My state had it’s primary yesterday (May 6th) and, for the first time, I worked the polls. It turned out to be a fantastic, but grueling experience. I got to work with some amazing people who live in my area. These people were very friendly, intelligent, and politically engaged. It’s great to know that there are others who not only care about politics on all levels (not just the national level), but do something to assist the process.
My only disappointment was that there weren’t more young people involved in the process. I was the youngest by at least 25 years and was less than half the average age of everyone there (there were seven others). Even at my training, where there were about 30 people, I was the 2nd youngest (there was one inspiring young woman there who couldn’t have been more than 23) and likely the only one there in my 30s. It’s been said many times before, but usually with respect to voting: the democratic process needs younger people!
Here’s why. The electoral process is slowly modernizing. Here in NC, we already have electronic voting machines (with a paper trail). This election was the first time they had an electronic registered voter database. Every other person there, despite having the same training and more years of experience, would not have been able to successfully run that machine. Furthermore, most of them knew this. This is because they didn’t grow up with computers. They have little familiarity with how they work. It’s not just a matter of comfort level. Most of them don’t even have email address, yet they were expected to run (if not understand) a databasing system. Our nations youth have grown up with computers around them. They understand them and are familiar with them. Most of them would have had no problem learning and using the new system.
The above image is created and licensed by Danny.