Election officers train for emergencies and to improve accessibility in the lead-up to Election Day. (Photo by Monica Escamilla)
On Nov. 5, Richmond’s polls will open at 6 a.m. sharp, but the work of the city’s election officers starts well before Election Day. These community members have taken on the important task of helping their neighbors fulfill their civic duty.
Becoming an election officer, sometimes called a poll worker, starts with training classes to learn the commonwealth’s rules for elections, including understanding acceptable forms of identification, how to provide accessible voting options, polling place etiquette and the process for reporting results. In addition, election officers swear an oath to “prevent fraud, deceit and abuse” during the voting process.
It’s essential that workers arrive at their precincts prepared, because they are not allowed to leave for the duration of Election Day. From setting up the voting booths to delivering the final numbers to the electoral board, the process can last 15 to 17 hours. “That’s the only place that I’m ever on time,” says Stacie Harris, chief election officer at Richmond city precinct 812 on the far end of the South Side.
Harris has been an election officer for 16 years. While tensions can run high on Election Day, she wants every voter to feel comfortable and supported. “We are neutral,” she says. “Whatever your preferences, who you vote for, it doesn’t matter to us. What matters to me is that you exercise your right to vote.”
According to the Richmond Office of Elections, the city has over 160,000 registered voters in 72 precincts, each of which is staffed by as many as 17 election officers. “Sometimes we have a flood of people already in line, and sometimes we don’t get our first vote until 10 o’clock,” says Sala Powell-Dabney, chief election officer at Richmond city precinct 910 in the South Side, where she lives. “It just depends. And every precinct is different.”
At a minimum, every precinct needs at least one e-poll book officer with the list of eligible voters, a ballot officer accounting for all the ballots, someone to operate the machine that scans the votes and a chief election officer. “We’ve been down to four people working, myself and three others,” Powell-Dabney says. “But we make it work as long as everybody works as a team.”
Election officers are paid for their work, but money isn’t where poll workers, including Operadella Williams, chief election officer at Richmond city precinct 706, find their reward. “First-time voters are the most exciting,” Williams says. “We make a big deal. We celebrate them to try to help them understand that we realize the value of what they’re doing.”
Other exciting moments include watching locals go above and beyond to get out the vote. Williams recalls one year when she saw a senior citizen making multiple trips to drive people to the polls. “Maybe two hours later, she’s back again. She’s got another carload of people,” she says. “But that’s doing your part. Those people may not have been able to get to the polls otherwise.”
While presidential elections like the one next month tend to draw more voters, Harris emphasizes the impact on communities of voting in local elections. “Your voice is your weapon of choice, and your voice is your vote,” she says. “So let that be your weapon of choice to change and form your city.”
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