I’m a poll worker, but now I dread my job
After several years of experience as an election worker, I was surprised to find myself dreading Wisconsin’s primary. Running elections has grown more daunting with every new voting law passed by the legislature, especially the photo ID requirement and voter registration rules.
The need for public confidence in fair and impartial elections is at the heart of why I choose to volunteer. I don’t want voters to stand in long lines or feel scrutinized as if they were passing through an airport checkpoint. Most of all, I hate telling young voters that their student IDs are not on Wisconsin’s very short and very specific list of approved forms of identification.
My polling place is located in a large Madison retirement community. I recognize most who live and vote there, longtime voters who often sign their names in the poll book with a shaky hand. Many are not able to drive, so they let their driver’s licenses expire. If the license expiration date is before Nov. 4, 2014, it is not approved for voting.
All I can do is tell those lacking an approved ID they can still “vote” by casting a provisional ballot and presenting the city clerk with the proper ID within three days. But what good is a vote if it’s not counted? Of the 123 provisional ballots cast citywide April 5 by voters, only 41 were counted. The rushed process of obtaining a proper ID and getting to City Hall is an obstacle that two-thirds of our provisional voters couldn’t surmount.
That obstacle was put in place despite evidence that voter im- personation is essentially non-existent.
On Election Day, 24,625 voters registered at the 87 polling places in Madison, thanks to Wisconsin’s same-day registration option. I usually spend most of my time assisting long lines at the registration table, but I find that task is now more complicated and even troubling.
For instance, I’m very uncomfortable with current requirements for recording a voter’s proof of address. I don’t think most Wisconsin banks and businesses realize that registrars must write down the last few digits of people’s account numbers when they register them to vote. I know banks and businesses respect their customers’ privacy. I know they would not release information to an official to verify a voter’s address without a court order.
To make matters worse, Wisconsin legislators cut early voting hours in half and eliminated early voting on evenings and weekends, creating yet more pressure at the polls on election days.
Like Wisconsin, many states have recently passed restrictive voting laws. These measures are undermining faith in our democracy, even as some courts are upholding them.
I have a suggestion for Wisconsin legislators and their counterparts in other states: Why not spend a day as a poll worker before you pass more laws that create obstacles to voting?