Poll Working At Masterman

       According to Ms. Taylor, 

“studies show that students who live in communities where most people are engaged in voting and other sorts of community activism are more likely to engage in community activism,” though, “above any other metric, it’s ‘what are you friends doing?’ that will determine if you will work the polls. It’s really important for students to have experiences that they can get involved with, but I also think it’s important that in this age where uncertainty is sown about what happens at elections, it’s great that we can sit there for the purposes of doing our civic duty and for making elections run smoother, but if we sit, and there’s no fraud, then we know something else too- it’s helpful for democracy and for our communities.”

       The twelfth-grade poll workers I spoke with shared similar positive sentiments about their experiences and ultimately, all said they would do it again.

Ann Maisuradze, Clerk (Northeast)

Experience: “Overall, good. I enjoyed being there and the people I met working there.” 

Most challenging situation: “Keeping spouses out of each other’s polls.” 

Most exciting part of the job: “The end, when the vote totals came out of the machines.”

Most rewarding moment: “The end of the day, because I got to participate in a civic duty.”

Would you do it again?: “Yes.”

Why?: “It was very beneficial, especially because I can’t vote, so it’s my way of being able to contribute to democracy.” 

Claudia Roth-Hesson, Minority Inspector, 1-5 (South)

Experience: “On the whole, really informative. I learned a lot about the constituents in my ward and division, I learned what my ward and division are, I learned a lot more about local politics than I would have on any given Tuesday- so that was really nice. I liked spending time with my fellow poll-workers (meals, time off) but I wouldn’t do it every election day.”

Most challenging situation: “Trying to stay committed to making sure everyone’s votes get counted to make sure that everything functions according to plan. Also, I was originally assigned to my personal polling place, and then I showed up, and they already had a clerk. So the organizer called some of her friends to see if they needed a clerk, got a response within ten minutes, and I ended up going to another polling place that wasn’t far. I told [the workers at the second polling place], ‘I’m here to be a clerk,’ and they were like, ‘Ok, great, but we need a minority inspector.’ So I was a minority inspector.”

More exciting part of the job: “I liked seeing how people were registered to vote- I liked snooping. But I also liked the stories that came from the job. I liked seeing the couple that walked in, one was a Republican, one was a Democrat. I liked the friends that came to vote together that needed a Vietnamese translator (we didn’t have one) and one was registered one way, one was registered the other way. You just learn a lot of vignettes, which is a lovely thing.”  

Most rewarding moment: “Spending time with the people I was working with, hanging out with them. One had a son who went to Masterman, another worked near my house, and a third was a regular judge of elections.”

Would you do it again? “Yes, but maybe not for the primaries.”

Azeyeh White, Machine Inspector, 32-15 (North):

Experience: “Interesting, I loved my judge of elections; he brought in food for everyone. It was a really great experience- we did have some hiccups between other members, but, all in all, it felt like a good day.”

Most challenging situation: “Working with the machines. Some people had errors, and I had to go over and help them.” 

Most rewarding moment: “Getting paid.”

Most exciting part of the job: “Working with the people around my community. It was pretty fun to see them in a different way.” 

Would you do it again? “Yes, but not for free.” 

Brady Santoro, Clerk, 46-23 (West)

Experience: “Overwhelmingly positive. A neighbor came in and gave all of the poll workers arepas, the ward bought us all pizza with city money (hush money?) and I only had one meltdown occur at my district table. I spent fourteen hours in the same chair and was never once bored.”

Most challenging situation: “When the city came to collect our broken machine at 9 AM and took our hopper with them. That was fun at 8:30 PM, when we taped our ballots to the provisionals box with electrical tape and called it a night.” 

Most exciting part of the job: “Being the first district in our center to reach 300 votes. I called each number out loud, and we had a small celebration when we reached 300. My mother happened to be number 200, which was great because we beat the other districts and I got my lunch.” 

Most rewarding moment: “Watching democracy happen and making sure it did. We were the district closest to the door of our center (out of the four districts there) and we functioned as a processing station for the other districts. I felt powerful telling middle-aged people where to go and what to do. We had one stoned man wander around for five minutes refusing to get directions before he realized where he lived. Eventually, he found us again and voted.”

Would you do it again? “Yes, if I can enter the murky ring of 46th ward politics and win my first-grade seat again. I worked in the lunchroom of my elementary school and I would like to think for sentimental reasons that I sat in the same seat as first-grade lunch.”  

        While there certainly were bumps along the way for our 22 poll workers at Masterman, the experience was overwhelmingly a positive one. In the end, elections in Philadelphia went smoothly and successfully, in part due to the contributions of Masterman students and high schoolers that helped keep the polls open. 

       Now, some election trivia:

Philadelphia has how many election districts?

1. 66

2. 289

3. 761

4. 1,703

       One cannot serve on a board of election while a salaried employee of city, county, or federal government. Which position is not exempt?

1. a notary public

2. a justice of district court

3. on paid leave

4. a member of a militia

        To be successfully serve on a board of elections, one must do all except:

1. collect enough signatures equivalent to 2% or more of the highest vote received in your district during the last election cycle

2. receive a letter of recommendation from your city council member

3. survive all objections to your candidacy in the Court of Common Pleas

4. be sworn in on a bible

       The Clerk is appointed by:

1. the majority inspector

2. the minority inspector

3. City Council

4. the Committee of Seventy

       No member of a board of elections may be arrested on Election Day. Which crime is exempt?

1. election fraud

2. a felony committed while on the board of elections

3. felony murder

4. wanton breach of peace

Poll worker answer key: d, c, b, b, c