Rarely have the skills I gained through twenty years
of leading a drama team proven useful at my City Hall job. This month, however,
my two worlds collided as I’ve assisted with training the 54 voting officials
who will be on duty October 22.
Sitting there handing out ballots all day and
collecting a nice paycheque at the end probably looks like a pretty cushy job. But
given that our workers will put in a 14-hour day as well as the two hours of training
(not counting homework), their rate of pay works out to $10 - $15 an hour.
And as far as ease goes, workers must familiarize
themselves with eleven different forms. Would you believe thirteen separate
envelopes are needed to divide various components, including: Accepted Ballots, Spoiled Ballots, Declined Ballots,
Discarded Ballots, Unused Ballots, Rejected Ballot objected to, and
Rejected Ballots not objected to. All
of this to ensure no inaccuracies occur, all ballots are accounted for, and
each elector has opportunity to exercise his or her right to vote.
My task was to stage a mock election so our workers
could practice correct procedures. I created fake ballots and, like writing a
dramatic script, came up with a variety of scenarios that could arise. We
assigned two people to be voting officials and another to play scrutineer. The
others were each handed a slip of paper revealing their name and address and
their situation or instructions. They played their roles with the dedication of
Broadway actors.
First of all, the straight-forward situation. John
Q. Public turns out to vote, announces his name and address. Sure enough, he’s
on the voters’ list. His name is crossed off and entered into the voting
record. He’s given his ballots, he checks off his choices, his ballots go into
the ballot box. Easy.
But suppose someone isn’t on the list because he wasn’t
home when enumerators came? Suppose he carries no I.D? Suppose he’s unwilling
to sign an oath? Suppose an eligible voter is blind or illiterate or doesn’t
speak English? Suppose someone’s identity is challenged? Suppose someone owns
land in the municipality but doesn’t actually live in it? Suppose someone takes
a ballot but then chooses to decline, announcing he doesn’t like any of the
candidates? Suppose someone accidentally spoils his ballot and would like a new
one?
At the end of the day, workers must correctly assess
the ballots. Suppose someone wrote his own name on it, spoiling the secrecy of
the ballot? Suppose someone voted for seven councilors when he’s only supposed to
vote for six or fewer? Suppose someone placed his “X” between two names and
it’s unclear whom he voted for?
Election officials must know how to handle each case
according to the regulations laid out in the Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act, how to correctly tally all the votes and confirm
everything balances. Their job includes calling the Election Officials with the
results for their own poll, sealing the ballot box, and returning it to City
Hall.
At the close of our mock voting, workers went
through the tally procedure and discovered we had elected Minnie Mouse for Mayor
(over Elmer Fudd and Donald Duck). Our councilors of choice were Mel Gibson,
Sandra Bullock, Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and Harrison Ford.
(Now wouldn’t we suddenly see a lot more “concerned citizens” attending Council
meetings?)
When you vote on October 22, I hope you can now
better appreciate the time and effort required to make an election happen. You
may be surprised to know the voters list is created from scratch every
election, so if enumerators missed you, you won’t appear on the list even if
you lived at the same address for many years. Please don’t feel offended if
officials ask for I.D. and have you sign an oath. They didn’t write the rules,
but are duty-bound to uphold them. They do a great job serving their community.
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