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Leaving from my farm in rural Stone Bluff Oklahoma and after a drive of precisely 1000 miles over two days, I arrived in my appointed city, Toledo Ohio to join the People for the American Way Election Protection Coalition (EP). The headquarters (HQ) occupied the gymnasium and a classroom of the New Life Center of Bethlehem Baptist Church on Bancroft Street at Auburn in Northeast Toledo. Within sight of the gleaming new building boarded up businesses and homes dotted the neighborhood. Our hosts were gracious and generous. Locals expressed unending amazement that so many people traveled from all over the country to offer our bodies and souls to protect the right to vote. The following is a gazette of some of the encounters with volunteers, staff and voters: Chronology of my experience: I REALLY dislike driving, especially alone for long periods of time through heavy rain, but this was an important election and I was not about to sit at home while poor folks had their right to vote questioned. I signed up for an Election Protection assignment to any of 15 cities where I knew I would have a free place to stay. Toledo was my fourth choice behind Detroit, Inkster or Flint—all cities in MI where I had worked as a minister or social worker before and where poor folks are routinely disenfranchised. Only 50 miles away from my kids and granddaughter in Ann Arbor Toledo was less familiar territory though I had driven around it and through it hundreds of times and visited the museums, zoo and the university. I am grateful that I could go where I was most needed. Arriving at Head Quarters at 3 on Monday I found about 8 men and women keeping busy with various tasks. The usual campaign chaos spread around the room: computers and phones, newsprint checklists and grids, boxes of t-shirts, stacks of paper fresh from the copiers at Kinko’s, piles of office supplies, used take-out containers, discarded cardboard boxes. Training for 150+ loomed in just 3 hours and the gym had no chairs or tables set up. T-shirts needed to be sorted by size, a check-in table organized, poll volunteer supply boxes needed to be completed, and stacks of handouts collated. In spite of these pending tasks the Site Leader said, “Oh there really isn’t much work I can offer you, you might want to go tour the city or take a nap somewhere.” This was a BAD sign. Just looking around I knew there was more work than the crew at hand could possibly accomplish. I simply said, “Well dear, I didn’t drive 1000 miles to see the sights! Surely I can do something.” Thankfully, more experienced organizers arrived and sent us forward to get things in place. We finished just as the first volunteers arrived. “Training” was disjointed, reflecting that the leadership group had been perhaps too busy to coordinate well? Or couldn’t agree? Or just didn’t plan well? It became clear that the Lead Lawyer was a little too full of self-importance and also clear that the African American women carried the weight of considerable experience compared to the young woman assigned to be the leader of the operations. The Site Leader refused to allow everyone who wanted a poll shift to sign up, insisting we had more than enough volunteers. The volunteers to be trained were restless and a little annoyed, but in the end they ate lots of donated pizza and departed with sheaves of paper and heads full of cautious optimism for Tuesday. When I got to my daughter’s house, we chatted for too long even though I was exhausted. (We talk on the phone everyday for goodness sake!) I finally fell asleep about 1:30 AM needing to arise at 4:00 to get to the HQ by 5:30. I planned for cold rainy weather and needed everything I brought: earmuffs, rain pants, rain coat, fleece sweater, thick-soled Bronze Doc Martens boots, wool socks, umbrella. I looked like the Michelin Tire mascot in black and royal blue. Top it all off with an Election Protection Smock and an NAACP Election Observer cap. Oh yeah, I was styling. Off we go in deep rainy darkness through Toledo city streets with approximately 50% of the street lights not functioning. Funny thing, when we passed through an upper middle class neighborhood, all of the lights were working. Andy, my partner for the morning, begged for a coffee stop since for some reason the HQ workers had only purchased decaf. I don’t use caffeine and don’t drink coffee, but I am pretty sure this was a terrible mistake in planning! As we pulled up to the Keyser Elementary School on Hill Street at 6:10 we could see a parking lot already full of cars, two entrances (we had planned for only one entrance) and about 40 people in line for the 6:30 opening of the polls. By 7:00 there were 100-150 in line and by 7:15 voters reported chaos inside. People were leaving without voting, needing to get to work and not knowing whether or not they’d have another chance to vote. The scanners had ceased working and voters were being encouraged to leave their marked ballots in the “emergency slot” trusting that poll workers would scan them later. Three precincts (6N, 6G, 6H) vote in the gym, but few voters knew which precinct line to get in. In addition, the signage was terrible