Yesterday I was a poll worker in Houston.

[cannabis_flower]

I had to be there at 6am. The polls opened at 7am and closed at 7pm but there were about 300 people standing in line at 7pm when the polls closed.

We had 3 precincts combined into one. We had 12 voting machines and one of them didn't work. Also one person didn't show up and there were only 2 of us checking in voters at a time with one person to relieve us. But everyone who stayed and was eligible voted and today I am exhausted

[George II]

1. If it's like our state poll workers aren't allowed to leave the polling place the entire time. True?

[cannabis_flower]

4. I don't think

That we weren't allowed, but we were so busy and shorthanded that we just couldn't. I'm not sure how many voters we has but there was never a time yesterday where there wasn't a line, even though in our county you can vote at any polling location.

[yellowdogintexas]

21. In Tarrant county (Fort Worth), the presiding judge can't leave

but others can if there is a lull and they will only be gone a short while (like going to get lunch for everyone)

But we all usually bring something to eat, extra water, etc. Sometimes the facility will have coffee and a coffee maker for us. Some do not.

If it's a local option or non candidate election we bring books, our knitting, cards etc because those days are long and boring even if we are normally fun people.

I got to mine at 5:30, and we left at 8:45. The drop off location for my location was new to me and I had to find it then it took those bozos 30 minutes to load my stuff into the truck before I could go in and get my paperwork signed. I was the only one there until a car pulled in as I was starting my car to leave.

[leftieNanner]

2. Good for you!!

I know how you feel today. When I lived in California, I was a poll inspector for many years. It's a grueling day, but enormously important for the small-d democratic survival.

Thank you for doing that. Too bad that the Texas Republicans have been working so hard to make it difficult for people to vote - in particular counties, especially.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. Making it hard for non Republicans to vote varies widely from county to county

Two of the things that happened after Veasey vs Texas was decided helped enormously with the photo ID requirements: if a person has had difficult obtaining the ID, we have a long list of acceptable items which can be used, and the voter has to sign an affadivit to document it. It is a very broad list, but the address on the list has to match the registration list.

The other thing is dealing with expired IDs. Previously we could not accept an expired ID after 60 days of the expiration date. Now it is 4 years.

We now have voting centers here, nearly 200 places to vote in our county on Election Day, and you may vote at any of them. Texas also has 10 days of Early Voting which includes a weekend, and persons over 65 or disabled or otherwise can't get out to vote may request vote by mail applications and once it is returned the voter will receive ballots for every upcoming election. We do not have as many Early Voting locations as on Election day but there are 50 here in Tarrant, and they are set up with 20 or more voting machines per location.

Election Day locations this year received machines based on past voting statistics for that location. So we had 3 machines and the Republicans had 6. Well they had real steady flow until around 4:30 and it cked up a bit then, but we were slammed from 4:30 until closing. We were able to close the polls atba 7:10 ( I was the last vote

[SCantiGOP]

3. The West Coast saw this coverage last night

MSNBC and CNN were covering this a lot after midnight Eastern time.
This is an outrage, and should appall even Republican voters. It is an illegal effort to deny voting rights to large blocks of people for purely partisan reasons.

[jmbar2]

5. Thank you for your service, above and beyond the call of duty!

I used to live in Houston and remember the poll workers well. Mostly elderly black church folks in their Sunday best. They ran a tight ship, but always had a smile for each voter.

It was clear that election day was a BIG DEAL in the African American community. I thank all the African American elections and campaign folk for being the true heroes of democracy.

[jmbar2]

6. Actually, thank all poll workers, period

I just have a special place in my heart for all the Aunties and Uncles from my old neighborhood.

[cannabis_flower]

7. The location I was at was a mix

Of mostly white and Hispanic voters. The percentage of Hispanic was very high. Maybe close to 40%.

[LanternWaste]

8. In Tarrant county, we were given the option to vote at any location

within the county lines.

Long lines at the library where I usually vote, but we were all in good spirits and most of us just hunkered down and waited in line.

