We'll show up just before dawn tomorrow, pulling into deserted parking lots in towns all across the state. We'll flip on the lights and turn on the voting machines, go over our long checklists, and then - right on time - we'll open the doors and let you in.
You've probably met some of us. After all, we're your neighbors - the people next to you in line at the grocery store, or sitting near you in the bleachers at the school games. And on Election Day, we're the folks who help count your vote.
We'll be waiting for you, ready to carefully check you off the list, hand you your ballot and make sure your vote gets counted.
It's a long, hard, careful job. To greet people with a smile, over and over and over. To sit at the table side by side, and work together, hour after hour, keeping track throughout the day. To handle dozens of details: new voters, changed addresses, mistakes on ballots.
Voting by mail? No problem. We've got you covered. Through the day, when there's a little time, we'll carefully feed your ballot in.
It's funny: for all that we're doing a political job, our own politics get left at the door. We work as a team, paired up with partners from the other side of the political aisle. You vote red? I vote blue? When we walk into that polling station, we leave all that behind. In that room none of that matters. For that day, we work side by side, and all we're thinking about is making sure we get it right. Every half hour we check our numbers and make sure they match.
Once in a while the machine jams, or runs out of tape. Then you really see how thorough the system is! We all gather round to watch as the problem's solved; together we'll go over the data to check every number. Then we all sign off as witnesses.
At the end of the day when the polls finally close, we still have lots of work to do. We gather round one more time to watch the final numbers printed up. Then we work in groups to make sure all our figures tally - ballots, attendance, votes. Finally we do one last check, and then listen as the supervisor calls and reads off the final numbers to the main office. They'll be checked again, of course, later. Checked and double checked.
As you know, there are people out there who worry that some of us are sneakily trying to steal votes or swing the results. It doesn't work like that.
You know, when we sign on to be a poll worker, we take an oath to protect each and every vote, to be careful and impartial. It's an honor to do this job. But even if someone were to lie and sign up hoping to somehow tip the scales, there are hundreds of ways the system protects your vote.
It will be late at night before we finally leave. Some of us will have been there since 6:30 a.m. We'll walk out at the end of the day with sore feet and aching backs, but we'll leave as a team, tired but satisfied, knowing we've done our best to keep this country we love strong and healthy.
So if you know someone who's been worrying that maybe their vote somehow won't be counted, I hope you'll pass this on. Tell them instead of worrying, they're welcome to come join us next time. Sign up, take the oath and get trained. We need careful, honest people to help keep our elections accurate and fair. Come find out how the system works; I think it will set your mind at ease.
This election day, when you walk in to vote, I hope you'll thank the poll workers. They're doing a long, hard job, doing the best they can because they believe in everyone's right to vote. That ballot you'll hold is a precious thing that millions across the world don't have. We still have it, and we need to use it, every one of us. And we'll be there, waiting for you, helping to make sure your voice - and the voices of our whole country - is heard.