so people were standing in long lines only to be told they were in the wrong place. Sometimes the voter interpreted this to mean that they were in the wrong location altogether, not just the wrong line. We began intercepting disgruntled voters and helping them to figure out where to go. The volunteer from Kerry’s campaign had a magic book that located precincts and voting locations. The school employees arrived, directed by the school principal to park on the soggy lawn. Teachers handed out voter guides to school tax issues and offered hot drinks to the partisans and to us, the officially neutral. We spent almost an hour on the cell phone reporting trouble to our mobile lawyer team and pleading for extra volunteers to work both entrances. I couldn’t help but recall that so many willing and able volunteers were turned away the night before. The only sign of Republican advocacy all morning was the mid-sized sedan with a Bush bumpersticker that crept slowly through the lot while the passenger snapped pictures of everyone. The principal and vice-principal began helping to direct voters and eventually helped to post signs inside that would clear up some of the confusion. At one point, the lawyers asked me to go into the polling area to assess some details. I found out that the poll workers were in over their heads, that they also thought that the set-up was abysmal and that they resented that they were not permitted by the Election Board to do more to fix the problems. They said they felt under-trained and under-supported. Voters reported inconsistent handling of ballots among the three precincts and this made folks very nervous about the legitimacy of the election. We needed to stay in frequent contact with both HQ and our field lawyers to answer voter questions. Roving volunteers showed up regularly to offer us supplies, to take our complaint forms back to HQ and to do coffee runs. One of our approaches to the voters was to offer a voter’s bill of rights guide. Several black men and women of a certain age laughed and said things like, “Oh don’t worry, there is no one who can prevent me from voting ever again.” Unfortunately it is possible to intimidate and at least inconvenience others. Several young black women with children in tow had to leave because irate employers would not be understanding about being late due to voting problems. We estimated that 25+ left without voting at this precinct in the morning. Many said they knew they could not return as this was their only chance to vote. Some said they would return. We have no way of knowing if they came back. Because I was at the same poll again in the evening I can tell you I didn’t see any of them at the entrance I worked. Relieved by a troupe of (temporarily) dry younger men and women, Andy and I took off to HQ. Andy joined her spouse and went home but I was ready for more, so I got busy with important things like appointing myself OSHA inspector. There were massive extension cords traversing the gym floor waiting to trip some little old lady to offer up a broken hip so I dug around in the trunk of my husband’s car and found some duct tape. (Bill always sends me off well-prepared for emergencies!) Cords secured, my next assignment was much more interesting. Would I be willing to go to a nearby polling place to investigate a “situation”? Sure I would! Seem that a county election board worker physically assaulted one of our volunteers. Police had been called, but we needed to know more. Five minutes drive away I arrived in a “transitional” neighborhood. Well-kept homes intermingled with well-worn ones. A beautiful park and stately homes sat within view, probably NOT in the same precinct, my guess. The tiny “Community Church” polling site provided excellent access to voters as they arrived. Everyone on foot or in car had to run the gauntlet of Kerry supporters on one side and Election Protection volunteers on the other. I found the young woman who had the much too close encounter, introduced myself as the Rev. Valerie Mapstone Ackerman and asked for her side of the story. She was a European American from the neighborhood who has lots of friends of other backgrounds. She specifically chose that polling site and was well-known to the folks coming to vote, primarily young black voters and elderly white ones. Because Ray was well-known in the neighborhood as a racist, several first-time women voters had expressed concern for their safety at the poll. One woman asked for assistance inside and so our EP volunteer went in as is appropriate and allowable by law. A poll worker named Ray told her she had to leave. When she protested he shoved her hard enough to cause her to lose her footing. She claimed he was spouting racist bile all the while. She was not physically hurt, but she and the other young volunteers were very angry and somewhat belligerent. Taking off my NAACP Election Observer baseball cap, I went inside asking for Ray and was directed to an older white man in a plaid shirt. Our conversation was not the easiest I ever had. I introduced myself, apparently impressing him with the Rev. part because he seemed very willing to offer a confessional attitude. He admitted that “these” people