Stupid Guest Tricks

As I mentioned elsewhere, I served as a Poll Worker at today's election.

And boy do I have SGT tales to share :D: .

For some odd reason, many people in my area think that it's perfectly acceptable behaviour to crowd two people to a voting booth....yea, we spent quite some time encouraging people to wait for the person in front of them to finish voting before going in to vote.

The people who seemed to forget their names when asked. Not to mention their addresses.

People complaining about the line (and, honestly, my Polling Place did not have anywhere near the 12 hour lines you saw in many places nationwide, heck we didn't even have a 1 hour line).

That family that let their children skate inside the polling place (and we had a lovely playground right next door :rolleyes :)

People getting angry that we wouldn't let them wear blatantly partisan clothing into the polling place.

And so many more. I'll say this, if I had this many SGTs at the parks, the DLR Forum would be hopping :D: .

On the upside, at least they voted.

May I kindly ask, that if you get to the front of the line, and STILL don't know who you want to vote for, you please STAND ASIDE and let others vote while you figure it out, instead of standing in the booth staring at the machine for 5 minutes. We have several lovely replicas of the ballot on the tables over there... go stare at THEM till you figure it out. *Mutters.*

8^)

Mayonnaise wrote:May I kindly ask, that if you get to the front of the line, and STILL don't know who you want to vote for, you please STAND ASIDE and let others vote while you figure it out, instead of standing in the booth staring at the machine for 5 minutes. We have several lovely replicas of the ballot on the tables over there... go stare at THEM till you figure it out. *Mutters.*

Here's some thoughts on undecided voters from David Sedaris.

"To put them [undecided voters] in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of (poop) with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

I mean, really, what’s to be confused about?"

Mayonnaise wrote:May I kindly ask, that if you get to the front of the line, and STILL don't know who you want to vote for, you please STAND ASIDE and let others vote while you figure it out, instead of standing in the booth staring at the machine for 5 minutes. We have several lovely replicas of the ballot on the tables over there... go stare at THEM till you figure it out. *Mutters.*

8^)

:soap: Heh. I'd go much further than that. If you don't know who you want to vote for, stay the heck home and let informed citizens make the decision!!! :mad: I'm all for patriotic duty, exercising our rights, etc., but with that right comes the duty to vote responsibly, i.e. with a full understanding of the issues and candidates, not just whichever name appeals to you most when you get to the ballot box.

[/soapbox]

I can only assume such people are being thrown by smaller local elections they got their own district wrong for. A neighboring New York Assembly District had a VERY heated race this year, and ran TONS of adds on local radio. I heard quite a few people look at the demo ballot, and then get confused wondering where these two men who have been sniping at one another were on the ballot. I explained to the people directly behind me in line... when they were likewise confused, that we were living in a neighboring district to that one, and thus could not vote for either of them.

I myself was surprised by the inclusion the ballot of an election I wasn't aware of for the town court judge. But I have the intarwebs on my phone and an hour in line from the point with the ballot mock ups to the machine to research their positions.

8^)

glendalais wrote:People getting angry that we wouldn't let them wear blatantly partisan clothing into the polling place.

Did anyone hear about the two guys who dressed as members of the Black Panther and blocked the entrance to one of the polling places in...I'm wanting to say Indianapolis, but I think that's wrong...anyway, they were threatening people. Bunch of crazies...

disneyaddict wrote:Did anyone hear about the two guys who dressed as members of the Black Panther and blocked the entrance to one of the polling places in...I'm wanting to say Indianapolis, but I think that's wrong...anyway, they were threatening people. Bunch of crazies...

We actually had something like that happen here in California about 20 years ago.

One of the local political party organizations here in Orange County hired and sent people in security guard uniforms to stand outside polling places in minority neighbourhoods. They were challenging voters and were generally seen as intimidating.

As such, it's now illegal in California for any person with a firearm or wearing a Peace Officer uniform to be near a polling place unless they're voting or their on official business.

disneyaddict wrote:Did anyone hear about the two guys who dressed as members of the Black Panther and blocked the entrance to one of the polling places in...I'm wanting to say Indianapolis, but I think that's wrong...anyway, they were threatening people. Bunch of crazies...

I believe that was in Philidelphia (the city of brotherly love)

On the brigher side, the six hours we stood in line for early voting were VERY cordial. Even though I'm sure that we were not voting for the same ticket. The gal and her 2 little boys behind us were just a delight. It was cold and late, and these 2 boys were just as nice and polite and didn't complain the first time. At about hour 4.5 a lady that had come out of voting was very encouraging, imploring us to all stay and vote. She left and came back after about 10 minutes with about 6 or 8 boxes of Little Debbies that she gave to those of us in line. Everyone was very nice and shared. It was really heartwarming.

I have a simple solution I've used in past elections to speed up my time in the booth. I take the sample ballot that is printed in the newspaper and mark on it my choice for everything being voted on. I take that with me to the polling place and just transfer the selections. This way I'm in and out fast and don't have to go "who was I going to vote for this office?" or whatever and spend time thinking about it.