INSPECTOR KATHERINE
Okay, We've Got Some Catching Up to Do...
Or, I suppose I have some catching up to do. So, in February I decided to go back to school for many reasons. I am not going to expound on those reasons here, you'll just have to trust me. I took two Political Science classes and one vocal class. In short - the classes were great and provided me with few experiences I shan't soon forget.
Having 3 rather long night classes per week on top of my busy job and all the events I attended meant I hardly had any down time. PLEASE TELL ME WHY I volunteered to run a voting site for the California Primary? Now, I did end up getting a small check for my services, but let me be clear - it was volunteer work.
The polling inspector had to have surgery, so I filled in at the last minute. Here's the quick version:
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| It doesn't look like much here, but believe me, it was a lot of items! |
- Arrived to pick up the materials expecting to grab some paperwork. 3 strong men load voting boots, a big black case full of supplies, an audio booth, 6 boxes, and a the ballot reader into my 2 door Honda Civic.
- I get my exercise for the week and tweak my back carrying it all into my apartment.
- Instead of having 4 people on my team I have 2.
- My good natured friend and I show up the day before the primary to set up the room. There are two precincts in the same location, but I was the "host" meaning, I got to set up all the signs.
- I get a call from one of the team members. He is sick, so I'm down to 1.
- I arrive at 6 or 7 the next morning to finish setting up and open the polls.
- After the initial craziness of rushing to get everything set on time, the day goes remarkably well and we are quite efficient with only 2 people. We were able to pack everything up and dropped it off by 9:45pm.
- It was hard work, but I LOVED seeing the democratic voting process up close.
- There are some crazy stories from the experience I can't post, but I will gladly divulge for a cup of tea.
