On Election day I was asked to go to my polling place and ask a Poll Worker a few questions. The Poll Worker I interviewed was Michael McBride.

Question 1 - Did you work the election last year?

Answer - Yes I did. I work here every year.

Question 2 - How is this year different than 2009?

Answer - There is a smaller turnout this year.

Question 3 - What is the Best part of being a Poll Worker?

Answer - I get to see neighbors I don't always get to see.

Question 4 - What is the most difficult part of being a Poll Worker?

Answer - Dealing with the weather is always the worst.

During my trip there I was not able to go inside the building where they were voting because I was underage, so I took a picture of the outside of the building. While I was there only one other person went to go vote, the polling place was almost deserted. 

The place were my mom votes is now Elwood Elementry School. We went After she got off of work around three o'clock. During that time it was very little people there because lots of other voters did not get off of work. Interviewed the head poll worker who was a really nice and confident woman who was willing to answer all of my questions. This woman had worked the polls last year and has saw that there was significant decrease of voters from last year. For her the best part of being a poll worker is being involved politically in the community; and the most difficult is part is waiting for voter to come and vote.

 I have two images to post but I am unsure on how to insert them.

- Desirée Mack

Today I visited my local voting place to ask a few questions about the turnout during this election and the turnout during last years election.

Did you work here during the last election?  Yes

Do you think there are as many people voting in this election as there were last year? No, this year we have had 42 people come and vote so far, and last year we had 203 voters.

What do you think the best part of of working at the polls is? Getting to meet new people, and knowing that I am helping people get their voices heard.

What do you think is the worst of working at the polls? Sometimes there are a lot of people coming in at once, and it is hard to regester all of them at once, other than that everything is good.

Today when I went out to the polling facility, I quickly noticed that the election scenario this year was hardly like that of last year at all. There were no lines, and not a huge amount of people streaming in and out of the facility. The only similarity between this and last year's election that I saw was that the same people were overseeing/facilitating the voting process, such as Ms. Terry. Connor. From what I understand, today's election scene is much less active than last year's because citizens are voting for individuals for positions that aren't as high as president and vice president. For example, here in Pennsylvania, the election was for Supreme Court judges/justices, the retention of already serving Supreme Court officials, and also for election judges, which Terry was one of the candidates for. So, I would say that because less authoritative figures are being elected today, everyone isn't't as interested in the election, making the voter turnout  lower and causing the facilities to receive less activity. In New Jersey, however, the new governor is being elected, so I would assume the activity is of a higher level over there. For Pennsylvania, it's simply a drop in the frequency of business regarding this year's election due to decreased priority in people's eyes. 

 I have had trouble uploading the picture, and I'm hoping that in class, you might be able to help me out with this.

This election scene had only a few people at the ballots this year, while last year, there were long lines of people waiting to vote.  A major reason for this was not only because last year was a presidential election, but it was also because Barack Obama was a candidate for president.  This had spawned a lot of controversy between Democrats and Republicans, and each party was desperate to make sure that they get the President they desired.  This year, this was an election between congressmen, making this far less exciting, and nowhere near historical.

I went to the Kendrick recreation center and talked to a senior lady working at the poll.  It seemed as those most of the people I saw there were fairly old, actually.  I asked her if she had been there last year for the Presidential election, and she said yes.  When I asked her is it was much difference from this year she nodded vigorously.  Last year there was a line of voters the entire day.  At the time I was there the room was pretty much empty.  
    The turnout was much less than last year, and apparently the place I went to had been doing better compared to other polling places.  Last year voters of all ages came.  She said there were a lot of enthusiastic young voters then, but not so many now.  Thats one of the reasons she enjoys working there.  She likes to meet new people and see them interested in voting.  When I asked her why she thought it was so slow, she said people don't see as much significance in this type of election because its mostly just judges.  Working there mostly just involves paper work/checking and double checking all sorts of lists.  Other than that, she said "the job is easy."

On the front lawn of the apartment buildings they had a bunch of the candidates signs. As you walked up the path there were more signs, however they were all the same. No sign was really bigger then the other or trying to promote someone more then the other. There really wasnt anyone at the voting place. It was in the middle of the afternoon when I went with my mom. There were like 3 people there so it was calm. Back in 2008 the polls were all swamped. People were standing outside the door waiting to put in their vote. This voting process was a lot more calm.The reasons for it being a lot calmer was people were voting for judges mostly. This kind of campaign is obviously not as big as the one for president. 

My pole worker participated as a pole worker last election. She
said that this year election outcome would be different because of the number
of people voting.

My pole worker said that the best part of being a poll
worker is that you get to be with fellow workers and interact with them.

My pole worker said the most difficult part is waiting for
the voters to come.

The visit to the poles was boring. There was hardly anyone
there. I think the response from the poll worker was predictable. Overall I can
see why not many participated. I believe less people came because of septa
going on strike.

Normal.dotm
0
0
1
86
494
SLA
4
1
606
12.0

0
false

18 pt
18 pt
0
0

false
false
false

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

it is 12 o clock at the polling place. Not a lot of people its really quite empty. It seems very casual and unimportant. If i were to walk buy it i would probably not have noticed it was a polling place. No line or anything. There are some women in the background just having light conversation. Boredom probably. 

The most significant difference was how busy it was. Last years election was hectic because it was a Presidential Election. But for todays election most people i talked to wasn't even aware of the election, and didn't vote. The reason for this is because this election is obviously less significant then the Presidential. 

After I saw Sen. Obama's victory speech I was very hopeful about our new president elect.   I was happy he had won and after the speech I was reassured that he could do a good job in office.  I was also reassured that America was a country that can overcome challenges and can change the face of itself.

On November 4, 2008 I saw my father cry for the first time and it was then i realized that what I had just witnessed was real. While watching Barack Obama's speech I reflected on my history as an African American and I felt an instant sense of gratification and pride. I know this is only the beginning, and as long as the American people and Barack Obama continue the fight of uniting America that the best is yet to come.