Election Official

I am officially an election official, and I served in my first official election yesterday, the state primary. (hmmm... Can I add any more "officials" into that sentence?)
So yeah, I am an election judge and worked 15 hours yesterday to make sure that everything over at precinct 6 was above board. It's not difficult, but there are a few rules that you have to know. I took a 2-hour class in August and then skimmed the manual and I was pretty well set.
There is a Head Judge assigned to each location that has usually done elections for a number of years (and they get extra training) and there is a Ward Judge that you can call if you run into any problems.

Yesterday was pretty slow because it was a primary. We only had 133 (out of 1700 eligible) voters- but it was pretty steady over the whole day. I am glad I did the primary first to learn the ropes a bit because I know that Nov. is going to be a whole different experience.

I was the youngest person there by a good 25 years. (but there were some people my age in the training class) The other judges were ok. One was a little "off", one was a little lazy, one was a little uptight (she was the head judge) and one guy was totally normal- a nice retired guy. But for the most part we got along fairly well for one day. Doughnuts and a good amount of reading material helped smooth over any rough spots. The thing is, as an election judge, you can't do anything by yourself- all the ballots have to be signed by 2 people, all the seals have to be sealed (or unsealed) by 2 people, the counting machine has to be opened and shut down by 2 people, etc. And the thing is it is supposed to be 2 people from 2 different parties. So it surprised me that 4 of us at my location were Democrats and only 1 person was an Independent. So that one person (again the head judge) had to be part of everything instead of being able to divvy up some of the work. So annoying.

Most of the people that came to vote were so nice - that was kind of cool. We only had one jackass show up. He came to vote, but had moved LAST October, and hadn't yet gotten a new drivers license. Here, that is ok, but you have to have additional proof of your address (like a utility bill). He didn't have it and was yelling about how that was a stupid rule, he already had ID, etc. Anyway, he left and we didn't think he'd come back. But he did. The weird thing was he brought his girlfriend (wife?) with him and she was saying, "You said you wanted to go on a walk! You didn't say anything about voting! I didn't bring my purse!"
But he came in with his utility bill complaining again about how it was a ridiculous rule and "like anyone is going to commit voter fraud at a primary!"
Well no, it's unlikely, but the rules still apply to you. Luckily, I didn't have to talk to him.

My grandma served as an election judge for a long time, and it's something I've been meaning to do since the Bush/Gore fiasco. Also, it seems they are always looking for more judges, especially younger ones to replace some of the senior ones. If you are thinking about it, it's not too late for this year, check with your county.