[yellowdogintexas]

25. we had a mad rush at 4:30 at our location which

was a church just south of the big traffic circle. Which library? Some of those would have other locations nearby without wait times. We had a good number of voters who were from other precincts; they told us their normal location was too crowded and sent them to us.

Benbrook Community Center's line was snaked around the building.

I love the new voting location rules. It saves us so much petty paper work and it is now rare that a provisional ballot is necessary.

[barbtries]

9. thank you for your service!

i spent a few hours directing lost voters to their correct precincts. A lot of people don't realize that once early voting is over those sites close.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. we still use the early voting locations

as regular election day locations, they are just not set up with as many machines as during Early Voting.

[barbtries]

37. ithat would make more sense.

if people came too late they could go to the local site across the street, but they would vote on a provisional ballot.

[LonePirate]

10. Thank you for helping people perform their civic duty.

[TNNurse]

11. Thank you.

Do you think Texas can get more precincts open by the general election????

[Moderateguy]

19. If it is a Republican area I expect there will be 5 polling places

in a town of 50

[yellowdogintexas]

29. Well each precinct number is already a voting location.

unless a couple of low turnout precincts that border are combined into one voting location. My home location has 2 precincts voting there, and it has been that way for a long time. It is a fairly densely populated area so it is a good fit. We had 198 open precincts yesterday and a person could vote in any of them regardless of home location.

The one I worked yesterday was only one precinct number and our turnout was far lower than many others. If the Democrats hadn't all showed up at once it would have been a very easy day.

I expect that at the next primary there will be a better balance of equipment.

Other Texas counties with fewer and larger precincts may vary.

I'm not sure how precinct lines are drawn, but it seems to be a population. We have a number of zero precincts which are industrial and agricultural areas where no one lives. They are drawn that way to keep folks from having to go the boonies to vote, or have a voting location open for just 2 or 3 voters. There are plenty of precincts surrounding them where people actually live anyway. We do have some which appear to be heavily overpopulated. I suspect this is because lots of apartments have been built since the last time they were drawn. There may be a realignment to correct this after the census. The county does this I believe. Voting centers really help though.

[lunatica]

12. You and those voters rock!

Your efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by the entire world!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

13. Thank you for helping people make it through!

Voting should be quick and easy, not a strain on voters and poll workers.

[Mr.Bill]

14. I worked at the polls in California for five years

and was an inspector. My wife worked as an inspector yesterday. Where she worked in our small town up north there were two precincts in one building. Four workers per precinct. Between them they had around one hundred voters. Never a line. We still mostly use paper ballots, but the law requires one electronic machine at each precinct. No one used them. In the five years I worked there I saw them used three times.

[BigmanPigman]

15. I worked at the polls twice.

Once in Phila held at the YMCA and another in CA in a garage. I have voted in several garages in C over the years and there were never any lines longer than 5 min. Why don't more states do this?

[yellowdogintexas]

30. County governments determine precinct boundaries and locations

not the state at least here in Texas.

[Mr.Bill]

39. True, but here in California

they do have to meet guidelines set by the office of the Secretary of State. The SoS sends out inspectors to not all but some of the polling places. In five years I saw them twice where I was working.

[blue-wave]

16. Thank You!!

I know, I have worked election days. They are grueling. My hats off to you and hope you are now resting.

[geardaddy]

17. Thank you for your service!

We don't use voting machines, but paper ballots that we feed into a vote scanning machine.

[yellowdogintexas]

31. we use touch screen voting machines which are clear and easy to see,

and very user friendly with a low margin of error. The voter can review for as long as they wish, & change their mind multiple times before printing. Voters pick up a blank ballot, insert it into this machine, make their choices, then print the ballot. After that, the ballot is hand carried by the voter to the scanner. The printed ballot has a list of all the selections, to be used in a recount if needed, and a Q code which is actually what the scanner reads. Even if the voter realizes a mistake after printing, we can spoil the ballot and re issue a new blank one to the voter.

The only part of the actual voting process which stores any info is the scanner, which is taken by the judge to the drop off point to go to the elections office . Nothing goes by internet. Every piece of equipment is locked and sealed and the seal numbers recorded at set up and at teardown. We break the old seals and put on new ones at the end of the day.