acted as though this voting thing was a cause for celebration, that they brought cell phones and answered them and talked loudly and greeted each other raucously. Didn’t they know that this was serious business? And that woman I pushed, you know, the well, really big blonde? That’s how I want to say it, really big. (she was quite heavy) She had no business partying with “these” people.” Asked more about the partying remark, Ray went on, “They were laughing and talking too loud. So I threw her out on her ass. But I let that woman, the negro woman vote.” I murmured some words of compassion, “Must be hard to do this work…” “Oh I have been doing this for 20 – 30 years so has that woman,” pointing to a tiny elder white woman, “And we never had any trouble until they came and changed everything about 10 years ago.” At some point in the conversation, to emphasize a point, Ray starting jabbing his finger into my chest. Actually into my breast. I moved his hand higher up without pushing him away and still he didn’t take the cue that he might want to stop poking me. I kept listening to him vent about how horrible “these” voters are. When he seemed ready to slow down and grow calmer I asked if he thought it would be possible for him to be more welcoming to the voters even if they weren’t his kind of people. “After all, “ I said, “Election day should be a cause for celebration. It seems the church encourages that by having the bake sale and rummage sale right in the same room as the voting booths.” “Oh, yeah, they shouldn’t be allowed to do that either. The “old church never did.” (formerly a mainline Christian church this was now a Pentecostal congregation) More commiserating, “Things change.” “yeah, well I don’t have to like it.” “No. you don’t but you do have to behave with a certain amount of tolerance.” More poking, escalating again. This time I stopped him and asked if maybe poking people might be considered offensive and I poked him on the shoulder as I said it. He said, “I poked you and you weren’t offended.” “Well I’ve been trained not to react to such things. Most people would be more than offended. Some call the police.” “Well the cops didn’t cart me away,” he trumpeted, “They’re stuck with me now and I am not going anywhere.” The whole time we talked, my line of sight took in a co-worker who pleaded with her eyes and with hand gestures to get him out of here. I asked if he could step aside to talk with me more, but a third election worker insisted he couldn’t leave. Ray then said “Hey, I’d be happy to leave if there was a replacement for me.” I apologized for the interruption and thanked the workers for their time and effort to make a free and fair election possible. The woman rolled her eyes and shook her head. I told Ray I’d see if I could get the Lucas County Election Board to help find a replacement. The Republican and Democrat Site Challengers followed me to the exit where we conferred about Ray. The Republican was not willing to suggest that Ray was acting from a racist point of view, but he was willing to say he was too aggressive and then he agreed he’d watch over things. The Democrat went outside with me and thanked me for treating Ray with respect even though he didn’t earn it. “I couldn’t believe you let him poke you!” Oh yeah, takes more than poking to get to me. Back outside I conferred with the EP volunteers and asked them to do two things: take their NAACP caps off when they re-enter the building and find a way to have compassion for the racists. This was not well-received by the belligerent white women. I tried to explain that THEY weren’t the ones who would suffer the most wrath, their black friends and neighbors were and until we could neutralize the “Ray effect’ he would continue to find reasons to harass voters. Their righteous indignation was justifiable, but not helpful in the short run, I told them. The compassion comment was completely outside of their spiritual understanding. My suggestions that compassion has the power to heal was laughed at and then ridiculed. Oh well, it takes two to act up I guess. Feeling that I didn’t necessarily help much, I went back to HQ and reported to Cheryl and Willa Mae from NAACP. Willa Mae got on the phone to Lucas County Election Board and reported that Racist Ray was willing to be replaced. Wheels were set in motion, but it turned out that no one was able to persuade him to leave the premises even after extra workers were sent in. (Apparently it is hard to find local Republican poll workers in some neighborhoods and balance IS required by law) Even the Mayor paid a visit to the site and couldn’t get action. On a later visit, I found some more seasoned EP volunteers in place and found that they thought things had settled down quite a bit.,. though Ray was still there. Early afternoon at HQ, I answered some phones, did some problem-solving and helped enter a list of complaints in a database Among the list of complaints Toledo Election Protection and NAACP fielded; Finished the afternoon by taking on the search for the mysterious Federal Court filing. Lawyer-in-training Carla did the heavy lifting--- good community organizers know how to get the right people for the job! <grin> Back