(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



I Voted! My Early Vote/Poll Experience in Arlington, VA [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2022-10-12

My wife and i went to vote early here in Arlington, Virginia yesterday. We voted at the Courthouse Plaza, which is the only Early Voting location currently open. Madison and Walter Reed open in two weeks (October 25). Unlike prior experiences at the government building, we voted in the Department of Elections office (#320) where people register to vote. Large parts of the building are under construction, and it appears the whole western side of the building is being remodeled. Last year, we early voted on the second floor in a room on that side of the building.

Everyone in Virginia can vote early or request a ballot by mail (VBM). In a room that looked like it was set up for two dozen voters to vote simultaneously, there were only 4-5 voters there (including us). There was one vote tabulator (counter) for the space, so if we had all finished at the same time, there would have been a short wait (but there was none yesterday).

I intentionally undervoted to see if the scanner would kick the ballot out or otherwise indicate that i hadn’t voted in every race. Nope. I didn’t even realize it had been accepted (i never noticed the light) until the poll worker said, “You’re done!”

We took our Voter cards with us (we had just received them), which i like to do because my name isn’t easy for everyone to spell (one L and two As for my first name; two Ts and two Ls in the last — in some places people want to replace the Ls with an O(or maybe add an O)). But it keeps the pollbook worker from asking a bunch of questions, as they just read as they type — and, at least here in Virginia, everything is in the same order for the computer and the Voter card.

My pollbook worker asked if i had brought my Voter card with me (like i said, we had just received them — after Early Voting had begun), but the person who served my wife did not (although my wife put in into the slot and it may have been seen before she could be asked). But since we had just received them (apparently, they came out of Richmond), he could have just been looking for indications we had gotten them. He was also permanent staff, whereas i believe everyone there at the time was temporary elections staff.

One of the things that Northern Virginia pollbook workers do (that i really like) is that they turn the screen towards you to verify your name and address. I’ve never seen this as an instruction (yet) in an Election Day setup checklist (such as the one (pdf) for Arlington County). But i’ve voted as a resident in recent elections in both Arlington and Fairfax counties (obviously, not the same elections), and served as a poll watcher in Loudoun County, and every place i’ve witnessed have done this since 2017. I have no idea if this is a statewide thing, but it serves the same purpose as showing voters our materials (like the Issues Questionnaire) when we canvass.

Where we checked in was in a different room than where we voted. I note this because there was a poll watcher assigned to the Early Voting site and she was stationed where we checked in. The poll watchers was situated only so that she could view voter check in; she had no ability to view the room where we voted in (and, hence, no ability to see that votes were being cast correctly, without incident). I asked her who she represented and she didn’t exactly grasp the question. Finally, she asked me if i meant what party and i responded in the affirmative. “I’m a Republican poll watcher,” she replied.

But she was there without a list, without any form of reading material, even a purse was not with her. She might have had a phone (phones are allowed to be taken into the polling place, as long as they are silenced), but i didn’t see one. Arlington County has a very liberal cell phone policy! But i mention this because GOP poll watchers had challenged voters in the 2021 state elections and there were a series of incidents that resulted from their Election Day activity. But she was very quiet, did not strike me as someone who would have challenged the rights of voters even if she had had a list; she was, instead, a more traditional LWV-like poll watcher.

Now there are only 3 contests on our ballot here in Arlington County. Quick ballot — took longer to get to Rm 320 than to vote. But you look at the ballot and you have to ask yourself, why *was* there a (GOP) poll watcher there? The incumbent Congressman (Beyer) will be re-elected easily here and the Republican candidate doesn’t even have her party listed on her campaign materials. Instead, she has them in the colors of Ukraine, and includes “Stand with Ukraine” on her signs and stuff. And while Bethany Sutton is the Democratic party’s choice for School Board, I have no idea if her opponent is Republican or Democrat (and one could easily imagine is also registered as a Democrat). So what would be the purpose of a GOP poll watcher, if not to challenge the right of certain voters to actually vote? *shrug*

When we finished marking in our ovals (makes you feel like school), we took our ballots over to the Unisyn Voting Solutions scanner or tabulator. Worked like a charm for us. We had voted.

I’d like to encourage others to write about their voting experiences this year, as well. Doesn’t matter where you are. If you can include mentions of the election equipment and the county/state that would be great. Republicans in some places are trying to make a big deal about how we vote in this country, we need to make them aware that we are paying attention, as well. Both sides are setting up for 2023 here in Virginia. Big huge battles to come!

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/12/2128464/-Early-Vote-Poll-Experience

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/