I saw the advertisement in the newspaper. The county election services was looking for poll workers for the upcoming elections. I was going to be in the area of their office the next morning, so I stopped in. Before I knew it, I'd signed up and passed their simple cognitive test. (That means that in 20 questions they determined that I was smart enough to help out!) I took the required 3 hour class last night. My fellow classmates and I learned how to be pleasant and nice to people (guess that "skill" has died out while I was out of the states) as well as how to do our specific job.
The process and job is very exacting and tightly controlled to preserve the integrity of the election process. Having lived in Haiti for 25 years and seen that "election process", I was struck by the stark day and night contrast between these 2 countries. The difference list could go on for pages and pages, but basically it is the well thought out process, organization of it, and goal of assuring the integrity of the election. Whereas Haiti's election is the exact opposite: lack of ballots, NO organization of how to carry it out, no controls, and most definitely NO integrity. I know my perspective is unique, having lived out of the country for so long, but I couldn't help but think, "Do Americans REALLY know what they have??!!"
I do not think so!
Sorry, just had to wake you all up! No matter how messed up you may think America is, it is still a most special country and it's citizens are indeed very privileged. Anyway, I'm looking forward to helping out in the upcoming elections, although it will be hard to remain nonpartisan for the day. It should be an interesting experience. I'm assigned to work in a precinct near our home, so I'll get to interact with quite a number of people from our small town. My world consists of church and work here at RMI, so expanding my borders will be good and hopefully refreshing/challenging.
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