at HQ again, I tried watching CSPAN but couldn’t sit still. Eventually I got hungry and couldn’t eat the food provided at HQ (food allergies) so I went off in search of a decent salad, which I found in a funky coffee house in an unlikely strip mall. CNN on TV and sitar player in the corner. Good vibe. Returning in time for my evening shift and finding food I could eat now, oh well… I took pictures of the AKA ladies serving dinner. By this time the full ruling from the afternoon lawsuit was available but I noticed poll watch volunteers were already deploying to the polls without having been briefed about the changes. I asked Prima Donna California lawyer Jolie if she was planning to inform the volunteers. No, she said, I can’t get them organized (that was SO true). Eventually Jolie deigned to allow me to organize the remaining volunteers into a circle to hear about the late breaking court ruling and a rule change by the election board. The court allowed that those who had attempted to vote absentee but who had not received the requested ballot COULD go to their regular polling site and cast a provisional ballot. The County Election board had no mechanism for alerting their poll workers of this development. Although EP media people tried to get the word out to voters through radio and TV, it was unclear whether this had taken place (estimates were that 60,000 Ohio voters had not received their ballots). In addition, in a rule change, the Lucas County Election Board had agreed to stop forcing provisional ballots on people who had changed their address within the precinct or within the county. Instead they would simply fill out a change of address form and vote with a regular ballot in the precinct where they currently reside. This meant that hundreds if not thousands of the provisional ballots already cast COULD have been cast on regular ballots. (Can you see why it was important for Kerry to wait for the provisional ballot count in OHIO!?) I finished out the evening witnessing a much slower rate of voting at the same chaotic poll I worked in the morning. Apparently the shift change at the nearby Jeep Assembly Plant caused a huge influx of voters from 3-4pm. By our 5:00 arrival things had slowed to a trickle making the lines manageable. While the rain continued as it had all day, Democratic Party volunteers arrived with food and hot drinks for their volunteers. They offered us the same. Earlier we had been admonished to refrain from “being too friendly” with the Democrats but hey, there were no Republicans to fraternize with! By dark, we were in a festive mood and had lots of fun chatting with voters before and after they voted. Even the poll workers and the sheriff had become friendly by evening and took their breaks by visiting with us. At 7:25 a woman came dashing out of the building saying she needed proof of address. She arrived back at 7:32, two minutes past the closing time. Against the advice of the Democratic Party lawyer then present I pounded on the door begging that she be allowed to cast her vote. The poll workers relented and allowed her to go back in, but it turned out that she had moved between counties and couldn’t cast a vote anyway. She promised to make sure she had her registration in order for the next election, thanked us profusely and asked if we could explain the electoral college system which had always confused her. American Civics lesson over, we packed up and headed back to HQ. Election Protection field workers and volunteers were well-prepared in some areas, but not others. Practical lessons learned (by me at least, I hope EP staff can incorporate these gleanings): Election Protection helped countless people access their right to vote in Ohio. So did the Democratic Party. I observed only one incident of a Republican challenging a voter directly on election day. (Literacy issue above) We received no other reports of such on election day in Toledo, but we know of hundreds of pre-emptive challenges prior to November 2. Do I trust that everything was done in accordance with the law and with concern for ethics? Do I believe that Bush really won this election? No, I don’t. I have worked as a poll worker before and I know how easy it is to corrupt the vote counts accidentally---and that was BEFORE the electronic methods we use now. I know that having fewer ballot scanners than the number needed is a way to frustrate and offend voters especially those who live in the hardship of economic deprivation---you know, people who earn hourly wages under oppressive bosses. Who can assure us that when machines break down, the final count is correct? How do I know that the unscanned ballots left in the emergency slots were in fact counted? I am left with MANY questions about the election itself, never mind the prelude and the weakness of the Democratic response to these irregularities. Reputable people are asking tough questions and coming up with disturbing answers. In spite of the Dems declaration that they would not let this election be stolen, they rolled….again. In hope for peace, with justice, Valerie Mapstone Ackerman Haskell, OK Home - Past Issues - eCards - Classifieds - Blog Spot - Free Subscription - About Us |