Coming to college and with recent issues, I started to realize how important it is to take part in the election process. In my sophomore year, I started working as an election judge and it was the first election I was able to vote for. It’s a long and tedious training process, but it’s an honor and privilege to be a part of the process. It’s a long day on election day when you have to wake up and get to the polls at 5 am to stay until around 8 pm to close up. It was very slow at first, as it was a day off of classes so everyone was sleeping in. Around lunchtime, we got a message from the county clerk's office to expect it to be busy and of course, the line started. A huge group of people just appeared and a line formed down the hallway. After that, the other election judges and I had no chance of a break until the end of the day. None of us were bothered by this though. I think all of us were really happy to see all the people. We all were able to work together to make sure everyone in that line got to vote and be counted. We all had different opinions and backgrounds, but it didn’t matter because we were all there for the same reason. We were worried that we had to cut people off after 7 pm, but we managed to have everyone in the line vote right at closing time.
The cleanup process is long, but again, we all worked together to make sure that we can leave as soon as possible to get the sleep we deserve. There was a great surprise at the end of the day. We were organizing until someone knocked on the door. It was a pizza delivery man and we had many boxes of pizza. So, obviously, we all took a box home for our hard work. Seeing the line full of young people was very heartwarming. The experience and opportunity to be part of something so important were rewarding. I encourage everyone to vote, if you are able to, and/or to be an election judge! It’s totally worth it. Audrey Adji |
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February 2023
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