiring.
So what happens with mail in ballots? Maryland can start the count early, but we still had a backlog on election day.
I cannot emphasize enough that this is not a fast process.
I cannot emphasize enough that this is not a fast process.
When a ballot arrives, it first has to be certified by judges. Then the envelope is opened. Then the ballot is scanned. All under the eyes of poll watchers. How long does it take you to open a letter? How long does it take you to open 2000?
And that's if it was a standard mail in ballot. Because of Postal Shenanigans, Maryland also issued eBallots, which you could print and mail (or deliver in person). These don't scan...
...so two judges from opposing parties have to copy these over to a standard ballot, certify all the information is correct, and then scan.
This all takes a lot of time.
This all takes a lot of time.
All of this takes a lot of time. The fact that we're waiting on only a couple of states 2 days later after unprecedented mail in voting is, frankly, incredible.
The idea that ballot fraud is rampant is laughable. Elections are local and ballots are handled by local bipartisan election boards. They are your neighbors. Sabotaging a ballot at that level to impact a presidential campaign makes no sense...
...because while national elections are partisan, local elections mostly aren't.
My county went slightly for Trump, but also overwhelming voted to raise taxes. How about that?
My county went slightly for Trump, but also overwhelming voted to raise taxes. How about that?
The fraud happens when you prevent people who have the right to vote from casting their vote.
