This past Tuesday was election day in the great Commonwealth of Kentucky where I worked in a precinct in Covington. I first worked the polls for the presidential election in 2020 and then the primaries in May 2022. Each time, I’ve been at a different location, which is based, in part, on your party affiliation and distance from your home address. Each location must have a balance of people from different parties, and I’m unaffiliated, which is like being a political party wild card for this purpose.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like working the polls, you’ve come to the right place. This article will describe life on election day.
5 a.m. - Poll workers arrive
It’s dark out. I pull into the lot and there are a few parked cars, some still running. As I get out and approach the front door, more cars keep trickling into the parking lot and a couple of people are waiting at the front door.
We’re at an elementary school and the polls are in the gym, which is close to the front door. Inside, the tables and machines are already in place and people are getting settled. The county clerk of courts, who administers elections, set up the prior night, with anything sensitive still locked up to avoid tampering. The lead “troubleshooter” has the keys for the sensitive items.
All in all, we have 11 or 12 workers. Most are retired, government employees, or retired government employees, but there are at least 3 who are in their 20s or 30s, including myself. It’s tempting to call everyone “volunteers” because this is a civic duty kind of thing, but we are paid roughly $10 an hour for our services.
Despite being advised to arrive an hour before the polls open, there isn’t a lot to do–at least, not enough to occupy a dozen people for an hour. Signs are assembled and hung throughout the building and outside. Machines are fired up and everyone takes their positions. There are four tablets for checking in voters, four separate machines for printing ballots, and the ballot counter, which looks like a fancy, oversized garbage can.
It’s a good mix of experienced and novice workers, with some veterans having served for over 40 years. Everyone there wants to be there, which makes the experience rather enjoyable even if it’s a long day. People are outgoing and willing to talk about a range of subjects, although it’s understood that we shouldn’t discuss politics–at least not in earshot of any voters. Oddly enough, much of the conversation before the polls open centers around the prevalence of scammers on dating sites (a lot of the older women are active on the dating scene. . .rawr).
6 a.m - 9 a.m - The before-work crowd
When we throw open the doors, there are about eight to ten people queued up. With four check-in stations, the line moves quickly and people are off to the races. In our county–and presumably throughout most, if not all, of the state–voters have the option to use machines to fill out their ballots or they can do it the old-fashioned way and fill bubbles by hand. In either case, there is a paper record of their vote.
For the machine, we give the voter a blank ballot that they put in a machine. From there, they select their candidates on a screen, after which the machine prints out the same ballot with their picks listed. The machine is basically a fancy printer that avoids any of the pitfalls that come with improperly filling out a ballot by hand. A vast majority of the voters use this method and, truth be told, this is the way to go.
After the initial “rush,” we see a steady stream of voters but it never feels overwhelming. We have workers scattered around the site to help people wherever it’s needed. For the most part, people rarely need help other than being directed where to go. Some voters are hesitant to use the machines to fill out their ballots, but people were often heard saying something to the effect of “that was really easy” after using them.
9 a.m - 3 p.m. - Slow and steady
Throughout the day, we maintain a steady stream of voters with minor ebbs and flows. Things go smoothly. The only hiccups, so to speak, are some of the check-in tablets must be reset to refresh their memory, and one or two voters grumble about not trusting the machines to fill out the ballot.
The tablets can scan the barcodes on driver’s licenses, which most people–I’m talking like 98%--use for identification despite Kentucky accepting around 12 to 15 forms of ID. That’s not to say all forms are created equal: while Kentucky accepts multiple forms, if a voter uses something other than an official picture ID, like a driver’s license, passport, or state ID, they must fill out an affidavit attesting to their identity and eligibility to vote.
Some people during poll worker training questioned whether this method could verify citizenship, but come on folks, an undocumented immigrant is not going to risk the chance of deportation by committing multiple crimes–like voter fraud and perjury–to place a single ballot in contests where millions of people vote. This speaks to the prevalent concern in society over the integrity of our elections. Election integrity is paramount. There is no doubt about that. But there is a modern myth that voter fraud is widespread and it simply is not true. We are talking rates between 0.0003 and 0.0025 percent.
Anyway, things go well throughout the day.
3 p.m. - Close - Winding down
The last 120 to 150 voters pass through in the waning hours. By this time, the workers are checking their watches and anxious to get home. Perhaps because of this particular location, perhaps because it’s an off-year election, we don’t have a massive line waiting when the polls close at 6 p.m. Had there been such a line, the policy is that everyone in line at 6 p.m. gets to vote, but anyone who comes after that time does not. One of the troubleshooters mentions years where they would put a poll worker at the end of the line to delineate who got to vote and who was too late.
When the polls finally close, many hands make quick work. The tablets and ballot printing machines are quickly shut down, but the ballot collector–the one that looks like a fancy garbage can–must follow certain procedures to ensure its safety. Members of both parties must sign a number of forms to confirm that the proper procedures were followed and everything proceeded as planned. Today, the whole process takes about half an hour. Other elections I’ve helped have taken closer to an hour.
I left the school feeling tired, but with a warm sense of satisfaction. The most demanding part of the job is the duration, all said and told it’s almost a 14 hour day, but the work itself isn’t difficult. You get to meet a lot of people from different walks of life, all of whom are interested in being involved in their community. Our poll was well-attended this year, but there have been reports of worker shortages around the country. If you think you would be interested, I would recommend the experience.
Appreciate your civic involvement in our community! Not many younger folks willing to take a PTO day to work the polls. So, thank you!
I've done it and maybe will do it again. Haven't done a November election during a presidential or congressional election year though. It's certainly a long day. It really should be a federal holiday. Pretty much every other country holds elections on a Sunday to minimize work obligations conflicting with voting.