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| About Maryland's Intervening 2014 election by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 03/03/2014, 3:54pm PST | ||||
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| Maryland's Gubenatorial election is in the off even year from the Presidency so I think I'll talk about it a bit from the standpoint of an election judge, which is the fancy name for a pollworker.
Every election we go in for training for 3 hours and we get an extra $50 in addition to $200 for doing the primary. Then we get an additional $200 for doing the general election. The county mails out checks about 3-4 weeks later. Chief Judges get $300 per election for the extra work. Last election we had to have an additional training class because people were fucking up the voting machines by not handling them properly and damaging too many of them. These are not those old lever-operated machines made from iron and built to last 50 years, they're specialized Windows machines with digital cartridges and such. Instead of being 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide, they close up into a suitcase about the size of an accordion case. 8 of them will fit on a truck the size of a computer table, and they rack like suitcases or bomb-proof cases. I had a training class scheduled for 6 to 9 PM but that's too late; it makes it highly likely I'll miss the last bus, so I had to go on-line and reschedule, and I got one for 9am to noon, March 17. It's on my calendar, meaning the note is taped on the inside of the door to my room. They give you a copy of the state-issued training manual and encourage you to read it. It is "the Bible" and we are to follow the rules religiously. Maryland is an extreme blue state, and Prince George's County is about as blue as it gets. We have lots of time for early voting and we take pride in making it forbidden for the election judges to ask people for ID unless challenged at the polling place. They are supposed to say who they are, what party they're with and the month and day of birth, and confirm their address. When people present ID, I tell them that we are not allowed to accept it, this isn't Virginia and we take people at their word, and that I know this because I worked as an election judge in Virginia when I lived there too. (And they don't pay as much either.) I made a spot decision to make an exception when someone is deaf or can't talk, then I'll take their ID. I'm going to mention it at the training class. Also I've mentioned (in the 2010 class) that you should expect to be there from 5:45 am until 10:30 pm, because we have to be there by 6 and the polling place must open by 7, no exceptions. (We'll often have people waiting. If it's cold out, we invite them in to sit inside the building on chairs or benches in the corridor of the elementary school we use (this is outside the lunchroom we use as the polling place). More later as I think about it. |
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About Maryland's Intervening 2014 election by 03/03/2014, 3:54pm PST  |