I feel that our elections are very safe.

[geardaddy]

33. That's good that the voting machines print out the actual voter's completed ballot.

[comradebillyboy]

18. Thanks for your efforts. You are doing God's work.

[cp]

20. Thank you!

[somaticexperiencing]

22. Thank you for your service!!!! Very much appreciated. And...

yet, this is how we run elections in this supposedly great democracy. It's a crying shame.

[SunSeeker]

24. It's scandalous the dearth of resources allocated for voting in states with GOP leadership.

Thank you so much for not letting the Republicans keep the voters in your district from voting.

[Mickju]

27. Thank you so much for being conscientious.

It's a disgrace that you had to be put through that. Maybe if Democrats can take over the state goverrnment this sort of thing won't happen.

[Scruffy1]

28. Here in El paso it went smooth.

We kepr our polling places. It's a big thing to live in a Democrat city.

[yellowdogintexas]

32. Does El Paso have voting centers yet,

or are you still requiring voters to vote only in their home precincts on Election Day?

[DinahMoeHum]

34. Thank you for your service. I'm an election inspector myself.

. . .and I know the grueling drill all too well.

Being from NY, our polls open 6 am, which means getting there by 5:30 am to set up.
Polls close at 9 pm, which means we usually don't leave before 9:30 pm as we call in the results and close up shop - and one of us goes to the town hall to deliver the blue suitcase containing the voting materials.

We use paper ballots, scanned through a machine, but we also have a rolling paper printer which prints the results plus a memory card which we place in a special pouch.

[dobleremolque]

35. Thank you for the job you've done!

I'm an inspector at a voting area in Arizona. Here, if you vote in the wrong precinct, you vote will not be counted. Our biggest challenge thru the long day is directing voters to the correct precinct. Occasionally, precincts are combined but then you have 2 separate 8-person crews working at the location and that just adds to the confusion.

One of our growing problems is the pool of eligible election workers is aging out. Three of the folks assigned to our precinct for Arizona's March 17 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary, have forewarned me they'll be using walkers!

[calimary]

36. Thank you, cannabis_flower!!!

You were doing the Work of the Saints.

[mopinko]

38. such an exhausting job. i did it several times. loved it so much. but

it took me a week to recover.
less of an issue in november, as things are slow at the farm. but primaries?
just.cont.do.it.

good on you cf.

[TomSlick]

40. You're my hero.

[llmart]

41. Good for you!

Thanks for the insight and thanks for being a diligent poll worker.

[Joinfortmill]

42. Thank you. But...

Houston you have a problem

[flying_wahini]

43. I worked a 15 hour day in Ft Worth. 3 voting machines. Home at 9:30pm. I feel your pain.

Dems voted 8:1 over republicans in my precinct so I was running on adrenaline!


Texas lost hundred of poll workers when the new touch screen machines came out 1-2
Years ago.

More Dems needed to go and take training 4-5 hours. Paid, if it matters.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

44. Why we're poll places eliminated? The one in central texas

I have voted in for many years just disappeared. And same thing combined into another. But only 9 machines. I waited 48 min.

But strikes me the poll place closings was the original root cause. Then not beefing up machines

[erpowers]

45. How Did You Become a Poll Worker

What did you do to become a poll workers? Is there someone a person should talk to if they want to work the polls?

[Lonestarblue]

46. Interesting article from The Guardian about Texas leading the country in closing voting locations.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/02/texas-polling-sites-closures-voting

“The closures could exacerbate Texas’s already chronically low voter turnout rates, to the advantage of incumbent Republicans. Ongoing research by University of Houston political scientists Jeronimo Cortina and Brandon Rottinghaus indicates that people are less likely to vote if they have to travel farther to do so, and the effect is disproportionately greater for some groups of voters, such as Latinxs.”

[redqueen]

48. "the effect is disproportionately greater for some groups of voters, such as Latinxs"

Isn't that special.

[redqueen]

47. Thanks for doing it. I read that Houston was still using those awful DRE machines.

I don't trust those.

[iluvtennis]

49. Thank you cannabis_flower for your deidcated work in allowing ppl to vote.