From a lawyer poll observer in NC

Below is an email from a lawyer friend-of-a-friend describing what was happening when she worked the polls in North Carolina, what the main voting problems were, and the main issues to understand to improve voter participation. I have been making calls from home, and a post is coming about that, but in the meantime, here's the word from a legal mind at the polls:


folks--an update: yesterday was a marvelous day. i was a poll monitor for obama's campaign, assigned to a predominantly black precinct in high point, nc. by close of the polls, 552 folks had cast their ballots at williams memorial precinct.

my job was to make sure that folks were not innappropriately turned away from the polls and, at regular intervals throughout the day, report to the campaign the total number of voters who had cast their votes. the purpose of regular reporting was to gauge voter turnout at key precincts and, where turnout was lower than expected, my notification would enable the campaign to investigate why, make calls to voters, knock on doors and get folks to the polls before they closed.

most of the problems that i encountered involved:

1. folks being at the wrong precinct because (a) precincts were closed or consolidated and it's questionable whether voters were notified of that fact or (b) people had moved and went to the precinct that their neighbor told them to go to rather than to their old precinct where they were still on the books . . .in these scenarios, generally because inside poll workers failed to research the voter's appropriate precinct, i called an obama hotline and gave people the name of their correct precinct.

2. folks who were not on the books at what would have been their correct precinct, as an agency like the dmv or social services failed to register them . . .

and,

3. inside poll workers discouraging people from going to their correct precinct to cast a regular ballot and encouraging them to cast a provisional ballot (which may or may not be counted) . . .in these cases, myself and my buddies (folks from high point there to pass out campaign literature on behalf of a state senatorial candidate and two district court judicial candidates), encouraged people to go the extra distance and go to their correct precinct.

it's quite an image to walk into a precinct and see only white faces, mostly over 70, sitting behind the booths. between that image, the poll workers cold or lackluster approaches to helping voters (some wouldn't even get up from behind their desks), it becomes more clear why the relationship between citizens and the voting process has eroded. the deep mistrust of the electoral process lives on . . .

when i "worked the polls" in columbia, sc in january, it was rainy and cold, but nonetheless, exciting to witness the droves of people inspired by this election cycle to come out to vote this primary season. yesterday, it was sunny and warm, and joy and pride was in the air. indeed, it was a site to see the obama t-shirts, stickers, fist pumps in the air, smiles, and jumps associated with people so excited to vote. i'm sure you all felt the same way and sensed those shared sentiments when you voted in your respective primaries. people were ready to vote at 6:30 a.m. before going to work, 12:00 p.m. during their lunch brunch, at 3:00 after their work shift ended and up and through 7:30 p.m.

so lessons learned from canvassing and poll monitoring:

1. national politics are significant, and so are local. as much as we need obama as our president, we need obamas to sit on school boards, county commissions, judicial benches, and inside the polls. i can't express how differently the voting process would be if the people sitting behind the booths had warm faces, believed that every vote counts, went out of their way to ensure that every person casts their ballots by hunting down correct precincts, articularing the various forms of Ids that are legally acceptable, were pleasant . . .

2. money matters. many of the people who went to the wrong precincts had moved since they last voted and never regsitered their new address (or re-registered their new address but may not have been notified of their new precincts). it's a luxury to remain in a home for more than a year such that you always receive your mail, your voting precinct is less likely to change . . so, stability is a privilege . . .

3, one-stop registration/early voting is the way to go. w/ one stop early voting, voters can go to any precint in their home county. if this was standard practice throughout the 50 states, then folks would not be turned around and misguided about where they should vote as can be the case case on a normal primary day. 3. teaching young folks about what people have done to secure voting rights for all people is imperative so that when things don't go smoothly at voting booths, lines are long, inside poll workers look at them cross-eyed and purse their wrinkled and pale lips, voters do not give up, but instead go the distance to vote.

4. november is a long way away. everyone can play a roll in getting obama into office. non law students/lawyers can knock on doors and pass out campaign literature, as I did in Mebane, NC. It's easy and fun and a good way to learn what's on people's mind. lawyers, observing the polls on election day in november, as it was on primary days, will be eye opening. we have ways to go to make voting an equal process for all. so help in any way that you can.

toodles folks. change is a coming!