6:30 AM Arrived at Northside Branch Library, signed in, met other volunteers 

7:00 AM Our first voter arrives! Turns out its Katie Sowers, the assistant coach for the 49ers (1st female and openly gay coach) 

7:34 AM Tall dude who smells of very strong cologne comes up with a 49ers mask; we realize it is a 49ers player

8:01 AM A car started blasting FDT (by the way, this is illegal, it is called electioneering)

8:00-8:50 AM Managed voters in line, bonded with a fellow volunteer who works at an organic chemistry lab for Lockheed Martin 

8:50-9:05 AM Had a break and Abi and I freaked out that we met a 49ers player and Katie Sowers

9:10-11:00 AM had a competition with an old guy named Assaf of who could clean the most polling stations & the fastest (for the record I won) 

11:06 AM Random voter claims Macedonia is open to Americans at the moment as there are not many COVID cases there. Moral of the story: visit Macedonia or other small irrelevant European countries. 

11:00 AM-12:00 PM Lunch break – ate Chipotle (burrito bowls are elite!) & legs are halfway about to fall off 

12:00-2:00 PM Managed ballot drop off line 

2-2:10 PM Sorted and counted paper—how riveting!

2:38 PM Confronted anti-masker who was extremely petty (she finally agreed to wear a mask and, the minute she left, she took it off while her husband was outside the whole time and never wore a mask) 

3:00 PM Break—finished burrito bowl 

3:00-5:00 PM Continued managing ballot line 

3:19 PM Confronted yet ANOTHER anti-masker who absolutely refused to wear a mask and we had to bring everything out to her while she sat pettily in her car 

5-5:15 PM Started frantically checking polls online as Florida and other states began to update 

5:27 PM Unhinged lady begins yelling about how she must have a pen to fill out her ballot as she thinks the given Sharpie will not count (fake news)

5:30-8:00 PM: Cleaned voter stations, helped voters with voting. Legs are just about dying right now. 

8:00 PM Someone gives me a chair. I could not thank them enough. 

8:15 PM Guarded the blue ballot bags with our lives! Then signed out and said goodbye only to go home and watch CNN till 1 AM.

I spent the months leading up to the November election pretty frustrated, knowing I was too young to vote in arguably one of the most significant elections of our lifetime. After listening to a podcast called Pod Save America, my friend and I were inspired to sign up to volunteer at our local polling place. I knew it was more important than ever to volunteer, especially this year. Traditionally, older Americans work at the polls. However, due to COVID-19, many of these elders opted out due to greater susceptibility to the virus.

Thus, we signed up, and come November 3rd, we worked.

Overall, the experience was extremely gratifying. Leaving the polling place after almost 15 hours left me feeling pretty fulfilled that I had done my part in this election, even though I couldn’t vote. Working as a team to ensure every vote was counted and that the process ran smoothly was a great experience; one I will never forget. Poll-working is a great way to get involved in our country’s democratic process, and I would absolutely recommend signing up to work at your local polling place in the forthcoming 2022 Midterm elections!