People under the age of 18 are unable to take part in the current, rather eccentric, election. Or are they? In San Mateo County’s DemocracyLIVE program, students 16 and older are able to participate in the election by working at polling places. They work alongside adults as they help to open and close polling places, set up polling machines, and locate voters’ names on a roster as citizens come in to cast their vote.
DemocracyLIVE gives people who cannot vote, yet want to be a part of the election, a chance to take part in a real election and therefore learn about the process of voting. The most recent election that Aragon students took part in was the California primary election on June 7.
After arriving at 6 a.m., senior Justin Privitera and the other workers set up two different precincts. Some technical issues popped up with voting machines, prompting a call to tech support, but before long, all was figured out. The precinct opened voting a bit after 7 a.m. “We had a very experienced man in charge, who had done [elections] for years,” said Privitera. “Overall, things ran smoothly.”
However, there were a few bumps in the road to democracy.
“One of my coworkers … kept talking to the voters about movies and about her health, as well as being utterly inept at finding registered voters names in the book we had with all the voters for our precinct,” said Privitera, “As the day wore on she talked incessantly about how she was feeling like she would pass out.”
“I would say dealing with her was quite humorous,” said Privitera. The adults who work at the precincts do it for all sorts of reasons, including “the little precinct worker pin we get, [and the] money.” These people are voters themselves, and the DemocracyLIVE program gives students the ability to interact with and learn interesting, information about the people who make up the county.
The program also helps students appreciate the complexity of the election system. Privitera notes that he handed out a large number of provisional ballots. Provisional ballots are used when a voter’s identity is questioned in any way, such as if they are not on the precinct’s roster.
While standard voting can be done on though an electronic voting both, all provisional voting must be done on a paper ballot. As well, election officials must run a validation procedure for each individual provisional ballot before it can be counted. This means provisional ballots take much longer to count, and were one of the causes for the final tally of California’s election taking a month to finish.
Privitera stated that he wanted to sign up for the DemocracyLIVE program because, “It … seemed like a good opportunity to earn some good money … and get a glimpse into democracy as a whole.”
The wish to learn is common among those who participate in the program. Senior Sagrika Jawadi, who will be participating in DemocracyLIVE in the November general election, said, “I just like to be involved in the community … I definitely hope to learn more about how the voting process works.”
The election has permeated at least some part of everybody’s life — discussed in history classes, magazines, conversations at the dinner table and even in people’s favorite TV shows. DemocracyLIVE is a perfect way for students to get involved with the hotly-discussed election, and gain knowledge and a new perspective on the American political system.
