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You know -- for all this chat about Trump voters and their "OMG ELECTION STOLEN!"...
I worked a polling place in 2004. I got paid $100 for about 18.5 hours of my time being a cog in the large machine that makes democracy work.
I worked a polling place in 2004. I got paid $100 for about 18.5 hours of my time being a cog in the large machine that makes democracy work.
My political affiliation may be Dem, but while I was working, I gave absolutely no clue as to where my favor lied. I was a representative of democracy that day, a bigger calling than my mere partisan leanings.
Indeed, one lady handed me the card which validated the machine and said, "I'm glad that's done. I had so much of a hard time picking."
I did not say, "They're so different! How did you have trouble?!"
I did say something like "I'm glad you were able to make a choice, ma'am."
I did not say, "They're so different! How did you have trouble?!"
I did say something like "I'm glad you were able to make a choice, ma'am."
My fellow poll workers discussed a bit of politics in an extremely slow period. That's how I found out they were Repubs. It didn't surprise me -- Dems were a minority in the town I was in. They didn't say anything around the voters, and they took their duties as serious as I was.
Even when, on my dinner break, my break room being my sister's car with NPR on, I heard Ohio had been called for Bush and Kerry had lost. As much as it hurt, I finished my sandwich, walked back in, and continued to be a servant of democracy. I didn't say a word of what I knew.
As a poll worker, a servant of democracy, that was my duty. My other duty was to watch for cheating or fraud and report it. If I had seen it, you bet I would have been on the phone with the police or the election office immediately.
That's why I know these are all legit ballots being counted. Because I know what it's like to step forward and say, "I am going to help with this election so we can HAVE an election." To volunteer for this, you have to care about free and fair elections.
All the memes and whispers of 'stolen election' are starting to tick me off. It's a slur on all those who have come forward and said, "Yes! Let me help you make sure this squiggly mark matches that one!" That's a difficult and mind-numbing job, especially after hours of it.
These people have kept it up overnight because they want to finish this. They want to give you results. They know it's wearing on everybody for it to take this long. But they're stuck. There's a law in PA that said they can't even touch the mail-in ballots before election day.
There were a lot more mail-in ballots than usual this year because of the pandemic. And they're heavily tilted towards Democrats because you might recall a certain Republican president telling his supporters not to use them.
Absentee/mail-in ballots are very secure. They're only handled by certain specialized printers (one of which is owned by Trump supporters and which printed the wrong ballots for parts of Pittsburgh) and they're given serial numbers and a way for you to track them.
So there's no way the Chinese or Russians or anybody could have slipped fake ballots in the stream. The ballots come from one of these specific printing companies. Fakes *would* be noticed at counting locations.
As I said, as a poll-worker or a counter, it is my job to report fraud. I am a representative of democracy, anything that would taint that democracy is anathema. You get all the votes, you tally all the votes, and you report all the votes. Period.
The ONLY fraud found in this election so far? A Las Vegas Republican who attempted to vote twice (once by mail, once in person) and then sued Clark County for denying her right to vote.
Anyway, my point is: By claiming fraud, you smear the reputations of all those volunteer (and it's volunteer even if get an honoarium -- nobody's getting rich off poll working) servants of democracy. That's why I'm getting angry with you.
I could care less about your attacks on Biden. You're going to attack any Dem. But your attacks on democracy itself? Put up -- show me actual proof of cheating, not hearsay -- or sit down, shut up, and accept that Trump is not a king and his election was not foreordained.
