Poll staffers pave way for democracy (Texas)

Caller-Times ^ | March 8, 2004 | Neal Falgoust

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Workers enforce election rules, clear up confusion

People who staff Election Day polls work on the front lines of democracy. That's where all the values, visions and philosophies of the nation's founders meet the real world.

They make sure the election process runs smoothly, the voters are free of intimidation and the ballot box remains outside the sphere of politics.

Their kind, however, might soon become endangered. Most of the workers who are able and willing to commit to the daylong election and extra hours of training are elderly or retired.

As those workers grow older and step aside, party leaders are finding it more difficult to replenish their ranks.

"Every year it gets a little harder," said Democratic Party Chairman Solomon Ortiz Jr. "They're getting older and can't work like they used to. We need to get younger people involved."

Some say the poll workers' efforts go unrecognized because many voters take their presence for granted. But this year, those often-anonymous workers will play an important and very visible role in the election.

Because of changes in state law, many of them have undergone fresh training on how to run their polling stations, how to determine if someone is eligible to vote and what to do when someone who has not registered shows up to cast a ballot.

At a recent training session for the Nueces County Democratic Party, Barbara Cline, a poll worker since the 1950s, told student poll workers to be prepared for voters stuck in the old way of doing things to challenge the new process.

"This is the law," she said. "And we shall abide by it."

A change in rules brought on by complications in the 2000 presidential election will give anyone who comes to a polling location with a valid form of identification a chance to vote. But the new rule doesn't guarantee their ballot will be counted.

Those ballots, called provisional ballots, will go before a special review board to determine their validity. The board will determine if the person who cast the ballot was a registered voter and if the person was voting in the correct races based on their residency.

But it will be the judges and clerks staffing the election-day polls in the field who will determine whether individual voters will get to cast a regular ballot or a provisional ballot.

It's a responsibility they take seriously. They respect the law and see their jobs not as a passing activity but as a civic duty.

"You don't get rich doing this," said Republican Elna Smith, who has worked polls on the city's south side.

Poll workers are responsible for protecting the integrity of the democratic process and ensuring all voters have a chance to make their voices heard.

"We're there to help," she said. "To help people in their voting process, because often they're not clear about what they're supposed to do."

Democratic worker Blanche De Los Santos learned the importance of the political process from her father, who told her when she turned 21 to register with a party and dedicate herself to its mission and to voting.

"Your voter registration is your passport," she said. "That is very important. Exercise your rights when you complain or see something wrong. You have the right because you are a citizen."

Poll workers said they encounter many of the same problems during each election. Voters forget to bring identification, fill out the ballot improperly, don't know whom they want to vote for or show up at the wrong polling location.

The clerks and judges are there to help people fix those mistakes and make sure everyone gets a chance to vote, said Sam Dalton, a Republican worker.

"This is what you're struggling with when you're trying to get people to vote," he said.

Contact Neal Falgoust at 886-4334 or falgoustn@caller.com

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To all the unsung heroes who work the polls everywhere,

Thank You!